Dad: The Adventurer
Loves national parks, dirt roads, and his Jeep named Jester. Prefers to fly by the seat of his pants and believes the best part of a trip is the unexpected. Would wander into the wilderness with no snacks and no water and probably get his family out alive.
Mom: The Planner
Loves history, museums, and knowing exactly what the backup plan is long before it’s needed. Reads an unreasonable number of reviews, spends half the travel budget on snacks at Costco, and believes that planning ahead won’t prevent problems — but it will absolutely make them smaller, cheaper, and less stressful when they happen.
Together
Somewhere between overplanned and underplanned. We know itineraries won’t survive contact with three kids, weather, or reality — but we make them anyway. Because a loose plan is better than no plan, and a backup plan is better than panic.
Why M.A.P.?
Mediocre Adventure Planning exists because we love to travel — and we love it even more when we don’t overpay for it. We plan trips the way most real families do: with limited budgets, to-do lists that don’t get done, kids who get tired at inopportune moments, and the understanding that no vacation is perfect. Most are just mediocre.
Our adventures are primarily USA-based, especially while our kids are younger. As our kids grow, our travel radius grows with them. We focus on road trips, national parks, historic cities, and places where kids can run around and learn something without anyone pretending it’s relaxing.
Our Philosophy
We believe stretching a dollar is a skill, not a flaw.
We believe “how many people are in your room?” is sometimes a flexible question.
We believe the best restaurants can handle adventurous eaters and chicken tenders.
We believe kids can hate a hike and still benefit from it.
We believe if you’re barely in your hotel room, it doesn’t need to be nice — it just needs to be clean…ish.
We believe affordability beats Instagram-worthy every time.