Joanna Gaines on Her Family’s Summer National Park Adventure—Led by Her 6-year-old Son

Exposing kids to travel is essential, but the reality of tearing little ones away from their familiar environments and routines can be a challenge. That’s exactly why Joanna Gaines feels so passionate about family vacations. 

“We’re mostly all homebodies. We love to be at home,” the 47-year-old mom of five shared in a statement exclusively obtained by Travel + Leisure. “But as our kids get older, I’ve learned what a gift it is to step away from the day-to-day with its schedules and rhythms and to-do’s and have that intentional time as a family.”

The Summer 2025 issue of Magnolia Journal, the quarterly magazine from the brand she created with husband Chip Gaines, focuses on the theme of “boundless” living, pushing ourselves beyond the everyday—and travel is arguably the best way to do that. 

“We grow up and begin to sense the weight of life’s parameters in ways we didn’t when we were younger, so the idea of this season seeming ‘endless’ might actually feel overwhelming, even uncomfortable,” the interior designer, best known for HGTV’s Fixer Upper, wrote in the issue’s editor’s letter.

The idea was made especially clear during a family trip to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, last summer. The family followed the lead of the youngest of their five children—who range in age from six to 20—since he still encapsulates that childlike sense of freedom in his exploration.

When an afternoon freed up, the six-year-old came up with the idea to go hiking in the park, she writes in the Magnolia article. “I can’t overstate how little hiking I’ve done in my lifetime, but with Crew as our fearless guide, the journey was fun and light,” she said. They followed their youngest to the water’s edge and ended up jumping into an inflatable raft and riding down the Bow River—a moment so memorable it became the cover of the magazine.

“To me, the picture captures so much more than a cover-worthy location,” she explained. “It was the way the day unfolded, how one yes led to another, and then another—no destination in mind other than ‘farther’—that kept my gaze up and out at this big, boundless world.”

The fact the thought was sparked by her little one just emphasized how powerful childhood wonder can be, especially when kids are provided the palette to explore their curiosities, a trait she believes Crew inherited from Chip. “When Chip and Crew are leading the pack together, there’s almost no stopping them,” she said, adding that they both have a sense of adventure, plus a love of skipping rocks!

“Honestly, if we hadn’t already been in a spontaneous state of mind, I’m not sure any one of us would have sought out this experience,” Gaines said. 

While it may have felt outside of their norms, the reward was well worth any sense of unease. “Whenever we do get away, we’re given the space to really be present,” she told T+L exclusively. “So, for us, unhurried time together is really what we’re after—so we limit phones, we pick a few ‘things to do’ that everyone is excited about, and we toss the schedule out the window.”

By sharing her own transformative family travel moment, she hopes to inspire others to really push the boundaries of expectations and let the adventures unfold.

“We often crave what’s out there—and while it’s so, so good to chase those dreams and venture past our comfort zones, in recent years I’ve learned it’s possible for ‘boundless’ to thrive right here too,” Gaines also wrote in the issue’s letter. ”There’s newness and adventure to be pursued in wide-open spaces and close to home.”

Read the entire story in the new Summer 2025 issue of Magnolia Journal when it hits newsstands Friday, May 16. The issue can be purchased online now at magazines.com.