Photo courtesy of Jason Blair
Every year, when vacation season rolls around, we all dream of traveling to some faraway land.
Jason Blair, an art teacher at Eli Pinney Elementary School, has made this a reality for his family.
Jason and his wife, Jody, started traveling to County Kerry in southwest Ireland 12 years ago, and now continue the tradition with their two children, 5-year-old Lachlan and 7-year-old Kilian.
Jason says they originally started traveling to Ireland because of family ties.
“My mother-in-law had a house over there,” says Jason.
These yearly trips to Ireland have become an important part of the Blairs’ lives.
“My wife and I were married over there in 2005,” says Jason. “We were married right on the front lawn overlooking the water.”
Traveling to Ireland has also given Jason and Jody an opportunity to visit other places across the pond.
“We sometimes will travel while we’re over there, because they have really great low-class airfare,” says Jason. He adds that, now that they have kids, they don’t travel out of the island as much.
“We’ll rent a car and sort of travel around Ireland and see the sights in the country,” he says.
The Blairs spend much of their time in Ireland outside. There is, of course, the famous Irish rain to contend with, but it doesn’t stop the family.
“(It) never really keeps us back,” he says. “We just throw on the rain gear and the wellies and go on walks.”
Jason also refers to the sense of community that exists in rural County Kerry, explaining how the neighbors will come over and cut the grass and prepare the house each time they visit.
“The people over there, you just don’t meet any people like that anywhere else in the world,” says Jason. “They’re so friendly and outgoing.”
Jason and Jody, who teaches at Upper Arlington City Schools, think traveling is a great way to help educate their kids.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a lot,” says Jason. “We both feel that traveling is really important (for) education.”
Traveling to Ireland is particularly important for his kids because of the differences between the community in Ireland and the community here in Ohio, Jason says.
Photo courtesy of Jason Blair
“I think it’s been important for them just to gain more of a global perspective. Being in Columbus, it’s definitely more urban and there, it’s more rural,” he says. “I think it’s just really important for our kids to get that perspective and just see life exists outside of that bubble that you live in.”
Traveling with young children can be a challenge, but Jason says this hasn’t been the case with Lachlan and Kilian at all.
“They’ve been excellent travelers since day one,” he says. “They’ve been on a seven-hour plane ride, and they've been great.”
In fact, traveling to Ireland has been a memorable experience for Lachlan and Kilian.
“They enjoy it; they have a lot of good memories,” says Jason. “There are times when we go outside, and it’s just rained, and they’ll say it smells like Ireland.”
The Blairs had to skip their trips to Ireland for the past two years, so Jason worried that Lachlan may not remember Ireland as well as Kilian.
“Last time my son was over there, he was 3, so his memories are kind of fading,” says Jason.
But this was not a concern for long. The Blairs journeyed to County Kerry once again this summer.
Athnie McMillan-Comeaux is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
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