When our kids were 4, 6, and 9, we spent a school year traveling in one direction around the world, living out of one backpack each as we schooled and worked. During that year, our family developed a mantra: When everything’s awesome, nothing’s awesome.

It only took about a month into that year to discover how much our kids relished in moments like inventing games with each other with whatever was in their backpacks in China, taking care of backyard chickens for a few weeks in Australia, and inventing a Terabithia-like world in the woods as we stayed on an olive oil farm + mill in France.

We snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, went on safari in Kenya, visited world-class monuments and museums in 30 different countries, and beyond—and yet their favorite memories for years after that special year were the little things. They’d talk about the Halloween costumes they made from whatever was in our guest house in Thailand, the pool at the safari camp (forgetting they’d just witnessed giraffes and lions mere feet from us!), and going on long, leisurely walks to nowhere in particular in New Zealand.

As parents, we learned that year to slow down, savor the little things, and let the kids be bored—because when everything’s awesome, nothing’s awesome. The world is magical! But we’ll miss it if we’re too busy being entertained.