I agree that the experiences of travel abroad can, indeed, be priceless. However, families with children don't have much of a choice about when they travel. That means doing so during the height of the season, when airfare and hotels are at their most expensive, and all the sites are ridiculously overcrowded.

For my family to return to Italy, we would be talking about $6,000 in airfare alone. Considering how much less it cost to travel within the US, I just consider us lucky that we got to Italy twice with the kids.