My wife and I believe our kids should grow up knowing the world outside our borders, so we got passports for our girls when they were quite small. We can't afford to ship the whole family off on a globetrotting excursion. Our solution was to cash in Delta frequent-flier miles to get free tickets, and go "two at a time" over a two-year period.

So over the Thanksgiving school break in 2004, Paige (then 12) and I flew to London. We then added a remarkably cheap side trip to Paris by using EasyJet, a super-discount airline that sometimes offers flights for little more than the departure tax. We stayed in two-star hotels, used the subway to get around, and generally pinched pennies. The whole thing didn't cost much more than a weekend in Savannah. A lot of the great London attractions -- the British Museum, the National Gallery, etc. -- are actually free.

The hard part? The food.

Sadly, Paige is not the gourmand (that's a nice word for glutton) that her dad has become. Her food world is bounded by chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cereal. Our Thanksgiving meal was at the Paris McDonald's. I saw too much of the inside of Burger King and KFC. After threatening to feed her escargot (that's French for "snails") from a street vendor I finally got her to try crepes, so long as they were plain. Mine was avec jambon et fromage.

Two years later, Marta was almost 12, and it was her turn -- and her mom's turn. Diane wasn't able to book Thanksgiving break tickets, but she could get Christmas. Breaking up the family for the #1 family holiday was a big sacrifice, but worth it. They booked London, Paris, and Frankfurt, Germany, where they could visit our old neighbors, the Parks.

Same drill: Stay in cheap two-star hotels, walk or take the subway, and enjoy the many free sights and museums.

Food wasn't such a problem with Marta; when she was little she ate Korean a lot with her friend Christine. She draws the line at kimchee (a fiery-hot fermented cabbage), but she's reasonably flexible. I think they had Chinese food for Christmas dinner, just like in the movie, A Christmas Story.

Some tips, if you try this:

• Book your Skymiles tickets way in advance -- up to a year. Very few seats are actually available, so advance planning is essential.
• Get your passports well in advance, too. There can be maddening delays. You can get all the paperwork and file the applications at the Augusta downtown post office.
• Take half as many clothes as you think you need. Maybe a third as many. Learn to pack light.
• Get the kids to read up on the destinations before you leave.
• Watch some movies that are set in the destination city. That's easy with Paris and especially London, as many of our favorite fairy tales are British.
• Take lots of pictures. They won't be this young ever again.

If you're worried about safety, don't. There are unsavory areas of London and Paris, but the tourist areas are much, much safer than the typical American city.