Turning Everyday Miles into Discipleship Moments
God’s people have always been on the move.
Abraham packs up his tent and goes. Israel walks through a sea on dry ground. Ruth travels to a land that isn’t hers. Mary and Joseph head to Bethlehem. Paul crosses sea after sea with the gospel.
We’re still on the move. We carpool to youth group and soccer practice. We get on an airplane to see family out of town. We creep through the carline and log thousands of tiny miles that all blur together. It’s ordinary. It’s repetitive. It doesn’t feel very “epic.”
Discipleship can happen in a classroom or a church sanctuary, but so much of it happens while we’re already going somewhere.
We talk about Jesus while we chop vegetables, and fold laundry, and walk the dog. We bear one another’s burdens while we’re stacking chairs after church or cleaning up after an event. That kind of side-by-side, “come with me while we do this” life is an adventure in its own right.
Real discipleship is already an adventure; this is just one more way to step into it.
Why I Wanted a Travel-Themed Game
I wanted another conversation game to add to our Thrive Family Life collection. None of our conversation games feel like, “Here’s a stack of serious questions. Please sit still and be profound.” This one is no different.
I kept thinking about how many Bible stories hinge on movement: a journey, a detour, a storm, a road.
I wanted a game that could help us step into that sense of journey as one more way to talk about God in the middle of real life.
Travel Talks is a cooperative, storytelling-based game. You and your group move together through a map inspired by biblical journeys. Along the way, you draw cards that invite you to:
tell stories from your own life,
act out silly prompts,
sit with more serious questions, and
complete challenges together before you “move on.”
Sometimes it feels light and playful. Sometimes it grows a little quiet and thoughtful. Most of the time, it’s a mix of both (like actual discipleship conversations tend to be).
A few basics:
Game length: about 20–30 minutes
Players: 2–6
Age range: roughly 6+ (younger kids can join in on the sillier/action cards)
Where it works: family game nights, youth nights, Sunday school, small groups, road trips
A Peek Inside the Deck
Some cards are light and easy. Questions a second-grader and a high schooler can both answer without overthinking. For example:
Jesus said, “Go into all the world.” What’s a place you hope to travel one day?
Some cards are silly:
Psalm 1 says those who delight in God are like trees by a river. Re-enact a tree sprouting from a seedling into a large tree.
Some cards invite deeper honesty:
Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens.” If you could shrink one burden down to pocket-size, what would it be?
And then there are cooperative challenges, where everyone has to participate before you keep traveling. Things like:
Work together to name 5 places in the Bible people traveled to.
How to Use Travel Talks in Real Life
Family game night: Spread the map out on the table, set up your deck, and see where the journey goes. You don’t need a perfect mood or perfectly behaved kids. You just need a little time and a willingness to go.
Youth nights and small groups: Use a handful of cards as a warm-up before your teaching time or as a stand-alone activity on a lighter night. It can help students share more than “fine” about how they’re actually doing. It creates shared language for burdens and joys you can follow up on later.
Around the dinner table: Keep the travel cards in a bowl nearby. On nights when everyone is tired and conversation feels stuck, pull out a card or two. You don’t have to use the map every time. Sometimes just one good question is enough.
On the road: If you want to, you can adapt the game for longer drives. One person reads cards aloud, and you imagine your “movement” along the map. There’s something fitting about talking through journeys while you’re literally on a journey.
Not a Substitute for Real-Life Adventure
Travel Talks is not meant to replace the raw, unscripted adventure of living life with people and talking about Jesus as you go.
You absolutely should keep sharing the gospel:
while you cook dinner beside someone,
while you rake leaves or chop wood,
while you sort donations, set up chairs, or drive to visit someone in the hospital.
Those moments are the heart of discipleship. They are messy and holy and irreplaceable.
Travel Talks is simply one more small way to lean into that same spirit. It gives you prompts, a map, and a sense of “we’re on a journey together,” so that the next time you are chopping vegetables side-by-side or packing a van for a trip, you already have shared stories and language in place.
Grab the Deck
If you’d like a tool that turns a little bit of your travel time and table time into an intentional, adventurous conversation with your people, I’d love for you to try Travel Talks. Grab Travel Talks and tuck it into your game closet, glove compartment, or gift basket. See where the journey will take you today!
