Very often, when we talk to people about our trips, I get asked something along the lines of “Yeah, it sounds like fun, but isn’t it hard? Is it even worth it? I don’t know how you guys do it all the time” Hhhmm, yes, it is hard! And have there been times when I just wanted to pack my bags and go home? You bet! But those moments are far less common than the good moments, the fun ones, the moments in which we know, without doubt, that traveling is the best thing we could ever gift our kids. So here are the main reasons why we travel with our kids:
1. The expression on a child’s face when they discover something extraordinary for the first time. You know what I’m talking about? The mixture of joy and awe and curiosity! And all the feelings that invade you! There’s no going back after you witness it. It’s a sensation that you want to keep on reproducing.
2. Kids take everything in. And by that I mean EVERYTHING. I still remember clearly the moment I realized that. We were hiking in the wintertime, on a sunny day, by a river. What I had in mind was to get to the other end of the trail, while casually taking in the scenery. What my kids had in mind? Picking up sticks and bark, to make a robot out of them; staring at fish swimming in the river; poking the frosty moss and melting icicles between their fingers. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is …well, eye opening! It reminds us to slow down and really, really appreciate this beautiful world we are lucky to inhabit.
3. We’ve all grown through travel. All those times we’ve failed at having the perfect vacation have taught us to be flexible, to lower our unrealistic expectations, to be strong and kind to each other, to accept disappointment and, most of all, to try and find the fun and the beautiful in everything that we do together.
We learned to deal with hunger or tiredness, when our traveling days were longer that expected. We changed our trips at the last moment, when we were no longer happy with our plans.
Our travels have thought us patience, flexibility, endurance and empathy.
4. The world is so, so big and beautiful in its diversity of people, cultures, music, food, nature etc. No matter how challenging traveling with young kids can be, the benefits of experiencing the world together are immeasurable. Traveling expands their vocabulary, their palate, their knowledge. On our trip to Costa Rica alone, my kids kept asking me how to say different things in Spanish, so they could repeat after me. They tried pickled plantain and fish seasoned with local spices. They got to bathe in hot springs created by a volcano.
In Thailand, we rode scooters together and we attended Songkran, the most amazing festival in the world. In Vietnam, we learned how to make the famous Vietnamese lanterns. In Romania, we’ve been to weddings and baptisms. In Mexico, we were invited to a local friend’s house and we ate the most amazing food. In Bali, we slid down a natural waterfall and swam with turtles. In Spain, we slept in a cave house. And I could go on and on for days.
These are real life experiences that create meaningful neural pathways in our kids’ brains. Many people will tell you that there’s no point in traveling with young kids, that they’ll forget everything you do. I’m here to tell you the opposite – it’s actually amazing how many things my almost 8 year old remembers from the trips we took a few years ago. And more importantly, it shapes how they grow up and how they look at the world.
5. It brings us closer together – we involve our kids in the planning of our trip. We look at pictures together, we decide on what activities we want to do, we get excited about it all! And it creates memories that I know we will all cherish for the rest of our lives.
6. They are only little for a few years, and while we hope we will continue to travel with our kids when they are grown-ups, we have no guarantee for the future. Why wait?
I could go on and on about the benefits of traveling with little kids, but I will end my post with a quote: ”Your kids won’t remember the best day of television or the fancy toy you bought them.” But you know what they will remember? Your adventures, the time you spent together and the magical childhood you created for them.
