My first time on an airplane I was 21 years old. The destination was Chicago, a conference with my professor and a few other students. I was in heaven. The airplane ride, a new city, new things. I felt like a little kid, fully engaged and in awe.
I still get just as pumped to travel as I did that very first trip to Chicago. There is something unmatchably exciting about leaving behind your life for a bit and dropping in on a foreign land, even if that land is just a couple of states away…even just a couple of hours away. Travel shoves me into the present. It puts my ability to stay in the moment in hyperdrive.
A common misconception is that days of traveling are over once having kids. It doesn’t have to be this way, in fact I think it can be just the opposite. Having kids can encourage travel since the experience is so beneficial for them.
I saw first hand those benefits, not only for our kids but our family in general on our last trip. My son and daughters relationship bloomed. They engaged with each other and shared excitement in exploring their new environment. Being away from their home, their normal routines, their toys and friends pushed them together and made them interact in ways they wouldn’t have normally.
Individually my daughter shined and matured. She stepped up and helped out in moments when her brother was melting down. She exhibited patience and appreciation for the new discoveries around her. My son also matured. He woke up one morning in the middle of the trip and his verbal skills had improved dramatically. Suddenly at 21 months old he was speaking ten word sentences. This may have happened if we were at home but I’m sure the stimulation from his new surroundings helped.
I also became aware that our trip helped reinforce some of our most important family values, one of which includes experiences over things. I can’t think of a better way to reinforce this lesson then to let them live it firsthand.
Traveling with kids is not going to be the same as traveling pre kids. It’s going to look different. It’s going to be more work and it’s important to keep a realistic attitude. I remind myself that all the things I do to care for my kids on vacation I would have to be doing back home anyway…at least this way I’m doing them in a cool new setting. And yes, for the sake of one hundred percent honesty at some point during any trip with my children there are moments of complete and total frustration…but these are paired with moments of complete and total bliss…isn’t that what being a parent is in general anyway?
Still skeptical about traveling with kids or perhaps it’s just not in your budget or schedule? Take a trial run. Travel doesn’t have to be anything big or fancy. Sometimes we like to “pretend we are on vacation” and staycation around our home. We do new activities we might do on vacation but in our surrounding area, usually capping distance traveled to an hour drive. Examples of things include; trying a new donut shop, finding a new playground, using the library museum passes for a kids museum we’ve never been too. If we are open to it there are so many adventures and undiscovered treasures in our own back yard and these day travel trips highlight them. One summer my mom and I visited a different beach once each week. I collected sand at every one and at the end of the summer had the coolest souvenir.
So listen to Mark Twain, “Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Travel with kids can be amazing.
