Why in the World Should you Travel the World with your Young Kids?!
Can’t you leave them with someone else? They won’t remember any of it anyways. It’s a waste of time and money. It’s too stressful. It’s too challenging. They have to stay on their sleep schedule. What if they don’t like the food?
These are all thoughts and questions I have heard regarding traveling outside of the US with young children. My husband and I love to travel and we were given an opportunity for an 18-month expatriation to Germany. We were so excited to be able to live in a new part of the world and travel to all the different countries so easily accessible! The only “problem” was that we had two children, aged 4 and 1 and 1/2. Fast forward through those 18 months and here we are with thirty-one countries checked off our bucket list! WITH our children. WITH the chaos. WITH the challenge. And I’m here to tell you it was MORE THAN WORTH it and here is why!
1. People around the world love children and most places are kid friendly. In America, I find that parents often worry about their children bothering other people. I can’t tell you how many times our children were acting up and instead of it “bothering” the people around us, others began interacting with them and making them happy again. In certain cultures, such as when we visited Cairo and Istanbul, they don’t often see blonde-hair, blue-eyed little girls and the joy on their faces to talk to and even take pictures of our daughter (who some even called “Barbie”) surprised us.
Many places are very kid friendly – from fast-track lines in the airports, to offering toys and snacks on even budget flights, to incredible playgrounds all throughout the cities – in Europe we felt that kids and those traveling with families were treated very nicely.
2. Teaching your children about languages and cultures at a young age prepares them to understand that there is SO much more to life than where we live. Kids see that people travel to work by train or even by donkey rather than a car, that they can communicate with each other in languages other than English, that even your kids can communicate with others in different languages as they learn the local words for “hello” and “thank you”. They come to understand the uniqueness of the places you are visiting and appreciate them. You also learn new things by seeing them through your children’s eyes and answering their many questions.
3. The kids are exposed to new foods they typically wouldn’t eat. They may or may not like what they try, but they learn that it is okay to expand their palates and to eat foods that people in other countries eat. For us, meals were a bit of a challenge with our daughter who has nut allergies. We had to learn how to communicate with those at restaurants and translate things we would buy at the store, all to verify that there weren’t any nuts in the food we gave her. This limited her in some ways, but we always had her favorite snacks with us and she was always happy. Our son was fortunate to be able to try all of the foods we were having to explore all of the different flavors. At 5 years old, he was loving to eat mussels, reindeer, squid, bear, sauerkraut, and more!
4. Children are more adaptable than you think. They sleep on trains and planes when arriving to a destination late. My daughter learned that riding in the baby carrier usually meant it was nap time, even at 3 years old. They learn that walking to a destination rather than taking a car may be the best option, and they do it often times without even complaining. They learn to eat new things and to be off schedule from their day to day routine. They learn to go to sleep in hotels that are unfamiliar. Kids truly adapt.
5. They may not remember all of the experiences or sights that they see, but they will remember many of the highlights. They will remember going up the Eiffel Tower, riding on a double decker bus, being at the top of a snow covered mountain, and jumping off of a boat into the ocean. They will remember riding on camels in the desert and traveling to Santa’s Village in the “North Pole”. They will learn things in books or in school and think “Wow, I’ve been there” or “I’ve seen that!” and they won’t feel as unattached from the other side of the world.
It’s also important to remember, even without them remembering it all, YOU will remember as a parent and will hold those memories dearly, and if you’re anything like us, you will take a LOT of pictures which kids love going through and talking about the things they have seen and done!
6. They will love and crave the adventure and excitement right alongside you. If you love exploring, then explore with your kids and chances are, they will love exploring. One key tip is to find fun parks and unique adventures along the way to enhance the experience for them, but otherwise, take your trip! Want to go to Oktoberfest in Munich? So do your kids. Want to relax on the beautiful beaches on the Amalfi coast? So do your kids. Want to go hiking to see beautiful waterfalls in Croatia? So do your kids. If it’s something that you enjoy, and you have the right attitude and planning, your kids will love it all as well!
7. Your kids will be shaped through the experiences they go through. They will grow by getting out of their comfort zone, and you as a family will grow by getting out of your comfort zone together. Make these memories with your kids and watch them blossom in new ways you didn’t even know was possible. Enjoy the time with your family, experiencing new and exciting places; I promise you won’t regret it!
I admit that I had my fears of traveling outside of the country with my children, but I will say that I am now passionate about traveling with my young children. I want to continue to show them new, exciting, and unique things in different places around the world. I want to continue to have that bonding time with them, creating memories to last. Before the opportunity that we had, I thought if we ever went to Europe, it would have to be just myself and my husband or we’d have to wait until our children were teenagers to make it work. Now, I know and recommend that you travel with your young kids!
