Truly amazing childhood travel experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money aside, I just wish I had the time to take off work to take my kids to these places. I am only allowed one week off in the summer and it really limits where I can go.

That is sad.

I might change jobs over this.

Your kids are with you for a short time!

[Anonymous]

We took the auto train to Florida last year and had a great time visiting beaches and state parks, seeing wildlife, and what not. But the highlight for the kids was the auto train ride itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

Eye roll.

Agree. I doubt a 3 to 5 year old would really appreciate those places or even remember them. But then again this is DCUM and all the parents on here think their kid is the next _____________ (fill in the blank for some highly educated, world game changer, etc).

I doubt as well that any 3, 4 year can remember travelling. Actually, there is no way. My daughter is 8 and she no recollections of her preschool years whatsoever.

I’m ancient. Definitely remember camping trips from when I was less than 5. (Do not ask me where I put down my coffee cup these days.) my kids however, do not recall a lot of “special” things i wish they did.

Pp poster has a point though: experiences become part of you. They may remember in ways they don’t seem to recall or retell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money aside, I just wish I had the time to take off work to take my kids to these places. I am only allowed one week off in the summer and it really limits where I can go.

That is sad.

I might change jobs over this.

Your kids are with you for a short time!

I am a hospital nurse at a large hospital system in the area. I believe lots of hospitals limit PTO for nurses during the summer. And it's hard to get PTO between Thanksgiving and NYE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

Eye roll.

Agree. I doubt a 3 to 5 year old would really appreciate those places or even remember them. But then again this is DCUM and all the parents on here think their kid is the next _____________ (fill in the blank for some highly educated, world game changer, etc).

I doubt as well that any 3, 4 year can remember travelling. Actually, there is no way. My daughter is 8 and she no recollections of her preschool years whatsoever.

DS’ first memory is from when he was 3 when he got ice cream from a fair. Your early memories often from things that were very emotional. He had been looking forward to that ice cream for a long time and I guess it was very special to him.

I find it odd that your daughter doesn’t remember preschool. I’m 40 and I one vivid memory from preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly my kids favorite trips are the ones done with the extended family (cousins, aunts, etc). The ("fun") mayhem is what they seem to love the most. Otherwise-I think trips that combine city with something else (mountains, beach, parks) are the most fun for them. The combo of R&R and activities vs. just being on the go 24/7.

Same. My kids have gone on some amazing trips, but they’re favorite times are when we rented a beach house with the cousins and stayed up late playing cards and making s’mores.

I have asked my kids repeatedly where they want to go next. They just want to go back to Hawaii. They enjoyed that trip more than our visits to Europe, the Grand Canyon, etc.

[Anonymous]

My kids loved:
-Mexico (xel ha, xcaret and xenotes)
-Costa rica (zip lining, hot springs, whitewater rafting and surfing)
-Yellowstone (hot springs, whitewater rafting and hiking)

They also love camping trips (but SO much preparation and effort) and big trip.

It’s all about planning adventures and not too heavy on the time in the car!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids have been to 8-10 countries each- Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Germany, and more. All of them talk the most about the time we stayed on a farm in North Carolina. They got to feed the chickens, sheep, goats, and pigs, water and pick the huge gardens, corral the chickens back in the coup, the property had an in ground pool, trampoline, and treehouse, we had a local chef come give us a cooking class with herbs and veggies from the garden. They literally talk about it ALL the time.

you've posted about this before and I asked what this farm was in NC, I don't think I saw you post it later - would you mind sharing??

It was a home exchange so it was free!

Happy to send you the specific listing via email if you're interested. I can also send you my home exchange referral code and with that plus signing up you'd get enough guest points to be ale to stay somewhere for a week or so and not have to actually exchange your house if you don't want to. My throw away email is [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We took the auto train to Florida last year and had a great time visiting beaches and state parks, seeing wildlife, and what not. But the highlight for the kids was the auto train ride itself.

What’s the minimum amount of days you recommend for a trip via auto train?

[Anonymous]

Lots have replied Grand Canyon. I agree, especially looking back up top after getting a mile or so down one the trails. The quiet at that depth is other-worldly.

[Anonymous]

Norway especially boat rides through fjords
Montenegro- high speed boat bay of Kotor
Ecuador- white water rafting, butterfly and bird watching
Hawaii volcanoes park
Aruba- stayed resort with giant water slide

Local:
Beaches in NC and Delaware
Tennessee-
NYC
Hiking in Joshua Tree

We started traveling with our son when he was 3 months old he’s now 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

Eye roll.

Agree. I doubt a 3 to 5 year old would really appreciate those places or even remember them. But then again this is DCUM and all the parents on here think their kid is the next _____________ (fill in the blank for some highly educated, world game changer, etc).

Sorry to be obnoxious but yesterday I asked my son what his favorite family trip was and he said hands-down Iceland. He was three when we went and he is now 10.

But I didn’t take him so that he would remember it. I took him because all four of us wanted to go because we saw a YouTube video about it. If your kid wants to go to a cool place and you do too, I don’t think the fact the the kid won’t remember it is a reason not to go.

I personally prefer to do bigger more “exotic” trips with my kids because that’s just more exciting for me. I am not going to plan activities they don’t enjoy, because if they’re not having fun it’s not fun for me either. But what they remember isn’t the issue. I think it would be really hard to plan a trip around what would be most magical and memorable for the child because as you see here, that varies a lot. If I was trying to do that I personally would choose Disney, assuming my kids wanted to go. Luckily they haven’t asked because I take one look at those spreadsheets on Disney blogs and close my laptop.

Well said!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did Morocco and Egypt at 9 and that trip was a blast. My son never stopped asking the guides questions.

We've also done Italy, Croatia, Paris, Rome at various ages (3 to 5) and he loved it all.

Eye roll.

Agree. I doubt a 3 to 5 year old would really appreciate those places or even remember them. But then again this is DCUM and all the parents on here think their kid is the next _____________ (fill in the blank for some highly educated, world game changer, etc).

I doubt as well that any 3, 4 year can remember travelling. Actually, there is no way. My daughter is 8 and she no recollections of her preschool years whatsoever.

The average age for earliest memories is 3.5. Of course kids that age won’t remember everything about a trip (or maybe nothing), but that’s not the point. My kids both remember things about trips from when they were 3, though (for one kid— she wasn’t even quite 3 yet on a trip she remembers). They are tweens/teens now.

[Anonymous]

We did a dog sled ride in Levi, Finland. It was AMAZING.