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Travel Discussion
Silly to take young kids to England/Ireland?
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Anonymous
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Is it ridiculous to take a 4 and a 6 year old to England and/or Ireland for their first international trip? Will they not remember a thing or not enjoy themselves? Our reasoning is that it's a fairly short flight, a lack of language barrier, and kid-friendly stuff to do. Plus, I have friends there I'd like to visit.
Yea or nay? |
Anonymous
| I think it would be a fun trip, but they probably won't remember much. |
Anonymous
| I am a big believer in bringing kids on int'l travel because I enjoy having my kids along, and I do think it helps them be better travelers even if they don't remember specific experiences, but I agree that there's a good chance they won't remember much if anything (esp. the 4 year old). |
Anonymous
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OP here. Just not sure if we're better off staying here in the US.
I moved to Kuwait when I was 3 and my dad's company considered that a hardship tour (in the late 70's- no one had heard of it then!). They paid for us to take 2 trips a year anywhere we wanted to go so we did a lot of traveling to really cool places when my sister and I were young. I want my kids to have the same experiences, but then again, we traveled on the company's dime, not our own! |
Anonymous
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I think it depends on how much of a hardship it would be for you. If you have the money to do several trips of this sort in the next 10-15 years, go for it. They won't remember every detail necessarily, but there is certainly value in experiencing travel.
If this is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip for you, I'd wait until the kids are a little older. |
Anonymous
| I would go but I already took two kids to Europe when they were 4 and 2. They loved it and we all had a great time. It was hands down the best vacation we took. If this is your only chance for this kind of trip then you might want to wait. I knew we would always save for vacations like this so I figured why why until later. It is all about expectations. Did we stroll through museums for hours, no. Could we do it for an hour, easy. Did we take things to dinner to keep kids busy- hell yes. But overall it was a lovely trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. At the ages of 4 and 6 I wouldn't be too worried as long as you aren't planning/wanting to travel like a childless person. |
Anonymous
| If this is just the first of many overseas trips, I would say go for it, but it probably won't be the experience of a lifetime. I'm Irish and regularly take our DDs to see the grandparents. We hang out with family, go to the beach if the weather is halfway decent, and do some "light" sightseeing. I don't think it is the most kid-friendly place and you are really in trouble if the weather is rainy. |
Anonymous
| I travelled abroad at that age and I have memories over 30 years later. I made several trips all through childhood--so maybe they are blending together, but I sure appreciated it on my own level at the time. I waited until this year (kids are 10, 9) because of the cost--but I would have done earlier if I could have. |
Anonymous
| We took our kids on a three-week trip to Australia when they were 4 and 5. It's been almost two years and they still talk about it often. In fact, one just came home with a cute short story written in school last week and it was about that trip. I think your kids will remember it because it would be such a big deal -- it might even end up being among their most treasured early memories. Go for it! |
Anonymous
| We have travelled internationally with our child since 18 mos. She remembers a lot and is a great traveler. Definitely go. |
Anonymous
| I started traveling abroad with the kids once they were 2. They aren't the trips we would have had sans kids but that's to be expected. My kids were good travelers even young so we always had a good time. I don't agree that it's only worth it if the kids will be old enough to remember the trips. These kinds of experiences form who they are later. You know your kids, though--there are some kids who shouldn't travel yet because they can't sleep/eat in new places or have meltdowns if things are different. |
Anonymous
| We've beem traveling international with our kids since they were 9 months old. Of course at the younger ages they won't remember but what we discovered is, it was a good way for us to get use to traveling with kids - their needs, our needs, how to make it work for everyone. Now at age 6 and 8 they are great travelors who are comfortable in airports, airplanes, jet lag and all the rest. They remember trips when they were as young as 3 years old and I have to say that I'm glad we started young and got use to traveling with kids. Yes there will be challenges, and yes it can be exhausting. It will also be amazing. Its rare I get to have time in a museum or church on the other hand seeing the world through their eyes has been incredible. Plus we have found that having children is a natural ice breaker in most places we have visited. They meet other kids, poeple have been helpful and gone out of their way to be nice to us and our kids- that was not always the case when I use to travel just with my husband. I would say think about what you hope to accomplish from the trip. If you have simple goals and maybe the highlight of the trip for your kids will be a day spent at the playground. In a global economy I think its really important for kids to know places other than just their home state or country. |
Anonymous
| Total waste of money. |
Anonymous
| I agree with the Irish PP who said it's not the most kid friendly place to go. We've taken our kids (now 5 and 10) all over Europe (and most of the rest of the world). You may want to consider a place like France or Italy--slightly more kid friendly. Even Germany. If you're really determined to do Ireland/England, that's fine, but definitely plan ahead! |
Anonymous
I bet you and your kids don't travel. |