Do you regret not traveling more when kids are little?

[Anonymous]

I definitely regret not traveling more before my kids were in school. So many places we could have gone to during the off season instead of being limited to school breaks. We pulled the kids out some when they were in early elementary, but the older they get, the harder it is for them to catch up. Especially for international trips with longer flights and adjusting to jet lag - the week off for spring break just really is so short to try to go to Europe.

DH and I love to travel and take the kids on international trips because that’s what we like to do, and we want to share those activities with our kids. Not because the kids will have memories or learn anything from the experience. I also love to cook and bake and have been doing that with my kids since they were toddlers. Obviously on a much smaller scale than international travel, but it’s certainly a pain to make pies and pasta with a 2 year old, it would be a lot easier for me to do alone and she won’t remember, but I like the idea that I’m passing down family recipes and creating happy memories for me. Same with travel - I am hoping to instill a love of travel, adventurous eating, flexibility etc…but mostly I want to travel!

4 years are SO much fun, it’s actually a great age to go on a big trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an almost 4 year old. First big trip at 2.5 was Ireland and UK. Then we took her To Puerto Rico recently. Both were definitely worth the hassle. Highly recommended. She’s also been on shorter trips around the US. I love traveling and it’s really fun to do things with her. Parts of it do suck - travel days are hard, she’s a picky eater so I have to plan for that and sleep gets a bit messed up, but traveling with her gives me confidence as a parent - that me, as someone who likes routine and for things to go a certain way, can deal with issues that pop up and when things aren’t perfect. It is so fun to take her places and show her new things. I also love seeing how other cultures treat children. She got so much positive attention where I feel like she gets none of that out and about in dc. I also don’t care that she won’t remember it. I don’t remember a lot of my trips! My two cents, but I vote to go for it! Start with trips where the flight is less than 3 hours.

But she will have no recollection..the trips are for you which is ok as long as you realize that she would live a park 10 minutes away

[Anonymous]

No regrets about waiting until they were tween/teens to travel. When my children were little, traveling was stressful, wasted money and conflicts with DH. With younger children, beach, short trips close to home and staycation was pretty was all we did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can be fun to travel with little ones if you can find the right destinations. We did a trip to England with a 2 and 4.5 yo and had a great time. We visited a few castles and our kids both dressed like princesses and pretended the whole time. We enjoyed seeing the gardens and architecture. We also did a fancy tea in the Cotswolds and they loved that. They wore fancy dresses again. We stayed at a BnB in the English countryside and they got to feed the animals and swing on a tree swing. We hiked along the cliffs near Dover, which was spectacular. It was lots of fun.

We've also done Egypt and Costa Rica with slightly older kids. They both loved it. They both ave very kid-accessible content. In Egypt we talked a lot about building technology used by the ancient Egyptians, mummification, and the Egyptian gods. In Costa Rica we talked a ton about the rainforest and animals.

There are lots of destinations with sights that don't mean anything to kids. Kids just don't have the context to appreciate what they're seeing. It's all about choosing the right destination and the right activities at that destination.

Totally agree with this.

Me too. I don’t really get the “don’t travel until they will remember it” posters?

Maybe my outlook is weird because one parent is a foreigner, but we started traveling overseas when the oldest was six months. Cheap fares in the off season to see family, and have continued since then. I have no clue whether they genuinely remember trips or the stories have just become ingrained by repetition, but they still talk about stuff from years ago. We didn’t drag them to see the Prado, but if I’m going to kick a soccer ball around the yard with a preschooler, I might as well do it overlooking the sea in a nice rental house after an outing and a meal out.

Adjust your expectations and it’s all good. Life is different with little kids, but if you enjoy travel and can afford it, why not have a change of scene?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. Travel is more meaningful when they're older.

We're an international family, and have traveled with our kids to Asia and Europe to see close relatives, since they were babies. Let me tell you: kids don't have the memories you want them to have until they're in their tweens or teens Before that they're going to have memories... of things that interest them! Mostly little snippets of food (my daughter has an undying memory of a Italian-Japanese spaghetti with fish roe in Tokyo), or animals (pigeons in Paris), or funny things that happened (sleeping on futons in a traditional Japan inn and always rolling into mine by the end of the night), that you might not remember. The iconic castles, landscapes, monuments, are likely going to go woosh above their heads.

So... only you can determine if these things are worth it. When they're older, academic and extra-curricular demands ramp up a lot, and it becomes difficult to juggle everyone's schedule sometimes. Travel gets more expensive because they pay adult prices. But they remember more stuff!

School aged kids 5+ remember more of the travel experience than what you think - at least I did and my kids do. Younger elementary is a great age to start IME, and they can learn a lot.

My HS kid doesn't remember the trips at all.

I suppose this is highly variable. I have such solid memories of a trip I took at age 6: walking the red line in Boston, going to Paul Revere's house, throwing tea off the boat at the Tea Party Museum, going to Plymouth Village. Forty years later it's still with me, and I don't have any photos of this stuff.

Definitely variable. I have one kid who has pretty impressive memories of a trip we took when he was 3.5, and another kid who claims to remember nothing about a trip we took when he was 6. My own memories before age 7 are pretty limited.

[Anonymous]

I took my 7 year old to South America for 3 weeks and he was miserable for a large part of it. I just asked him what his favorite thing in 2023 was and he said going to South America.

Ugg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am biased but even when I come back exhausted from trips - no longer vacations - they are worth it to ME and my DH, j emphasize this because as many have said it’s a PITA but the kids love looking at photos and “remembering” things. Maybe bc we have traveled with them since they were tiny babies I find 4+ to be much more manageable than any age before, although we have had fun trips starting at 3. But yeah it’s about expectations and being flexible: at 4+ you can also do kids clubs at most AI resorts or on cruises.

+1
We make photo books and the kids love them, even when they don’t remember very well.

We did kid friendly destinations (Costa Rica and Puerto Rico - the people who we met in both countries were so kind and tolerant with our 2.5 year old and later 5 year old twins!). We also went to destinations that are of greater interest to kids - places I would never want to go as an adult (i.e. South Dakota).

I think it’s better to get them used to traveling early, especially if they have to fly to see grandparents. Our kids aren’t easy, but they know the drill when they get on a plane. And they have eaten goldfish for meals, and it’s been OK.

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad I started traveling with mine very young.

At 4 years old, she's already been to six countries, plus a lot of domestic trips, and is a fantastic traveler now. And I don't just mean she tolerates planes or train rides well. She is actively engaged in and excited about the travel.

She likes to help plan the itineraries, watch videos about the places we are going, take photos of her favorite sites with her little camera, and yes even enjoys the excitement of checking into the hotel or boarding the train. She knows how to go to art museums and pick out her favorite paintings or guess what a sculpture is made out of. She's learning how maps work. She notices the different languages she hears and tries new foods.

I feel like because we got the hard part of "learning to be a traveler" out of the way early, she can really enjoy the travel and it's now fun for us as a family. So yes, your 2 year old doesn't need to "see" Vienna. But going to Tokyo with your 8 year old will be a lot more fun if travel is not new for them.

[Anonymous]

As someone who has traveled with younger kids, I do think it can affect how they see the world even if they don't specifically remember the trip. Before our trip to Egypt our 6 yo was adamant that she didn't want to go. About a day after we arrived she looked at me and said "this isn't what I was expecting at all." She had assumed that Egypt would be all sand and empty. Instead we arrived into one of the largest cities in the world with millions of people, seemingly blocking every street, square and intersection. I don't expect her to remember and details from the trip, but I think that the understanding she gained isn't something she'll lose. She knows moreso that the world is a big place and now when she learns about places in school she has more context and appreciation.

[Anonymous]

We have always traveled with our kids and I have never once regretted it. Life is short and there is a lot to see. I never wanted to waste 8+ years of day trips when I could be traveling because I was too scared to travel with a child. Are there trips they don't remember, of course. But I remember them and cherish those memories and experiences. I also think traveling makes kids more adaptable.

The longest trip we ever took was when my kids were 4.5 and 7.5 and we went to Taiwan. They absolutely remember portions of that trip and talked about thing we did on that trip when we went bac 3 years later.

I will admit that my kids are pretty easy going, were never ones to throw tantrums and aren't so picky that they can't find something to eat wherever we are.

[Anonymous]

I wish we could do it more but I'm just not sure how. We took our 2 y/o to the west coast and the time change screwed him up so bad. It was such a mess. I don't want to leave the east coast now. I hope that aspect gets better.

[Anonymous]

No, we traveled with them a lot when they were kids, especially under two because they were free lap babies. We visited 6 continents before they turned 8.

I think I'm going to take a little break from traveling with them and start traveling again when they get a little bit older. they seem very into their sports and their activities and it's much harder to take breaks from school and friends now. so I'm really glad we traveled when we could when they were younger.

[Anonymous]

My child and I went on some big trips at 3.5 and up. He does remember the trip at 3 but the memories start to fade the older he gets (13 now). I agree that, obviously, traveling with kids is hard. You don't always get to do the things you want at a pace that you think is reasonable. However, I had so much more fun with him. I often made traveling a game. We were always on the hunt for the "King" in Italy and Turkey. Visiting all kinds of castles to find him.

We blew bubbles with other kids on the Seine in Paris, we built Legos while hanging out at the cafes in Venice and we ate ice cream watching the sunset from a sandune over the Atlantic in Denmark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have always traveled with our kids and I have never once regretted it. Life is short and there is a lot to see. I never wanted to waste 8+ years of day trips when I could be traveling because I was too scared to travel with a child. Are there trips they don't remember, of course. But I remember them and cherish those memories and experiences. I also think traveling makes kids more adaptable.

The longest trip we ever took was when my kids were 4.5 and 7.5 and we went to Taiwan. They absolutely remember portions of that trip and talked about thing we did on that trip when we went bac 3 years later.

I will admit that my kids are pretty easy going, were never ones to throw tantrums and aren't so picky that they can't find something to eat wherever we are.

I agree fully, although we haven't braved any trans-Pacific flights yet.

A lot of this depends on what kind of traveler *the parent* is. If you're a go-go-go, must see all the things, must eat in the fanciest restaurants, etc etc kind of parent, traveling with young kids will probably not be as rewarding. If you're more laid back and just want to experience a new place, that's a different story.

We take our kids to Europe once a year and they've gotten quite used to it. My daughter is 5 and has just now reached the age where I think she'll remember stuff, but she has enjoyed many of our trips nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

We travelled internationally for fun once while each kid was under five.

Both trips were beach oriented (Mexico and Portugal). They were fun for parents and kids, but we definitely planned them for the parents, not the kids.

I don't regret not travelling more.