Do you regret not traveling more when kids are little?

[Anonymous]

We never stopped traveling. Kids are portable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you just hang out at the hotel post bedtime if you travel with little kids??

It just depends.

We did the UK and just kept the kids on their US schedule, so they slept in late and stayed up late. We'd wake up, have coffee and read the news while they snoozed. It was great.

We've also stayed in AirBnBs with patios or balconies where we had a view and could enjoy a drink after kid bedtime.

On some trips we were go go go from early each day and would crash with the kids.

We also have taken grandparents and alternated who stayed with the sleeping kids while others went out.

This is why I don’t travel frequently with young kids. I don’t want to fly all the way to Europe to sit in a hotel room and be beholden to naps and kid bedtimes. I also don’t want to take turns with my husband while a child sleeps. I don’t need to get on a plane to have coffee and watch the news while my kid sleeps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never stopped traveling. Kids are portable.

Nannies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel with young kids isn’t so that they’ll have “memories.” Exposing young kids to travel, new cultures, languages, food, and experiences impacts their development in such a positive way, allowing them to be more adventurous, open minded, and helps them to be more flexible and less anxious about new experiences in general. Not easy, necessarily, but rewarding so long as you keep your expectations in check that it’s not a “vacation”

Yeah, you’re gonna need to attach some studies for these claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Travel with young kids isn’t so that they’ll have “memories.” Exposing young kids to travel, new cultures, languages, food, and experiences impacts their development in such a positive way, allowing them to be more adventurous, open minded, and helps them to be more flexible and less anxious about new experiences in general. Not easy, necessarily, but rewarding so long as you keep your expectations in check that it’s not a “vacation”

This sounds good but isn’t necessarily true. Plenty, and I mean plenty of well-traveled kids grow up to be the opposite of what you’re saying. Anxious, close minded, stubborn people and what have you. Traveling is not a magic wand that suddenly makes your kid any of what you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

We traveled with kids when they were young — to places we wanted to go — and don’t regret it at all! We had fun, and the kids did too, even if they don’t remember much from the trips. We remember them and wouldn’t trade those trips for anything!

[Anonymous]

We never stopped (except from 0-2 years old; kids are twins). Interestingly, my husband (who is a pretty uptight guy) thinks it is fun for adults to travel with kids because you see a place in a new light. For instance, we saw a lot of parks/playgrounds in Ireland. Ireland doesn’t even have that many playgrounds (as far as I can tell) but we tried to find them. It is kind of fun because other (local or tourist) parents will often chit chat while we all stood there watching our kids play. They would give us recommendations for dinner or even exchange emails. We are still in touch with an Israeli family we met in Costa Rica, but we never would have talked to them except for the fact that our kids started playing together. So it’s not going to be amazing, like a honeymoon, but traveling with kids has its charms. It is just a whole new way to experience a country or location.

[Anonymous]

We’ve traveled all over with our kids since birth and I really feel like at 4+ they really began to enjoy it so much. My son was obsessed with the Eiffel Tower at 4 and when we took him to Paris he came running over to me after first glimpsing it and told me “Mommy, you made all my dreams come true!”. I don’t care if he won’t “remember” it, I do and it was a priceless moment.
Traveling when they were even younger was also fun and special in its own way but really once they stopped needing to nap it got a lot more fun! My kids have been all over Europe, to several countries in Asia and a lot of Central America and the Caribbean. We are planning a trip to Africa soon, and also hoping to get to South America this year. We prioritize travel and have found a lot of ways to do it that make it more fun for all. Kids are now 8, 11 & 14 and traveling is their favorite thing to do.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the kid. I would absolutely travel overseas with our youngest - such an easygoing baby.

Our 4 year-old? No way. He’s a tempermental pr#ck prone to irrational outbursts and tanrtrums. He was this way ever since he was a little baby, always fussy and oppositional. We once flew to Hawaii and his behavior on board the plane was INSANE. I still have ptsd.

Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Took my 4 years old to Japan, first night nose bleeding + wee accident, 2nd day and 3 day poo accident, we had to buy nappies. He was fully toilet trained back home. 4th day he vomited on a long trip bus. Not to mention the extra tantrums, lying on the floor and crying times during our trip. We travelled during peak season, paid full adult airline ticket for him.. I don’t think I would take him on any international trip with me until he is a lot older. Me and my husband can just take term to travel if we want to…

[Anonymous]

DC can’t recall much at all before age 4. It’s all a waste of money on them until after age 4.

[Anonymous]

Travel is much easier and more enjoyable once the kids are 6+. Before that we tended to travel to see family.

[Anonymous]

Four is when we resumed travel with our three kids. We did a lot of Disney trips earlier than that. For international, we took the kids to Ireland. Super easy flight, and it’s very kid friendly. We let the kids run around the fields, took them to places they could pet sheep and horses. Explored castles and enjoyed seafood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. High school has been a surprisingly difficult time to travel. Elementary and middle schools years are no question the best travel years! My advice is to take advantage of it.

Totally agree with this. Also our best international trips involved getting up early to beat the crowds and or traffic for sightseeing or excursions and now that I have two teens, getting them up to do anything is hard because they want to sleep so much! They are moodier and less amenable to family activities, and their schedule between sports and school harder to work around. We traveled much more when the kids were all younger!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never stopped traveling. Kids are portable.

Not all of them. Very kid specific.