I’ve traveled with my son since he was born. Mainly just to see family but we did some other easy trips. There’s a sweet spot around like 6-9 months before they’re mobile and then it pretty much sucked until around 5. Now he’s 6 and it’s great. He’s flown enough now that he’s well behaved, knows how to occupy himself and can use the bathroom on his own when he needs to. And now we can do more activities together that are fun for the whole family. Now at this age I would consider a longer trip like Europe and think he’d enjoy it. Prior to now I wouldn’t have.

They won’t remember trips if you you start too young.

Therefore sort of a waste of money, in terms of their life experiences.

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.

I loved/love traveling with my kids at all ages. Under age 2- free plane ride. Under school age— you can travel off season when it is sooo much cheaper & less crowded. Totally worth it for us.

We have traveled extensively with DS since he was a baby and never once considered whether or not he would remember it. Traveling has just always been something we’ve done so we added him to it. Family lives all around North America and friends around the world. DS has plenty of photos and videos to look back on, DH and I have the memories, and as a family we have the experiences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone! This is very enlightening and makes me feel better. I think I was just getting some FOMO whenever I heard about friends taking their kids the same age abroad.

I wouldn’t really travel for the kids’ sake, so not worried if they’re not going to remember it. But I don’t want to look back and wish I had traveled and made those memories for myself (but sounds like that’s not really a thing I need to worry about..)

Remember it doesn’t have to be abroad to be travel. There are a lot of great places to explore in the US and Canada. We didn’t want to deal with jet lag when our kids were really young, both were somewhat challenging sleepers, but we still took some nice trips closer to home, often driving destinations.

We did Quebec the summer before our first was born, and it was an amazing trip. It very much felt like we had gone very far away, but I reality it’s not that far and no time zone issues to throw you off.

Anonymous wrote:The only reason we travel internationally is to see family so don't regret that at all. Regret not doing it more actually.

Agree. Took my kids to see family in Europe in 2019 when they were 7 and 9. So very glad we went then, especially as we lost a couple of older relatives during the pandemic, so they’d never have met them otherwise. We went back again last year, and I’m hopeful we can get back on an “every other year” travel schedule again.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone! This is very enlightening and makes me feel better. I think I was just getting some FOMO whenever I heard about friends taking their kids the same age abroad.

I wouldn’t really travel for the kids’ sake, so not worried if they’re not going to remember it. But I don’t want to look back and wish I had traveled and made those memories for myself (but sounds like that’s not really a thing I need to worry about..)

Remember it doesn’t have to be abroad to be travel. There are a lot of great places to explore in the US and Canada. We didn’t want to deal with jet lag when our kids were really young, both were somewhat challenging sleepers, but we still took some nice trips closer to home, often driving destinations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No not at all. They don't even remember the trips back then!

+1. Definitely not worth it.

It’s not for them to remember, it’s for me to remember. I’ll continue to watch old movies of my kids and so glad we traveled.

Anonymous wrote:No not at all. They don't even remember the trips back then!

+1. Definitely not worth it.

The only reason we travel internationally is to see family so don't regret that at all. Regret not doing it more actually.

I have loved traveling with my kids at different ages. I definitely feel that there are benefits and cons to traveling at different ages.

Baby: Obviously, for you but they are pretty easy to travel with and you can still have adult convo's sooo nice.

Toddler: worst time to travel, we didn't actually fly during this time but did some road trips and it was hit or miss but we had some special times: Road trip through Quebec and seeing my child chow down on a huge croissant and scream out for joy - whale! whale! and then us all singing baby beluga (quietly) lol was a travel highlight. Also fun to find the awesome playgrounds and play areas and expose them to new things, but also we didn't fly between 13 months-3 years.

Preschool-early elementary: Hard at times but a fun time to travel. There lots of young child-specific activities that are SO special at that time. Ex: certain Christmas markets---lots of activities geared to young kids and lots of santa stuff. Finding terrific playgrounds with coffee shops, exploring fun zoos, cool castles that are so magical, trying all the yummy foods with your kids and seeing their willingness to try new things grow, reading the sweetest picture books from different places in the world, and watching your kids form relationships and play with others of different cultures - really special. Also hard because kids are unpredictable and they can get overstimulated, they fight, they might get sick or get tired of walking. Some places we've really loved with kids of this age:

European Christmas markets (depends which one you go to but many have lots for kids).
-London
-Paris
-Copenhgen
-All over Portugal
-Quebec city was nice
-of course camping/hiking/easy backpacking/lots of lakes/kayaking, beaches, etc. are also well-enjoyed.
(that's all I can speak to).

I can't speak to older ages but I've heard that the BEST time to go on trips is elementary school when they actually want to still be with you lol. I can't speak to older kids but we'll see. I do feel sad thinking about how quickly my kids are growing and my oldest is rapidly growing beyond some of the sweet magic of childhood.

Nope - I don’t mind at all that we limited our travel when our kiddos were young.

DH and I had travelled around the world before we had kids. But until our youngest was 12, we limited our trips to easy, family-friendly locations. We did easy to get to all-inclusives in the Caribbean, a beautiful Marriott resort in Orlando (loved the lazy river pool, didn’t even go to Disney), Tyler Place in the summers (fabulous), Air B&Bs at the lake, local multi-night ski trips, and one relatively easy National Park trip out west without a ton of transitions between locations.

Absolutely no regrets! We all enjoyed ourselves and made tons of wonderful family memories without stressing ourselves out. Now that they’re tweens/teens, we’re doing more complex trips like skiing in Colorado and Europe.

Anonymous wrote:God no. That’s a horrible age to travel with them. They are not rational creatures. They don’t transition well. They’re picky eaters, they go to bed early, they have pee and poop accidents. Why would you want to spend the money on travel with them now?

It’s much easier when they are a bit older, like 7+.

All of this, especially the sleep. Mine were awesome sleepers at home, not so much on travel so it just felt like a punishment to the adults. Plus we were young parents so didn’t have as much money as we do now.

If you’re traveling for yourself, then yes. But if you are thinking that they will love Paris at age 4, no.