Parents are often afraid to travel with kids, thinking it will be too chaotic, or the children are too young to remember. While it can be a bit of a challenge at times, we’ve found travelling with kids is rewarding. Travelling can expose your kids to new places, people, cultures, and things. Here are 8 reasons why you should travel with kids.
8 Reasons Why You Should Travel With Kids
1. To create memories.
For us, this is probably the number one reason we travel with our kids! When you meet someone and they’re talking about all the places they saw as a kid, that was because their parents made it a priority to create those memories. While we may forget a material item we purchased years ago, the memories created on a family trip can last a lifetime. With many budget options available, you don’t have to have a huge budget to take a family vacation.
2. To show them there’s “more”.
If you traveled as a child, or even as an adult, you know there’s more to the world than what your city and state have to offer. I know many folks who grew up in small towns and never left, only to regret it years later. Get out and explore beyond your town, region, and even beyond your continent. Expose to children to different cuisines, cultures, and lifestyles.
3. To give them things money can’t buy.
Yes, it costs money to travel, but money can’t buy the experiences travel offers. Even if you have to save up all year long to make that one trip a year, do it! Traveling gives you experience, knowledge, and happiness in a way nothing else can.
4. To teach them something.
The kids won’t be the only ones learning on your adventures. Learning expands beyond textbooks, and even beyond Google and the internet, believe it or not. Some things can’t be taught; they have to be experienced.
Traveling teaches compassion: see others in the world who are happy, even though they have much less than you do. While traveling, you’ll be amazed at the people you meet. People who would die for things we take for granted like food, shelter, and safety. Traveling teaches history: you can’t learn these things in a textbook.
5. To teach them less is more.
This is a lesson most of us could really benefit from learning: less is more. Kids don’t need the newest video game console. They don’t need $150 shoes. Parents don’t need the fanciest gadgets, watches, phones, or anything else, really. Traveling teaches us that there’s more to life than “things”.
Downsizing is a great way to be able to afford travel that you once thought was impossible. Our culture seems to be excessive when it comes to gadgets, toys, and “fun” things. We can survive – and thrive – without buying all the things.
6. To learn another language.
It’s much easier to pick up a second (or third!) language when you’re immersed in the culture. Plus, the kids will usually pick up on another language much faster than adults will. You always talk to those people who are like “Aw, man, I wish I had learned Spanish when I was younger. It’s so much more difficult now!”. Your kids won’t ever have to be one of those people if you travel!
Depending on the age(s) of your kiddos, you might want to pick up some board books or even a dictionary before you travel, so they know a few words before you go. As a family, you can get excited about learning another language and practice together!
7. To convert picky eaters.
Now don’t quote me on this one, because it isn’t foolproof by any means, but when kids see that eating certain foods is the “norm”, they could be more likely to try them out. When they look around and don’t see the option of chicken nuggets and french fries, perhaps they’ll get a little more adventurous and try something new.
Like I said, this isn’t an exact science and some kids are just naturally picky eaters, but we’ve found that expanding a child’s palette isn’t that tough when there are exciting new options everywhere they turn.
8. To pass on the travel bug
If you’re thinking about traveling with kids, chances are, you love traveling as well. Packing the kids up and making it a family trip gives you an excuse to go on that adventure, without the parent guilt of leaving them behind.
Bringing the kids along ensures you’ll see things through a new lens, and there is something magical about seeing things through their eyes. What’s more, you’ll inadvertently pass along the travel bug to your children, for a lifelong love of travel and wanderlust.
