Is it Important to Travel with Children? If you are new to the concept of travelling with children, then the prospect could present itself as a little bit daunting.
Taking a child and everything they need away from the comfort of your own home, on a trip that they probably won’t even remember may seem a little ridiculous!
However, there are so many reasons why it is a great idea to travel with children!
In fact, there’s lots of positive reasons and research that suggests travelling with your children gives young minds opportunities to grow, learn and develop their emotional and moral well being.
Let me tell you a little bit more.
Travel and Children’s Development
Children are born inquisitive and curious. Children are instinctively wired to ask question after question after question because they are trying to make sense of the world around them. They are trying to understand how everything works and how they fit into it.
Their first curiosity is you, their parents. You are the sole focus of everything they see, hear, touch and see. You are their doorway to the rest of the world. If you think about that for a moment, that’s a pretty special thing to be a part of.
From the very beginning you are unconsciously teaching them how to learn. You introduce them to everything they experience and believe it or not, how you experience it matters a lot to them too. But, it’s not just about learning the ABCs or 123s. It’s so much more than that.
As children explore and investigate the world around them in various different ways, this in turn stimulates emotional, social, moral and intellectual development. They are essentially learning how to become their future selves.
Now think about replacing the idea of ‘the world around them’ with the actual world!
People use the phrase ‘world schooling’ a lot and although I think it has turned into a bit of a clichéd buzz word, the world can teach our kids valuable lessons. All we need to do is facilitate.
Is it Important to Travel with Children?
So, is travel important for children? Not necessarily. But travel, in any form, does encourage a wealth of opportunities to come your way.
The memories of my annual holidays to Cornwall starting at the age of four are still so vivid. I remember the feel of the cottage we stayed in, I remember how the story of King Arthur ignited my imagination and passion for storytelling and I remember the closeness I felt with my family, especially my sister.
Without a doubt those early experiences helped shape the way I feel about the world and my experiences in it. From a very young age I was exposed to a bigger picture and I really enjoyed it.
What can Travel look like?
Travel is never about spending lots of money. It’s not about proving yourself and it’s not about anything or anyone else but you.
Travel can be about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and trying new experiences. It can be about togetherness and spending quality time together. Travel is always about having fun and it is always about letting go. It’s about being in the moment and being present away from your phone or the nearest wifi connection. It is about living life in the fullest way in that specific moment.
Freedom in Travel
Travel can give you a sense of freedom that you don’t get from many other things in life. The freedom to be away from life’s everyday stresses. Freedom to be away from people or the freedom to be with lots of people. The freedom to leave and come back and the freedom to be yourself.
Travel can teach us things we didn’t know in a completely different way and these things aren’t always geographic. Travel can connect you with people, cultures and places that can unlock parts of you that you didn’t know existed. Give you memories to cherish and revolutionise the way you think about the world. It can also make you contemplate your space in it.
Travel can be healing and it can be revealing. It can humble us, tame us and make us wild all at the same time. The world and its stories are infinite.
Our ability to travel is astounding. Whether we travel minutes from home or halfway around the world, our ability to access the world is so incredibly easy. We should appreciate that and enjoy it in whatever form we can.
So if travel can do all that for you, imagine what it can do for your incredibly curious children.
Can I Afford Travel with Kids? – Is it important to travel with children?
As children (way back in the 1980s) we usually holidayed in September because this was a cheaper time to go. Travel with kids doesn’t have to be fancy or cost lots of money. The main things everyone will remember are the experiences you have as a family and the the memories you create.
There are loads of different versions of a family holiday. You could choose a staycation or a weekend away. Camping with friends, catching the ferry to France, staying with some family, a package holiday or an all-inclusive extravaganza. The choice is yours.
If you have read our introduction you will know my husband and I love to travel and it is the one thing we will not compromise on.
Travel is a part of who we are as a couple and we like it like that. It’s the one thing that brought us together (we met whilst travelling separately around New Zealand) and it is the one thing we make sure survives the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The ability to travel means a lot to us.
Budget Travel – Is it important to travel with children?
Someone once commented, ‘with all that travel you guys must be rich’, which really surprised me.
I believe my family are rich in a variety of different ways, but certainly not financially. To be honest, this comment really shook me. It shook me because we work really hard to have the lifestyle we want. We make it happen.
I explained to the person who made the comment that we make travel a priority. We don’t save for a new kitchen, or a fancy car, or a new TV or takeaways on a Friday. We choose to travel and we compromise on other things to make this happen.
There are other things we compromise on too when we are on holiday to ensure we save money. We choose to eat out very little and instead opt for home cooked meals and picnics. Try to be flexible with the dates and times we travel to get cheaper fares. We compromise and you can do that too.
Reasons I travel with my Children – Is it important to travel with children?
Cherishing Years I Won’t Get Back
I travel with my kids because I know I wont get these moments or years back. I take pictures which I will cherish forever and videos that will last a lifetime.
Allow them to Learn and Develop
I want to allow them to learn and develop through their experiences with the world. My kids know what a seal is because they have walked among them in Norfolk. They know what a sea lion is because they have watched them play on the pontoon off Pier 39 in San Francisco. They have experienced differences between people because they realised, on their own, that we don’t all speak the same language. Then at a really early age they have had a go at communicating in a different tongue and have succeeded at it!
Raising Resilient and Forward Thinking Humans
Travelling with children allows them to practice patience, respect, humility and kindness. As they grow older they will start to remember the specifics of a destination, but while they are young they are able to practice adapting to their environment.
Slow Life Down
Life can be hectic and fast paced. The hustle and bustle of family life can leave little time for other things sometimes. However, travel can give us back some time and let us be a family unit with no distractions.
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