Why You Should Travel With Your Kids

July 12, 2016 Family Travel, Featured, Travel Smarter

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Travel With Your Kids

I often get asked why you should travel with your kids. The number of times I’ve been told ‘Oh he wont remember it anyway, wait until he’s older’ are too many to count. Here are my top 5 reasons why you should travel with your kids.

1. Children open doors to opportunities you wouldn’t normally have.

You will discover new places you wouldn’t be able to visit as an adult. Your children will make friends with a local family’s children and before you know it, you have some new friends and you’re going for dinner. Locals love kids and will sometimes even make them special trinkets to bring home. Immigration offices will open a new counter just so that your child doesn’t have to wait in a dreaded long line. Also, you can’t say there aren’t times when you want to feel like a kid again. Traveling with your kid lets you visit that theme park and have the time of your life.

2. Traveling to certain places can change the way you your child looks at wants and needs.

I certainly remember my brother and I insisting that we NEEDED a new Nintendo game or whatever toy was “cool” in those days. After we traveled overseas for the first time 20 something years ago to Bali, Bali, it was a huge culture shock for both of us. I saw kids sleeping under tarps on the street and indeed, it was a bit of a wake up call. I learned that not everyone gets to wish for a new Nintendo game, but many kids were instead wishing for somewhere warm to sleep or simply a nice meal. I found myself being grateful for what I had. I will never forgot the time I watched my son give away his vacation spending money to an elderly woman just so that she would have some food for a few days. While my son may not remember every little detail of his trips, he still comes away having learned to always look out for others and to remember that not everyone is as lucky as he is.

3. Travel is educational.

You and your children can read signs together, learn some geography, time weather, and m ore. Traveling with children lets them experience different cultures, different currencies, calculate distances, even learn a language. Even at such a young age, my son knows phrases in several different languages.

4. We LOVE our kids!

Traveling with your children is an entirely different experience. They look at the world with such admiration and curiosity that you cant help but be inspired. You can visit a destination a bunch of times, but travel there with your kid and view it in a whole new light. My son and I have to go to the roof of car parks to appreciate ‘the view,’ or stop for 10 minutes to appreciate a bug. Take your kids out to have a look at the world and you’ll get a new view of it yourself.

5. It’s FUN!

Who cares if your kids fully remember the trip. It’s all about the experience and they will have an unbelievable time. Taste exotic new foods, see exotic animals, visit a theme park, ride on a plane for the first time together, meet new friends. Travel is a blast and sharing it with your kids, makes it even more special. Embrace it and enjoy it.

Amy is an ex Travel Agent and now creator of The Wandering Mum Family Travel Blog. She travels frequently with her young son as a single parent and writes about their adventures.