After two decades (and some gray hairs) later, my travel journey has taught me many things. But one thing that I learned with each and every adventure were lessons on how to successfully travel with kids — of ALL ages.
Like many parents, my husband and I decided early on in our marriage that travel would be an important part of our life. Having children would not change that. Our travels would include our children after all.
Our daughter, who’s the eldest, got a bit of a head start over her younger brother. By the time she was 3, she had ventured into New York City many times, visited Williamsburg, Virginia, Boston, Tampa, Disney in Orlando, the Keys in Florida and cruised to Bermuda. Not bad for a toddler, huh?
Granted, this wasn’t an exotic list of places for some but it gave this mom and dad the chance to travel, on a budget, with our kid. And that’s what family travel is about. Sharing experiences, no matter how big or small, TOGETHER.
Here she is meeting a furry friend in Islamorada, Florida.
A family that travels together and makes memories together will stay together.
And when her younger brother came along, our wanderlust didn’t change. It really just expanded. By the time our son was 3, my husband and I made a conscious decision to take a more extensive family trip each summer. Summer trips worked best with young kids in school and plusour jobs allowed for taking more time off at this time. A beach vacation to Cape Cod, a Disney trip with their Oma was just the start. At 4 and 8, our kids took their first extensive road trip and we never looked back.
Click here to read about how my road trip history came full circle with my family: https://followmyyellowbrickroad.com/?p=515
Very quickly, our family travels expanded to more than one trip per year. We found that we loved traveling together. And our kids were excited about each adventure. This was a learning journey for us. Our choice of destinations, the mode of transportation, the length of each journey evolved. So here are my tips on how to successfully travel with kids. First…
Start Early.
Don’t procrastinate! Just do it.
When we first began traveling as a family of four, people always asked why we didn’t wait to travel until our kids were older. Comments such as, “They won’t remember anything,” and “Why spend your money now. Wait until they’re older.” were commonplace. These comments, unfortunately, usually came from those who really don’t travel at all. For me and my husband, we know that we made the right choice. Because, honestly, by the time your kids reach those lovely teenage years, they’re a bit more, let’s say, opinionated. I believe that starting their journey early laid the foundation for their wanderlust. Early travel fostered their curiosity to see more and learn more, with less, let’s say, resistance to traveling with mom and dad.
So, start your journey whenever you can. Remember, it is never to too late to take that first trip!
And this leads me to the next tip for successfully traveling with kids…
Start Small and Build Over Time.
Start small and build your travel history over time. You don’t need to take your young kids on a European journey on your first family trip –although there are some who do, are able to do this, and are successful at it.
View each trip as a building block from which to learn from.
Each time you venture from your home with your kids, view it as an adventure and a time to discover.
No matter where or how far you go, it’s a shared experience.
Lower Your Expectations.
Yes. I’m saying this. Traveling with kids is, well, different. You need to take into account that you may not be able to do everything that you could as a couple. Some activities may just take longer or are not appropriate for little ones. And that’s OK. One day, that will all change. Take it slow and enjoy the journey with your family.
Don’t Be Selfish.
Realize that you are traveling to share experiences with all your travelers. And with that being said, that means planning to do things that each person likes.
If you’re the travel planner in the group, you have to ensure that you include activities that touches on each person’s likes. Some activities may overlap and include everyone and some may be unique to one of your travelers. This balance is really key to setting up a great travel experience.
For example, my family loves baseball. I’ve always tried to include this activity when and where possible. But I also know that my son and daughter found certain activities less than desirable. For example, a trip to Washington D.C. included visits to an array of museums. A highlight for my son was the Aerospace museum. Not so much for my daughter.
Vary Your Travel Experiences.
Road tripping, National Park visits, cruising, camping, “big city” excursions, beach vacations.. the list of possible travel experiences is really endless. And by dipping your toes into each, you will find out what works best for your family. Hopefully, you will discover that you want to experience all of these travel experiences.
For example, you many find that road trips just don’t work for your family. We have friends that camping has become their go to vacation. Discover what works best for YOUR family.
Include trip highlights specific for kids AND ones for mom and dad.
There is nothing worse than a kid going on vacation and doing everything that mom and dad want to do. Make sure to includes activities for both groups. If kids know that there is something in it for them too, they will be less resistant to visiting that art museum that mom and dad are into.
And what we’ve discovered over time is that both sides start enjoying each other’s activities. Go figure, huh?
Understand your kids’ (and your own) limitations.
This is true for all ages but more so for the little ones. Babies and toddlers need more breaks and naps. Take it slow. Mom and dad probably could use a break and nap, too. A trip is not a marathon. It’s a time to relax, learn and enjoy each other’s company.
Adapt for different age groups within your family.
It is likely that your family has kids in different age groups — a mix of toddlers, elementary age, tweens and teenagers. Each of these groups are so different in their needs and what they like. Family time together is great but some “away” time is a good idea as well. And travel companies, hotels, resorts, museums, you name it, have tapped into this and are prepared to help you out with programs geared specifically for children of all ages.
And finally…
Document your travels.
All of us have loads of photos and videos on our cellphones. But how many of us actually develop these photos and display them? My husband makes me a photo album of the highlights of every trip. And we develop some other photos to frame and display. This is one way we document our travels. You can too. But how can you get your kids to do this?
If your kids are old enough, ask them to write down their experiences in a diary. It can be one or two sentences. Nothing too fancy or long. Do you have little ones? Have them make drawing of a place they visited. Believe me, this will be a keepsake that will surpass any other souvenir.
