Why travel with young kids?

Κάνε κλικ για να διαβάσεις αυτό το άρθρο στα ελληνικά

What do they know? They’re so little, why do you drag them along? They’ll never remember it anyway! Isn’t it a shame, waking them up in the middle of the night to catch an early flight? My goodness, how will they walk all around the city? Aren’t you afraid someone might take them? What if they get sick? When I think of all the nice clothes you could have bought with the money you spent on their tickets…

When travelling, children realize the size and
complexity of the world

Our answer to the question whether it is worth going through all the bother and the expenses to travel with young kids has always been “abso-flipping-lutely”! 

Travelling is the experience of a lifetime. It teaches the kids lessons they will never forget, even if they cannot recall every little detail about the trip. At the same time, it offers them skills and abilities they will find indispensable in every aspect of their life and, of course, it boosts their confidence. After all, if you have travelled to a FOREIGN COUNTRY, is there anything you cannot do?

When travelling, children realise the size and complexity of the world. They get a better picture of themselves and of where they belong on a planet which is enormous and tiny at the same time! They open themselves to new languages, cultures and tastes and they become citizens of the world who are not afraid to try. They learn to listen, demystify the unknown and they’re never afraid to trust.

Waiting in line teaches them patience

Encouraging young children to leave the safety of their house and their small world helps them become autonomous and responsible. A simple task, such as being responsible for carrying your own suitcase, or gathering your things when we get up to leave the restaurant, gives them organizational skills and teaches them to handle responsibility. Waiting in line to visit or buy something trains them in patience, while we can gradually give them more responsibilities, such as letting them manage a small amount of money which they can ultimately spend to buy whatever they want. There will certainly be small accidents, we have to be prepared to take some risks if we want them to learn!

Planning the next step

These are all valuable lessons and a process that starts long before the trip and brings us closer with our kids. We get to know each other, they listen to our stories and we see them as individuals. It helps a lot, as you could guess, to involve the children in the planning process, starting with “help me choose a hotel” or “would you rather we went to this or that museum?” and going on with “which clothes would you like to pack?”.

This doesn’t stop even after the trip, when we can go through our photos together and choose some to print! All this is time that we spend together. Moments, hours and days of compressed time – hours in the car, on the plane, at breakfast or a nice café where we can talk about the world, listen to each other, play or watch away from homework, housework, work and ringing mobiles.

So, why should I travel with my young kids? Because it’s the greatest gift I can give them-and myself!