Why You Should Travel When Your Kids are Little

Travel with little kids can be frustrating – here’s why you should do it anyway!

Tired of schlepping around a stroller, car seat, diaper bag, wipes, bottles, toys, and all the other thousands of accoutrements a small child seems to need on a regular basis? Of course you are. And it’s even harder when you’re trying to do it on an airplane or a road trip. But guess what!? Travel with your kids anyway.

That period of time goes by much more quickly than you think. I know – everyone tells you that when you have small kids. When my daughter was a baby I racked up tons of free advice I was given that never made any sense to me: Sleep when they sleep? Ok, I guess I’ll never shower, eat, or clean my house again.

But I’m serious about the travel. Take trips while they’re really young. Struggle with getting all your baby stuff through TSA; drive for hours with a tired, angry toddler in the car; suffer through the furious glares of other travelers while your baby screams on an airplane.

We all have horror stories

When my daughter was 5 months old, we took her on her first flight. It was only an hour and a half, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad, right? The one thing I didn’t want to have to do was change her diaper in a tiny airplane bathroom. So I changed her right before we boarded. As usual, her timing was impeccable. Not only did I have to change her diaper on the plane, but it was the mother of all diapers! It was a masterpiece. Not even Samuel L. Jackson could have handled that diaper on a plane. But I survived. And so did she. And the flight attendants were super sweet even though I could tell they were trying to hold their breath after I opened the bathroom door. After that, it only got better. Well, sort of.

When she was two, we took my daughter on her first international trip. We flew from San Diego to Spain, figuring we would take advantage of the fact that we could still put her on our laps, and not have to buy a whole ticket. I have two things to say about that: First, about 3 hours in I would have paid a thousand dollars to get my daughter her own seat. Apparently, she was going for a world record on how long one toddler could stay in continuous motion. Second, I just thank God that the guy next to me popped a Xanax and didn’t wake up until we got to Madrid (not my husband, the other guy!). It was the worst flight of our lives. But then it was over, and lesson learned.

My horror stories aren’t meant to scare you off, just to show you that it happens to everyone. And then we move on.

It gets better

And when it gets better, you’ll be soooo glad you struggled through. You know why? Because if you struggle through when they’re young, they will be pros by the time they’re 5 or 6. When you travel with little kids, you’re prepping them for being great world travelers. You might have a few frustrating trips when they’re young, but the payoff will be all the amazing vacations you can take when your kids are seasoned travelers! Here are all the incredible things your kids will be able to do:

1. Entertain themselves for hours in a car or plane.
2. Pack like a pro.
3. Figure out a menu in a foreign country and not complain about the food.
4. Have the confidence to ask questions, get directions and talk to new people.
5. Pick up new languages faster than you do. (Ok, maybe that’s still a little annoying!)
6. Make itinerary choices based on their own interests.
7. Talk about architecture, art, history, nature, literature and all the other interesting things you learn about on your travels.

Am I saying kids will be perfect travelers when they’re older? Of course not. They’re still kids. And all of us get tired, irritable, and annoying at some points during a trip. But they will be so much easier. Even if you have some tough times in the beginning.

Why many parents are hesitant to travel

I hear two main reasons from people about why they don’t want to travel with little kids:

“My kids aren’t ready.” Of course they aren’t ready, they’re just learning. Were you already good at driving the first time you sat in the driver’s seat? Were your kids seasoned athletes when you first signed them up for sports?  There’s no perfect time to start traveling. The earlier you start, the faster they will learn.

“I want to wait until they can appreciate it.” If you wait until that magical age when you think they’ll appreciate it, they most likely won’t because they will be new to traveling and will have all the issues of first time travelers, just at an older, more obnoxious age. Did you wait to teach them to read until they could appreciate quality literature? No. You teach them to read so they will eventually appreciate quality literature. It’s the same with travel. You never know what little brains are absorbing when you travel with little kids. They may not remember the Grand Canyon from that time you went when they were two, but they will have absorbed new experiences, new languages, new food, etc. to make them more open and appreciative of new experiences as they get older.

So, are you convinced yet? I hope so!

5 Tips for travel with little kids

Here are my tips for raising fantastic travelers. These are overall tips for any type of trip. I also have a more specific post with tips on how to keep little hands and feet engaged in our National Parks.

• Do a wide variety of things: Don’t just visit the zoo, children’s museum and playgrounds in every place you travel. Balance kids’ stuff with other things so they learn that every trip isn’t entirely about them and learn to enjoy different activities.
• Don’t overdo it: I know in a new place it’s tempting to see and do everything it has to offer, but if your kids are always exhausted when they travel, they’ll hate it. Pick a few choice itinerary items and really have fun, then incorporate some downtime. And assume you can go back to places you really love.
• Involve them in the planning: Allow them each to pick one or two things to do; this will create buy-in for your trip. When they’re little, let them pick from a list of a few things to do. When they’re older, let them google search their own itinerary items.
• Don’t make it harder than necessary: Take days off, book a luxury hotel one time, let them eat ice cream for dinner on occasion and don’t beat yourself up. Also, be prepared by getting awesome kids travel products to entertain them, keep them safe and keep you sane!
• Be the traveler you want them to be: Try not to show your own frustration and exhaustion when things don’t work out perfectly. Don’t yell at the airline worker because your flight was delayed, don’t act like it’s the end of the world when your luggage is lost, don’t freak out when you take the wrong exit and get lost after a 6-hour drive. You want your kids to learn to react to adversity with resilience (and kindness) – not just in travel, but in life. You have to be the model. (P.S. I’m still learning to take my own advice on this one!)

The memories make it all worthwhile

Now for the mushy part: My parents dragged me all over the place when I was a kid – we camped, we flew, we drove, we stayed in ratty hotels, we went to places where the bathroom was a hole in the floor, but we did it all as a family. And we had great experiences, too: I learned to eat raw oysters in Paris, I swam around the Rock of Gibraltar, I saw my first London musical when I was 5 (It was My Fair Lady, I still remember it). And I took my very last trip with my parents in 2009, exactly a year before my mom passed away. That was the trip to Spain when my daughter was 2 and I thought we wouldn’t survive the flight. I am thankful every day for the fact that I got to travel one time with both my mother and my daughter, and I’m eternally thankful for the love of adventure that my parents instilled in me. It’s the best legacy I can pass on to my own child.

So yes, travel with little kids, like life in general, is messy and frustrating. Do it anyway. Because it is also amazing and joyful and life-changing.