Is it worth it to travel with small kids? (An honest opinion)
“Travel is dead once you have kids” can be very true to many parents. I was one of them when I first gave birth to Freddy.
If I show you my iPhone camera roll from the early days of parenthood, you will see every single corner of our old house in Michigan and nothing outside of it—it’s like I was living in a bubble, both literally and figuratively. I would say that my opinion towards traveling with kids was mostly changed by the pandemic—being stuck at home for a very long time, I saw how it negatively affects both the adults and especially little kids like Freddy. The sameness, rigid routine, and lack of new experience is not at all ideal for their development, nor does it prepare them for the real world. So in 2021 we decided to move to a city where we could easily access mountains and beaches by car, take on weekend trips and gradually introduce the idea of long distance air travel to him as he grows older. And by the time you read this, Freddy is 4-years-old, and has traveled throughout Washington State, Oregon, California, and Hawaii. Outside of the his home country US, he has traveled to Canada, Mexico, and is currently visiting Japan. He’s definitely not the most well-traveled kid for his age but has really come a long way from what I had originally imaged for his childhood.
I’m not going to lie, the first trip going to the Olympic National Park wasn’t smooth sailing for us, but the more you do it the more your kids get used to it to the point they actually enjoy the experience. They are only so little and have limited life experiences and expectations, so we can help them stretch their minds by introducing them to new places, ideas, and cultures. Also, please remember the traveling day/first day is always going to be a bit rough as their little bodies are stuck in a car or a train or an airplane for longer than they would like to be. So it’s honestly all about parents’ expectations and how to set reasonable ones.
To answer my own question in the title, is it worth it to travel with little kids? Yes, as long as you set your expectations right. If you expect to travel with small kids as if you are traveling before you had kids, then you will have a horrible time and since they feed off their parents’ energy they would likely be miserable too. So my experience so far has taught me to build in some free time every trip and let him have his wiggles. We also like to split the day doing things we each enjoy, for example, when we were in San Francisco the past July, we spend a morning visiting a museum, which is more enjoyable for the adults, and the same afternoon we went to a beach by the Gold Gate Bridge so he can play with sand and water while we can still take in the beautiful city view of SF.
When you consider the worth of travel, it’s not just emotional, it’s also financial. Many families don’t travel because they are not sure if the kids would enjoy it so they rather not risk wasting the money, which I totally get it. So don’t go cold turkey and travel from the US to Portugal when you get your child’s first passport. Take it step by step. Remember how you try to make your kids eat veggies? You first put a tiny bit of it to build tolerance of the flavor and texture, then slowly but gradually give them more. Traveling with small kids is like introducing them to veggies. I have friends who are lucky to have small kids who love veggies from the start. But let’s be honest, most kids see lettuce in their plate they immediately look devastated. So remember to go slow when introducing travel especially if you are unsure with their reaction. If you are open to traveling with your littles, start with local trips, 1 or 2 hours in the car, and make sure when you are at your destination everyone gets to do something they enjoy everyday including all the adults and children. Remember to build their tolerance and interests one day at a time. And if you are very lucky and get to see the planet through their little eyes, you will finally realize, oh what a wonderful world.