Dec 11 2009
Why We Travel with Our Young Children
My husband had a conversation with a friend yesterday about traveling in economic times when things are uncertain. We’re planning a post-Christmas road trip, which surprised our friend. He and my husband had an interesting conversation about it, and my husband’s main point was this: We travel with our kids now because we won’t be able to travel with them forever. They’ll grow up, become more involved in activities, move away from home, and we won’t have the opportunity that we have now to explore with them.
That got me thinking about our reasons for traveling at all, especially with preschool and early-elementary aged children. Here’s what I came up with.
- We travel to spend time together. If we took our vacation days at home, or attempted a “staycation,” there would always be housework, farm work, yard work, book work, and computer work staring us in the face, taunting us that we weren’t getting enough done. We travel to get away from all that, to spend days together unencumbered by things that should be done. When we travel, we leave the work behind for a period of time and spend time together, sharing experiences as a family. We love hearing the kids say, “Remember when . . .” We love spending time talking to them, singing, and playing games in the car. We love watching their faces as they see something new. We enjoy the closeness of the time spent together on vacation.
- We travel to become better learners. My husband and I frequently talk about how history class would have been much easier and a fuller experience if we’d already been to sites related to what we were learning. Now, as we travel, it’s easier to make the connections–the battlefield at Gettysburg, stops along the Underground Railroad, Civil War encampments at Minnesota’s Fort Ridgely–to see how events tied together. Likewise, our appreciation for art has grown as we’ve visited art museums and learned about artists. And the math involved in travel–how many miles, how many dollars, when will we get there–has our kindergarten and first-grade kids doing story problems long before the dreaded term of “algebra” enters their vocabulary.
- We travel to learn about other people. Here in our rural community, almost everyone’s skin is fair, and diversity means having both German and Norwegian heritage in the same township. My children assumed that everyone speaking a language other than English was speaking Spanish, but in our travels, we have talked to women from Somalia and India, learned about the Hmong culture, and met a variety of people who have different stories and different backgrounds.
- We travel to see God’s beautiful creation. Our farm in Minnesota is in a beautiful location, but there are many other types of terrain to be seen that showcase the beauty of this land we live in. Even traveling within the upper Midwest, we can see the Badlands of North Dakota, the lush flat Red River Valley, the forests of northern Minnesota, and the expanse of Lake Superior. It would be possible to see all of these things within a single day. How much more is there to see if we go farther?
- We travel because it’s fun. While there are many things to do right here in our home state, there are also lots of things that can’t be done unless we go somewhere else. Seeing the Statue of Liberty, dipping our toes in the ocean’s salty water, riding in a fast elevator to the top of the Sears Tower–these are experiences we can’t have at home. We like things that are quirky or silly as well, like the World’s Largest Twine Ball or having our car roll up hill at a gravity spot. We never know what unexpected thing we’re going to come across that will put a smile on our faces.
Traveling while our kids are young isn’t always easy. They require extra gear, extra stops, and plenty of sleep while on the road. We run the risk that they won’t remember the details of all the places we’ve been. And they’re simply too young for some of the places we’d like to visit.
On the other hand, at these young ages, they’re still a captive audience. They’re not involved with extracurriculars that control their schedules, and not grumbling about missing time away from their friends to go on the required family vacation. They love the time we spend together as a family, exploring new things. Our hope is that by providing these experiences early in life, they’ll continue to value them as they grow older.
And if the day should ever come that we no longer can travel, we’ll have fond memories to look back on, of time spent together playing, learning, and exploring on our travels with children.
There you have it–our reasons for traveling with our young children. Why do you travel with your kids?
I feel the same way! I always think that people are missing out when they don’t travel with their kids. And it doesn’t have to be that far away! Even little day trips can be fun.
When I was a teenager, I remember being astonished that an elderly man was taking college classes. Why did he need to take classes? He was old!
The elderly man explained that he took classes because he was curious, and that you should never stop learning. When you stop learning, you start dying.
That is why I’ve always traveled with my kids, because we never stop learning. We learn from books, but mostly from experiences. And usually, those experiences require leaving our cocoons and traveling.
Travel learning is just as important for this middle aged mom, as it is for all members of this family. That includes the kids, the grandma, and even the family dog!
We travel because we love to travel. We did it before we had a kid, and so why stop now that we have one? It’s an added bonus that it’s good for him. You should see all the pictures he’s been drawing in pre-school about our summer trip to Spain. We had no idea he would remember so much, or that our trip would make such an impression on him. I belive our four year old is very curious about the world, and I think all our trips together have helped make him that way.
.-= darngooddigs´s last blog ..Shelley Seale Nominates Casa Susegad in Goa, India =-.
Sandra, I agree wholeheartedly. There’s so much to be learned from travel. We’ve chosen this as our “thing” instead of early pushes into sports and other school-organized activities. We treaure the family time together, learning as we go.
Linda
Darngooddigs–Our experience was very similar–we loved to go places, so when we had one child, we kept going. Two kids? We still had a one-on-one defense. Three wasn’t much more than two, and four . . . well, by four it was in our blood and there was no stopping us.
I did get a lot of funny looks and questions when I would go on outings–to museums, historic sites, etc.–without my husband and with my four preschoolers. Knowing that it was entirely possible to take four kids out in public–and enjoy it–was the reason I started this blog.
Linda
I say life is too short not to – We are taking our first ‘big’ family trip this winter – 7 days and 7 nights in Florida at Disney no less! I’m terrified of ‘getting there’ as it was cheaper for us to fly than drive – but I absolutely CANNOT wait!
I’m hoping it goes smoothly so we can do more traveling – though this will be the ‘biggest’ trip by far – though we LOVE to just get in the car and go…and there are soo many places to see and do -
.-= darcie´s last blog ..Tired of Voting Yet? =-.
What a great list of reasons. I keep on trying to pick out the one I like best and I can’t. We truly DO learn more by experience. All of these reasons make people more complete. What wonderful character traits you are instilling. You are modeling and ultimately helping your children become people who can have fun, think critically, understand the diversity around them, appreciate beauty and value family. Seems like travel is indeed a great thing. I will definitely pass this on to others who wonder why travel?
.-= Eleni – Surfing Mom SC´s last blog ..Cappuccino Biscotti =-.
Darcie, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. We haven’t braved flying with the kids yet. (With four of them and two of us it’s not economical.) Say hi to Mickey & company!
Linda
Eleni, I’m glad you like the list. We hope that we are helping our children to become all of those things you mentioned, and along the way, we are having a lot of fun.
Linda
[...] Travels with Children has a wonderful explanation of why it’s so important for families to travel. Instilling a love of travel and other cultures in children in such a worthy effort. [...]
We travel for all the same reasons and more. My son is on the autism spectrum and the more exposure to new things he gets as a young child, the more likely he will be able to adapt as he gets older. Yes, it may be harder for us than some famlies but my kids LOVE to travel and often cry when we pull back into our driveway after a long trip. They want more! I think there is no better education than a hands on education.
.-= Sharlene´s last blog ..Road Trip Day 20- A Teton Sunset =-.
What a great list! When we were younger, my family (four kids, two adults) traveled by car to central Mexico from Michigan every year. It was 40+ hours one way. Now that we are all over and can’t do that, it’s all we talk about. Our best memories are from those trips, whether it was in the car or at our destination. We have zero personal space and we all get along great. We can laugh at anything or nothing and fall asleep anywhere. We would not be the same people if we hadn’t learned to tolerate and love one another while squeezed into a vehicle for days at a time.
Now, after several cross-country plane trips, two international plane trips and a dozen road trips from Chicago to Tennessee and to Florida, we are embarking on our first roadtrip to Mexico with our boys (ages 5 and 2.5). They will begin their journey of seeing how the landscape changes from cold Chicago to the plains of the Arkansas to the eternal roads of Texas to the mountains of Monterrey to the deserts of Zacatecas, Coahuila and Durango and finally the humidity and green landscape of Jalisco…all within a few days. Wish us luck!
Elizabeth, your memories sound wonderful, and I love your points about having to get along with your siblings when you’re stuck in a car with them. Enjoy your travels with your kids. Have a good trip!
You said it! And when anyone asks, I’m just going to send them right here. I especially like your husband’s point about the kids growing up and doing their own thing. I hadn’t thought it that way, but it’s so true. Traveling now gives us some of those stopping-time moments.
.-= Lorraine´s last blog ..Sea Turtles With Kids =-.
[...] recently wrote a post about why we travel with our kids. That post came about in response to a conversation we’d had with friends about money and [...]
Okay, I just read this post and it’s much clearer now. Ur inspiring me to get up and go somewhere!
.-= Anthony´s last blog ..Being Genuine and More On Asking Questions =-.
We travel with our eight children now 11 and under. We tok the all full-timing in a camper throughut the US. Then, we served with them in missions fr a few years in the Philippines. We together visted Japan and Taiwan and then Hawaii and much of some of the West Coast. Right now, we live back in our PA Mennonite area, but are gearing up to go to central America. We love to travel, but we travel with a mission. We want our children to love to learn and to lve to serve. We do lots of play, but play alone is empty in the end. We love the Lord. We love his creation. We love letting our children explore God’s world. We like them to see the result of sin in the earth and to see the fruit of those who love him. We travel to learn and grow as a family. We love being together. Life with our little ones is s very short. Thanks for sharing this great site.
[...] Different families enjoy different types of travel. I share what works for us in Why I Prefer Road Trips to Airplane Travel and The Vacation that Fits You Best, as well as why we travel with our young children. [...]