Traveling with Children: Why Family Wanderlust Works

Despite common misconceptions, the adventure doesn’t have to come to a screeching halt once you start a family. Post-family wanderlust can be even better with the right mindset and a little patience. While I’ve talked about the benefits of travel for children in previous blog posts, it’s time to address why traveling with children, although a more complicated process, leads to amazing perks.

But let’s get one thing out of the way first: travel with children is different than travel with adults. Period. But that doesn’t mean you have to bury your wanderlust and never look back. In fact, seeing the world with kids offers deep rewards of a different kind.

Travel Makes You a Better Parent

Traveling and parenting share many things in common. Both come with challenging moments. Very challenging ones. But both are also richly rewarding. What’s more, traveling and parenting require similar qualities:

• patience
• flexibility
• creativity
• ingenuity
• empathy
• determination
• resilience
• an understanding of basic human psychology

You get the point. Why not develop these skills during travel with kids? Besides polishing the qualities listed above, the experience of traveling will bond you more closely with your kids. You’ll learn about their personalities (and your own) by stepping outside of your comfort zones. Through this gained knowledge, you can set better expectations and boundaries for your children.

Change Your Parenting Perspective

Traveling also allows you to learn about parenting from other cultures. Remember books like Bringing Up Bébé, The Happiest Kids in the World, and The Danish Way of Parenting? They take great parenting advice from around the world and distill it into universal truths. Why not gain your own cultural insights while enjoying stunning destinations?

As you and your children expand your cultural horizons, you’ll gain an invaluable understanding of our shared humanity. You’ll develop a closer connection to people from all over the world and learn about yourself in the process. Connecting, understanding, and learning are crucial to successful parenting.

Slowing Down

One of the biggest differences between pre- and post-family travel is the pace at which you travel. While you can still make a list a mile long of all you’d like to see, the truth is you have to conform to kid pace. This pace is set by everything from how long your child’s stride is to when they need to eat or take a nap.  And, you know what? That’s not a bad thing.

While slowing down while traveling can feel frustrating at first, it also comes with big rewards. When you drop the frenetic pace and take time to enjoy your surroundings, it’s amazing what you’ll discover. You’ll notice off-the-beaten-path treasures and interact with locals. After all, there are no better icebreakers than kids.

Traveling with Children

Traveling with children doesn’t have to feel monotonous or be constrained to staycations. Get out there and see the world with your little ones. They’ll thank you for it, and you’ll thank yourself for stepping outside of your comfort zone and opening your heart to a different kind of travel experience.

Interested in learning more about places to travel with kids? Or, looking for tips for traveling with kids? We’ve got you covered. Follow our blog to stay on top of family vacation advice and ideas.

At Our Whole Village, we create tours carefully designed for families who want to create lasting memories while making a difference. We’re here to help you and your family experience the world, its peoples, and cultures. Contact us today to learn more about the unforgettable experiences that we handcraft for families just like yours.