Do you Travel with Kids?

Tough its a time of #selfquarantine amidst the #Coronavirus scare, this post shares my experiences on Travel with kids. Save it for later! The travel bug bit me when I was little as we used to sit with Atlas and world map, to figure out our upcoming trips. This setting on the dining table used to turn into real-time adventures, which gradually made me fall in love with exploring places as a child. 

As a mom of one, I get the same vibes from my boy, who today wants to go on a trek, explore nature’s diversity, build his Avengers castle on the beaches, go sea diving, and capture the sunset with minutest details! 

We are a travel freak family, having traveled 7 countries, covering more than 60 cities with our 5year old. Traveling around the world with Kids has its charisma, even if it is exhausting (precisely in the initial years). We bowed to a few challenges which in turn opened up the pandora box of inquisitiveness and real learning. I do see couples leaving kids behind on their voyages, but for us, it is learning with immense bonding with every city we tour.

Why is it important to Travel with Kids?

These 5 pointers summarise our experience of traveling with our kid, right when he was 4 months!

1. Travel inspires Curiosity:

Travelling is like a “Free-learning” module for kids. Kids are so curious about people, local culture, monuments, museums, Nature and almost everything. People ditch museums when with kids, but I need to admit that even the Museum visits have been so enriching for us. 

Questions keep coming and the answers (age-appropriate) are fed to cater to that innate curiosity. Travel is like a Free library to kids, with reads on diverse subjects. What Kids learn from their experiences and explorations is far more than what they do by “Rote bookish learning”. Travel makes a subject like a history as the most fascinating one, believe me.

2. Take up the Challenges:

Travel agents said NO, Locals said Think again, but we went ahead! It was for planning a trek of around 5+ hours within a day with our 4.5year old. Well, it was not only completed with some crazy fun, but it also introduced new learning, to take on challenges boldly.  

When kids are exposed to small adventures, their hesitation converts into “acceptance” (when they are with their family). This acceptance pushes them to go beyond their comfort zones. Not just kids tend to take up challenges, such exposures enhance their confidence and this forms the base for their life, which indeed is not a cakewalk.

3. Family Bonding Time:

Our travels are like building our dreams together. Traveling means a time fully dedicated to each other. Right from fun activities to those crazy discussions, vacations create life long memories which you’ll certainly cherish. It’s an unhindered time, with no additional stress, bust just to bond, and love every moment with each other.  

4. New learnings:

Our recent trip to France, made our little one learn French (basic). I saw it started when we were touring the smallest towns of Normandy region of France. While in Singapore touring a Historical Museum, he learned about the early age and establishments before and after the world wars. 

(And just name World War, he’ll narrate you all that he knows). Jokes apart, as you travel, kids learn about places, people, cultures. This, in turn, helps them shape the real world, in a much better way.

5. Adaptability:

If you’re a hardcore traveler, then you would agree that Travel is not all about comfort. There are elements of warmth, but you don’t get the same environment at every place. While we were touring Etretat for 2 days, we found that people didn’t even know English there. It was a hard time communicating, but communicating with gestures was what our boy learned (This triggered him to learn French too form people).

While we are camping, we just have basic amenities, nothing luxurious. Travel helps kids adapt to the environment they are in and yet devise their fun. This triggers flexibility in them, wrt their actions and thoughts.  

Traveling is an experience, a gift that you shouldn’t miss as a family. Travel with kids, you’ll never have a mundane moment, I bet!

#Blogchatter A2Z

The theme for my Blogchatter A2Z is, “Around kids’ and mommy”. As we all are #selfquarantined in these trying times, there is so much to share around this theme. My posts would entail a few nuggets of wisdom and some fun activities revolving around my child, my world!

Much Love,

Jhilmil