This was published 10 months ago
Opinion
If travelling overseas with your kids is a nightmare, you’re doing it wrong
Kellie Floyd
ContributorWhen it comes to travelling with your kids, there’s an enduring, age-old idea that you shouldn’t head overseas when they’re young because it’s too hard, and they won’t remember it anyway. But can we pause for a moment and rethink this?
All too frequently, when I share my family’s international travel plans, I’m met with negative commentary about long-haul flights, time zone changes, disrupted sleep patterns, and cuisines our kids aren’t accustomed to. All of these things are valid to a point, but what if, instead of fixating on the anticipated challenges, we embrace the possibility of a great family adventure?
Travelling with kids gives you an opportunity to make lasting memories and teach resilience. Credit: iStock
Don’t get me wrong; travelling with kids requires a lot of effort and patience, but isn’t that true of parenting in general? And if the argument hinges on their inability to remember things, should we stop reading them bedtime stories too?
After becoming parents, my husband and I decided having kids didn’t mean we had to, or should, abandon our travel dreams. We scoffed at the idea of limiting adventures to our backyard when our son, now 11, entered the world and three years later when our daughter arrived.
Our travels began when our son was seven months old. We braced ourselves for a potential midair symphony of baby wails, nappy blowouts at 35,000 feet, and daggers from fellow passengers.
Fortunately, that scenario never unfolded; our little one was a great flyer. But even if he hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have deterred us from taking international journeys. Even if you are someone whose children don’t love air travel, after enduring 22 hours of chaos, you still touch down in a new land that’s ready to be explored.
To help things run smoothly, we’ve always packed an ever-evolving arsenal of tools. We’ve invested in hiking packs that doubled as baby carriers and factored in “relax” days to allow for sandcastle constructions, joyful colouring in sessions or recovery naps. We’ve packed emergency games, ready to deploy and distract, iPads and always, always plenty of snacks.
With our children now growing older, we even parted ways for a day on a recent trip, with my son and I immersing ourselves in history at the Cold War Museum in Berlin, while my husband accompanied Miss Seven to an art gallery. This experience added a fresh dimension to our family travels. I have a deep-rooted interest in the World Wars, and have passed this passion on to my son. In Berlin, us two history enthusiasts found our adventure playground, and we evolved beyond the conventional mother-son dynamic into a partnership driven by a shared curiosity for knowledge and experiences.
A similar transformation unfolded with our daughter, with her able to witness this different side of him. Beyond his usual Dad role, he revealed a genuine interest in sharing brush stroke styles, the various art periods, and meanings behind paintings as he guided her through the gallery. It turns out Dad has more to offer in the art world other than simply painting our daughter’s bedroom pink!
Days like these go beyond exploring new destinations. They redefine our family dynamics and strengthen our bonds in a different way, all while nurturing a love for lifelong learning.
Our kids won’t remember every detail of our adventures. They won’t recall hiking across New Zealand glaciers as babies, constructing a snowman atop Germany’s highest peak, building sandcastles on an Icelandic black sand beach, or even mushing eight huskies on a dog sled in the remote reaches of Svalbard in the high Arctic. But does that really matter?
For us, travel has been a profound teacher of resilience, adaptability, and curiosity. While there’s limited research on the benefits of childhood travel, some studies suggest that these experiences do create memories that last, provide meaning in the future and can also become a basis for future life decisions.
I’d also argue that what they will remember is what truly counts – our family bonding and the informal learning experiences. My daughter often reminisces about her “walk in falling water” when she was three years old. She doesn’t recall she was walking behind one of Iceland’s majestic waterfalls, but she clings to the vivid memory of screaming with unbridled excitement at the top of her lungs and feeling the rush of adventure with her family by her side. Playgrounds are also cultural exchange hubs. The universal language of play transcends language barriers and has allowed our kids to interact with locals who helped them learn new sayings in a different tongue. Encouragingly, our kids’ teachers have always supported our decision to take them out of school, requesting only that they maintain travel journals and read.
When we travel together, we’re not just creating moments together; we’re crafting core memories that will transcend time. Gathered around our dinner table, we often fondly recall our escapades. Our kids affectionately refer to one recent holiday as the “Norwegian hot chocolate tour,” due to the copious amounts they consumed.
In the end, the question of how young is too young to take your kids overseas lacks a one-size-fits-all answer. It’s a matter of personal choice and comfort. But the crucial point is that travel, even with young children, can be a rewarding and enriching experience.
Don’t wait for your kids to reach the “perfect age” – because there isn’t one! After all, it’s not just about the destination; it’s about the journey.
Kellie Floyd is a freelance writer and marketing and communications consultant.
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