People think that traveling with kids takes away all of the fun, but I’m sharing 4 reasons that you absolutely have to travel the world with your kids.
Traveling is by far my favorite thing to do. I would literally live on a boat or a plane traveling the world if I could. Some people think that when you have kids your life stops or that you’re no longer able to have fun. The truth is the moment we had Tatiana was when we really started living. She’s picked up on our love to travel and I couldn’t imagine traveling without her.
4 Reasons To Travel The World With Your Kids
1. Your kids will have fun.
Kids love experiencing new things and going to new places. Tatiana can’t get enough of staying in a new hotel and trying new restaurants. I think she’s as much as a foodie as I am. She loves getting to see what every destination we visit has to offer. In every city, we let Tatiana pick a few things that we do and she has so much fun getting to pick something that she’s really interested in. Like that time we went to the Gulf Islands, she was determined to build a sand castle at the beach.
2. It will allow your kids to see the world with an open mind.
Kids are like sponges. They soak up literally any and everything. This is probably the most important reason why you should travel the world with your kids. By exposing them to new things, it’ll allow them to see a whole other side of the world that they would never be exposed to at home. There are only so many things that your kids can learn from a textbook, television, or a computer. When you travel the world with your kids, you’re showing them that the world has many other things to offer.
3. You only live once and they’re only kids for a short time.
Did you know that there are only 936 weeks in a child’s lifetime? If you’re one of those parents that is planning on shipping your kid off to college in another state the moment they turn 18, then you better take advantage of every moment you have with them now. Because let’s face it, when they become a hormonal teenager they’re not going to want to spend time with you anyways. Travel the world and expose them to as much as you can while you can, and they’ll be sure to thank you for it later. Even if it’s just a weekend getaway, every trip matters.
4. You’ll make unforgettable memories.
My favorite reason that you should travel the world with your kids is the memories. Although Tatiana is only four, she remembers details about every trip we’ve ever taken. If you asked her about our trip Miami, she would tell you about wearing the robe and swimming in the pool. She would tell you about the time that she got to be the captain on The Paradise Boat Tour in the Gulf Islands. The memories that you’ll make will be ones that you and your kids will never forget.
Do you travel as a family often?
Tips to make traveling the world with your kids a reality
1. Make a bucket list
One thing that my family does at the beginning of every year is we make a bucket list of places that we absolutely must visit that year. Our list usually consists of 8-12 places. We each choose 1 place that is at the top of our list as a priority. If something happens that year and we can’t travel to every place on the list, we make it a priority to make it to at least the 1 place we each chose.
2. Create a plan
Once we have our bucket list for the year, I sit down and plan out the details for each trip. I start by selecting the dates that will work best for our family. I take into consideration birthdays, holidays, and any events we might have planned so that we’re not away from home for important things. Once dates are chosen I can move on to planning an ideal itinerary and budget for each destination. It’s super important to create a budget for each destination so that my family knows how much we’ll need to save to actually make the trip happen. Once I have my budget set and dates coordinated, I move on to finding the right hotel. I book a hotel that’s perfect for my family with these tips.
3. Save, save, save
Saving for each trip is key. The worst thing ever is going on vacation and not having the money to do everything that you want. By planning in advance you will know a rough estimate of what each trip will cost. I like to go by a general rule of thumb for each trip: saving the amount needed + 10% for any unexpected expenses. Check out this post f you need a few tips on how to vacation on a budget.
4. Encourage your kids to save too
How many times have you gone on a vacation with your kids and they’ve asked you for a million things? This happens to us every single time. We like to encourage our kids to save their own money to take on the trip too. By saving their own money they can buy whatever toys, books or souvenirs they want to on a trip.
5. Stick to an intinerary
Since you have got your budget detailed, it’s important to stick to the itinerary you mapped out. To get the most bang for your buck, Google free things to do with kids in the city that you’re visiting. Most cities have a handful of fun, free activities you’ll want to take advantage of. Sticking to your itinerary will ensure that you won’t have any unexpected expenses on your trip and spending more than you allocated.
What’s one reason you love to travel the world with your kids?
Favorite Family Friendly Destinations
- Sarasota, Florida (Lido Beach Resort is perfect for families and Hotel Indigo is perfect for a quick weekend getaway)
- Jupiter, Florida
- St. Simons Island, Georgia
- Washington DC
- Los Angeles, California
- Gulf Shores, Alabama
This is truly incredible. I travel a lot with my children, but we have yet to be out of the country. My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe with them in a few years (they are only 5 and 6 and we really want them to be able to fully experience it). I think that traveling as a family is really important.
If it’s financially feasible for families to travel the world, then I feel they should be able to see places from their perspective. You might just learn something from listening to them explain what they see!
If you’re able to travel to different parts of the world with your kids, you definitely should! Making great memories with your kids is very important, and they get to indulge in different cultures.
Yes, I love being able to expose them to different cultures.
I see so many people traveling with their kids year around. It’s amazing for the kids to see the world and experience all of that! My kids are homebodies though and really rather be home.
There is so much that they can still learn from being home though. I’m sure your city is filled with so much culture.
This is so true. There is no better education than experience. I wish we had the budget to travel more when our girls were young. I know they really would have benefited from seeing more of the world.
I love these pictures! Your family looks SO happy 🙂
I love this! I definitely like being able to travel together with my kids. Those memories do have a lasting impact.
I couldn’t agree more to all of this. Childhood is so short and it’s so fun to see them discover and learn as they travel. I most definitely agree: traveling with our kiddos is one of the best family experiences ever.
I couldn’t agree more and I can’t wait until we can afford to do so. I want to take my kids around the world!
I love the idea of traveling the world with kids! When my daughter was little, we couldn’t afford it but a couple years ago she was my tour guide in Paris, London, and Krakow. Now we’re planning trips with my little grandson too. I think there are lessons in travel that can’t be found anywhere else.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Having your children experience different cultures around the world will help to make them understand the larger world and themselves so much better. It’s the best education that could hope to receive.
I think that traveling around the world with your children is a great way to expose them to the different cultures around the world. Most children love going on a new adventure.
We love traveling with our kids! It opens them up to so many experiences they wouldn’t otherwise get. They always come home with so many stories to tell.
That is the happiest time for me! Traveling with my daughter, and as they get older it gets interesting! She’s been traveling with us since she was 10 months, from Costa Rica to Greece!
Costa Rica and Greece sound amazing! I hope we make it there one day.
I actually just made this a goal for our family. My son has such an interest with other countries, I need to introduce him to global travel!
Before the internet, cable tv and all the ways we have to discover these days I was a child. I had no idea how big our world was, how different people could be, yet how much the same. Traveling the world with children is so life-enriching in so many ways! Granted we can do a lot these days online that we never could when I was a kid but I know I would be far more knowledgeable now if I had had the chance as a child!
Our family of six has traveled world wide since all 4 were toddlers. Traveling to different, faraway places is one of the best ways for kids to learn about geography, history, cultures, art and more.
Traveling is a great way to have quality time with kids. Lifetime memories.
I think it’s wonderful to travel with your children. It gives them a chance to experience cultures other than their own.
I completely agree!
I agree with this SO hard mama! In 2017 I made it my goal to travel more and we’ve been sticking with it. We haven’t gone international yet, but definitely when they get a little older!
We travel often but find ourselves visiting the same places frequently. We definitely want to do more international travel as our youngest daughter gets older. She’s three years old but is very spirited and lives on her own terms. I’m honestly terrified about taking her to a place where she should be on her best behavior!
We used to visit the same places over and over too. Then we started a travel bucket list. Every time we would come across a place that we’d want to visit we would jot it down. In the beginning of every year, we list 5 places that we want to visit every year. This will be the first year that we’ll travel internationally as a family.
The biggest issue most families will come across when wanting to travel together is money. I think it is amazing for kids to experience the world at an appropriate age where it won’t be wasted if they cannot remember the experience.