5 Reasons To Travel With Your Kids

Travelling with kids is an education

Travelling is easily one of the BEST ways to learn about the world. What better way to learn about the history, environment, animal species, or different cultures, than by visiting a place. You also get the chance to meet local people who can teach us from a personal perspective, which is so much more impactful and memorable than learning from a book while sitting in a classroom.

You open their minds

Seeing how others live, trying new foods, being pushed out of our comfort zone, and having experiences beyond what we are used to, is one of the best ways to broaden our worldview and open our minds.

Teaching kids that there is a whole world out there beyond their own reality, and showing them other ways of life, is one of the best gifts we can give them. 

Quality time 

Before we set off on our adventure in 2023, Josh worked a 40-hour week, and I worked part-time. Outside of work, we had shopping to do, cleaning to get done, cooking, and general life admin. It all piles up.

The majority of our week was spent looking forward to the weekend so we could spend quality time together, only to be exhausted and drained once it arrived.

Travelling with your kids gives you the ultimate opportunity for quality time together. While we were away we didn’t have to think about shopping, cooking, laundry, or cleaning. It’s a completely different way of life. All our time was spent making memories and enjoying each other’s company, and our toddler had both her parents with her 24/7 which is something we will forever be grateful we gave her.

You meet people 

This is possibly my favourite part of travelling, but I didn’t realise how much this amped up once you travel with a child! They are the best ice breaker - kids are so much more likely to say hi to a stranger or the person sitting next to you at a cafe (and vice versa - adults often said hello to our toddler before saying hello to us!).

We spent so much time at playgrounds and met so many really lovely parents this way. We even got invited to stay with people, had play dates with others, and were invited back for home-cooked meals (a real luxury when you’re travelling for an extended period of time). We made some really special and meaningful connections, and friends that I still keep in touch with today.

You get to see the world through their eyes

Everything is new to kids, and everything is exciting (regardless of where you are in the world). They teach us to slow down and look at things we might otherwise not have noticed - a small flower, an interesting bug, a colourful sign - and they help us appreciate the things around us so much more.

Travelling with our toddler has definitely taught us to slow down, and to walk and explore at her pace, and not be rushing around. Seeing the things she gets excited about has been so beautiful, and watching her learn new words based on these experiences (like temple or bao bun), has shown us just how much she has learnt.