The making of a young traveler - My take on travelling with kids .....

Travelling is one such experience which varies from person to person. For me , travelling is pretty much a form of meditation that takes my mind into a different zone. I enjoy the travel as much as the destination. While I love to travel alone, my other favorite is to travel with my daughter.

We started off with small road trips when she was 3 years old to get her used to different places and eventually the food outside. And now my 8-year-old enjoys the long drives (even with her motion sickness), her walks in the forests and farms, playing with sticks, stones and sand. She is slowly learning to turn our travels into her own experience.

So, here is my take on why we should travel with kids. This is from my personal experience and how I have seen my little girl blossom into a strong, nature loving, responsible child.

Grooming to be a Global Citizen – We have most of our education system vouching that the children will be turned into global citizens by their modes of education. I truly believe that one becomes a global citizen only by shedding their inhibitions and look at the wider world with the same lens. Trust me, children can adapt to places and cultures much faster than any of us adults. Their mind is like a sponge absorbing everything around them. So, making them travel with you allows them to see the actual world, the good and bad both. It helps them eventually get a perspective of a lot of things in life. 

Getting that hidden foodie out!  Well, this one is a bit tricky. Works differently with different kids, as eating is one of the biggest challenges most of the parents’ face. With me, I haven’t yet achieved getting my daughter to try all kinds of food, but I definitely have noticed that she eats better when we are travelling! Which makes me a happy Mom! 

Exposure to Language and Culture – This is a big big part of travelling. This is perhaps the few things one doesn’t get to learn at School - understanding the culture and people of the place you are travelling to. It turns them into tolerant open-minded individuals who accept that they share this earth with a lot of different people. Make sure you take your kids to some of the local cultural shows or museums to give them an understanding of the rich heritage of that place. Do your research and reading and be prepared for a lot of questions if your little one is an inquisitive traveler. The last thing you want to do is tell you don’t know or shush them which shuts the kids mind for the rest of the trip.

It builds a lot of confidence – This is true for both adults and kids. Travelling in any form always builds a lot of confidence. You are getting out of your comfort zone and into an unknown territory. When you start handling things in the new zone the confidence automatically gets a boost. Especially with children, when they realize that they were able to make friends with a bunch of kids from some other country in a different city far away from home, it makes them very confident. They realize that they are capable to socialize under any circumstance. And you will be surprised that these experiences of making friends linger on for a longer time than an amusement park they would have visited.

Increase their tolerance to discomfort – This is one of my personal favorites. Travelling truly makes your child figure out things for themselves. They learn that delayed flight, bad weather, not so good food etc are all part and parcel of life. They learn to turn every situation into a more acceptable one in their own way. My most recent experience while travelling with my little girl – we had a 4 hour delayed flight due to some technical problem. My girl was sulking in the corner for a while and then when she noticed that pretty much everyone was just sitting there and in the same situation as ours she realized we were not alone. She then made friends with other kids and got busy playing for the next 3 hours on the terminal. Letting them figure things out makes them feel so much more empowered.

Well, these are just top 5 from my long list of experiences by travelling with my little girl.

Keep travelling and enjoy every experience it brings…..

Happy and Safe Travels!