“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory”. ~ Dr. Seuss.
Traveling teaches you new and exciting ways of doing things, and people who don't explore tend to get set in their own comfortable ways and are unaware of the wonders outside their own four walls. That is why you should travel with kids. Not only that, from a poll done by the US Travel Association, it was found that childhood memories are often connected to family vacations. Living is being on top of a cliff after hours of hiking or walking on the narrow coastal streets of Italy while sipping on some fresh concuction.
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9. Travel Develops Confidence and Responsibilities
Family Vacations Forms Happiness Anchors for Kids
Children greatly value family vacations. It warms their heart and travel moments will always have a space in their memories for long afterward. Family travels are often associated with happy spontaneous moments where nothing else matters but the times, experiences, and laughter you are having together as a family.
Travel memories will gradually turn into happiness anchors that kids can draw upon and become reminders of positive moments in life. During family vacations, parents are less likely to give attention to work and spend vacation time being present with the kids. Being able to play with your kids not under any pressure of time or responsibilities will create a stronger bond and build unbreakable trust.
Being in the middle of a happy crowd in Reno or hopping from one boat to another in Thailand lets you forget about the rules and give you and your kids some slack to enjoy your gelatos under a coconut tree in a tropical town somewhere in the Pacific.
Travel experiences enjoyed together will give your child a whole new perspective of what it means to be a family when you are all floating on a massive sailboat on the way to the coastlines of the Caribbean. Traveling facilitates attachment play to your children which will boost your relationship when you go back to the comforts of your home.
Travel Experiences are Priceless Gifts
Gifts do not necessarily mean anything material or tangible. Gifts can be a knowledge you picked up on the way to see the massive stone-carved temple in India or a language you picked up from endlessly going around the charming tiny alleys of Kyoto.
The goal of traveling is to get cultured (and of course for the food!). Some travel because they want to garner a deeper understanding of a certain place or tribe while some just merely want to look around and see what's there is to see. Either way, it will surely open your senses.
Traveling with your family will give you a new perspective from locals who are living in their own social norms and deviances. If those things impact parents, what more could that do for kids? A child who has seen things far-fetched from what he/she used to will open his/her mind early in life. The child will have an in-depth curiosity about the environment and will gain an in-depth understanding in return.
Experiential gifts are valuable in terms of social connections. These gifts will elicit a more robust emotional response in contrast to the same old boring barbie doll, fire truck, or fridge magnet. A safari adventure in the woods of Africa is far more appealing than playing pretend with small little plastic toys that cost a fortune. Moreover, traveling will develop a child who values knowledge, experience, and fun than any materialistic gifts.
Traveling makes a long-lasting education that your kids will carry along with them until they are their own person. The language, culture, cuisines, and environment they have seen as a child is a visual memory lane that will give them comfort and remind them of you.
Quality Time Together Equals Quality Lives for Kids
While traveling creates undoubtedly future family memories, it also presents quality moments in the making. Quality time allows you to get to know your children a little better. It gives you the chance to break from the normal conversations you have in your house like school assignments or household chores but talks about hopes, dreams, beauty, likes, dislikes, and other factors that will help you get to know and understand your child a little better.
Family vacations allow more room for connection no day-to-day encounter can deliver. The shared experiences you will have with your kids and the quality time you spend are what keep families stronger together.
Not only will your relationship flourish when you go on an adventure with your children, but your kids will also learn to break out of their comfort zones and meet new friends while being able to engage as their own individuals. They will learn more about themselves and develop skills in problem-solving when something arises that needs a solution immediately. Through travel experiences, your child will grow up knowing how to make the right decisions in the future and deal with situations under pressure. Travel is a safe space for your kids to explore, make mistakes, make choices, think independently and critically, and see the world in the palm of their hands.
In this tech-savvy generation, traveling will connect you with your kids while they disconnect to the internet. Traveling is a lifetime gift you will give to your kids that will give them the passion to chase a quality life.
Family Vacations Means More Play to Create Memories
It can feel like the seconds can pass by without quality time with the kids. There are plenty of distractions at home that can rob you of quality time with your kids which can create a thin wall between your bonds.
Going on a vacation with your family opens room for more playtime. Playtime means being able to be present in the moment without dividing your attention to gadgets, household chores, class, schedules, and everything that keeps your hands and mind busy at home.
So why not hop on a bus, catch the train, jump in a taxi, sail away on a ship or fly to the other side of the world! Spend hours and hours talking to your child about their dreams, the things they love, the food they can't resist, and who their best friend is and why? Knowing these things will create a closer bond because by giving your undivided attention and spending time together, you allow yourself to understand your child better than before.
The same can also be said for your child. Traveling also allows your kids the chance to know you as well as a person, your likes, dislikes, dreams, and not just dad or mum. You can tell your child about your hopes in life, what you hate the most eating, your favorite memory, and maybe about the pet you loved so much when you were a kid. Traveling is by far one of the best ways to reconnect with your family, yourself and turn those moments into memories.
Family Travel Builds Self-Confidence and Limits Picky Eating
Toddlers can be notorious when it comes to food and can be hard to convince to try something else apart from their favorites. Being in a foreign country where the delicacy is quite different from yours will expose your kids to a variety of foods they can taste and experience. Life is all about experiences!
By exposing your child to the wide variety of scrumptious cuisines the world has to offer, they will then start to appreciate different tastes, textures, smells and begin to explore and tingle their tastebuds before deciding they don't like it. This builds confidence as they will begin to realize they have the courage to try, learn to face "challenges" whilst bearing a positive mindset. Thus, traveling and exploring frequently with your kids and exposing them to something new, strange, delightful, or even "cringey" will give them the advantage of accepting differences.
New Adventures Means Learning More About Each Other
New experiences can and will bring out a part of your family that you never knew existed until you are all standing in the middle of the sacred grounds of Machu Picchu or alike. The word Wow comes to mind. There are many things that can surprise you when you are traveling and including your family members. To travel is to live.
One of the many reasons why traveling is important to families is because it is the time for character building and enables you to catch glimpses of your child that may not surface at home. You might be surprised that your little one knows a lot about animals or maybe how rainbows come about. You will also be amazed to see how your little one's eyes light up upon seeing a flock of birds flying on top of them.
Travel is Education On-The-Road
Traveling lets you immerse yourself in cultures thousands of miles away from home. Getting to know a local like a friend will earn you knowledge about their authentic culture. The same goes with the locals, they will also learn about your traditions, beliefs, and what you usually eat at home. Simple daily things like that will give you a hint of how different people from other sides of the world live their daily life. Traveling will give you a world view that you will never acquire at home.
Moreover, the best way to learn is to experience. Through experience, knowledge sticks like glue, and a series of random encounters abroad will teach you to adapt quickly to a sudden change. There is also no other way to know how alluring is the Leaning Tower Pisa if you haven't seen it up close.
To be able to expose your kids to languages, art, culture, people, environment, and tradition will teach them the lessons of the world. If you don't live near the beach, or rarely see one, take your whole family to Indonesia and take a plunge together at Nusa Penida and go snorkeling with the manta rays.
No matter what the age of your kids is, new experiences will never cease to amaze them. Let them see a whole new paradise or explore a colorful urban destination. Wherever it may be, education will always be present.
Traveling Presents New Opportunities
When traveling, it is hard to say no to a new experience or adventure, or even taste. You would want to say yes because that opportunity might not come again. Traveling will indulge you in new opportunities to try and new memories to fill and melt your hearts.
When traveling wonders present themselves unannounced, go for it. When that moment strikes, a chance to say yes to something new, adrenaline-rushing, or cuisine you think you might not like, embrace it, especially with family.
As for kids who are always curious, thirsty for knowledge and adventure, traveling is the go-to outlet to express curiosity. Their imagination will spark and will earn free-flowing ideas and curious questions that only through traveling they will find the answer to. The more exposure kids receive, the better they are able to understand and connect with things, and what could be a more invigorating way to learning than traveling.
Travel Develops Confidence and Responsibilities
Traveling encourages kids to try new things and as an effect gains confidence. It is the priceless reward parents get when traveling with their kids.
Moreover, traveling will also teach your kids responsibility. When on the road or preparing in a hotel room, your child will start to become more attentive to his/her own needs and slowly begin to see the needs of others. Simply packing their own bags and carrying them is a huge stepping stone for a child. They will earn a sense of responsibility that will be of great benefit for their future.
Traveling is an amazing way to learn about the world, your family, and other people living in a totally different light. The world is the teacher while traveling is the vessel that carries around the knowledge of the world.
New places, new faces, new routines, fresh cultures, new things to look at, and new trips are the perfect ingredient for knowledge and quality life. Feel free to read up on our guide to flying with a stroller to help you conquer that major airport with your toddler. The world is filled with beauty and it would be a shame if you are only seeing a very tiny piece of it. So go and book your tickets and create memories that last a lifetime for your kids (and you).
We hope this article has inspired you to travel and spend more quality time with your family. Till next time. Stay well, be well and take care.
Happy Journeys!
