Travel with Kids While They’re Young- Even if They Won’t Remember It

It’s a top priority for our family to travel with our kids while they’re young- even if they won’t remember it.

Before we had kids my husband and I spent a lot of our time either traveling or dreaming of traveling.  We were fortunate enough to explore many national parks and great cities while it was just the two of us.

During this time in our lives, we constantly heard things like: “Enjoy it now- you won’t want to go anywhere once you have kids.” “Do as much as you can- once the kids arrive all you’ll be doing is going to Disney World.” And one that really struck a chord: “Travel now, because soon all of your money will be going to diapers.”

When we dreamed of a family though, we kept saying to each other how much we didn’t want to stop traveling. Instead, we wanted to find a way teach her to love exploring as much as we did. 

We started traveling regularly with her when she was about four months old. While the arrival of her baby sister meant that we needed to pack more diapers, it didn’t stifle our love of traveling.  In fact, having children has given our traveling a greater sense of purpose. It has expanded our list of places we would love to take them to- even if they won’t remember it. 

And with little kids, the definition of traveling becomes so much more flexible! Something as simple as a quick day trip to go hiking or visit a zoo is an adventure. All travel- no matter the scale- is valuable.

So when I’m asked why we choose to travel NOW, even though our children are still so young, here’s my reasoning:

1. Increased Imagination

We all know that children have incredible imaginations. The more children get to see new places, the more fuel they’re given for their vibrant minds.  Children in the preschool years often play imaginary games based on real life experiences to help them understand the world. Our trips have provided endless hours of inspiration for our preschooler.

Our two days at the beach
turned into over a year’s worth
of imaginative play.

When we took her to the beach at two and a half, we could only afford a two night stay.  I debated if such a short trip was worth the expense, the packing, the driving, etc. But once we came home, she immediately began building condos with her blocks and magnetic tiles. She created aquariums for her ocean animal figurines. She even reenacted the night that we got stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm.  Our two days at the beach turned into over a year’s worth of imaginative play. 

A couple of weekend camping trips have led her to pretend to be building campfires and going on hikes in our backyard for over a year.  Our trips to the zoo have led her to pretend to be on a safari.

Traveling as a little kid has given her endless inspiration for imaginative play.

2. A Shared Sense of Wonder

I love traveling to see new and incredible sights, and there is nothing like seeing the world through the eyes of your child.  Our first trip to the beach as a family was when our oldest daughter was only eighteen months.  I still remember her squeals when the water splashed on her feet and the faces she made when she felt sand. 

But what I remember the most was being on the beach at night and her looking up at the stars.  Her mouth dropped open, she started pointing, and for the first time- she said the word “stars.” 

The way a kid looks at the world at eighteen months is different from how they look at it at four years old or fourteen years old. I want to experience the world with them in all of those stages. 

3. A Foundation for Learning And Context for the World

Travel is a great opportunity to learn. Studies show that students who understand the context of stories show stronger reading comprehension. 

Traveling is a great way to start to give our kids a framework for understanding the world.  We use traveling as a springboard for discussions about topics that would never organically come up in our home.

Being at the ocean prompted questions about tides and marine life.  Hiking in the mountains led us to talking about which animals hibernate and why.  A trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania led us to introducing some introductory ideas about why it’s important to understand history.

They may not fully understand what we’re talking about along the way, but it’s laying a foundation that they can build upon.

We have also used our travel experiences as a way to enforce learning back at home.  We’ll read books and do activities related to where we’ve been. There’s an increased excitement because our kids can connect what they’re learning at home to what they have experienced with their own senses. 

For instance, after visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, we studied woodland creatures and used our woodland animal figurines for counting, sorting, and language activities.  Trips to the ocean inspired pouring activities with ocean beads and learning about marine life.

Traveling has helped us take abstract concepts and make them very real for our kids.  Concepts that are typically hard for young children to grasp come alive with experiences. For example, the idea of how maps represent real places in the world is easier to understand when we can trace a map of our route to a new city and we can talk about places along the way that are represented on a map. 

Traveling with the purpose of exploring has also allowed us to model for our children what it means to be lifelong learners.  My husband and I are enthusiastic to learn about new things. I want to continue to set an example for our girls for what it looks like to always be seeking new knowledge, develop new interests, and to continue to find wonder in the world.

4. Bonding as a Family and Creating Traditions

Our week at home is built around having as much quality time as a family as possible.  We have made conscientious choices to slow down our pace of living and we seek ways to prioritize bonding time.

With the way we have structured our everyday lives, I initially never thought that we were the type of family that “needed” a vacation in order to bond with each other. That’s what we’re doing every day, right?!  However, our first family getaway proved me wrong.

Our oldest was only nine months the first time we spent a long weekend at a cabin in the mountains. I could not believe how all three of us immediately relaxed the minute we arrived.  Just getting out of our daily routine a little bit by being in a new place made all the difference.  We relaxed.  I was less uptight about the schedule.  We got outside in the mountain air. Just being away was different.

Our first trip to the beach proved to be a similar experience.   We were going to see family, so it wasn’t entirely a vacation.   Leading up to the trip, I was dreading the drive with a young toddler. I was dreading the heat and I was thinking that there was no way we could relax cramped in the tiny room that we could afford.

I spent a week organizing our items to make sure that we had everything to pack. While doing so, I continuously muttered to myself about how this trip was turning into a giant, expensive headache.

And you know what- the same thing happened as at the cabin.  The MINUTE I stepped into the condo we were staying in, we all three turned into lower-key versions of ourselves.  My daughter had a blast playing with her toys in a new location. She fell in love with the beach and the pool. We laughed and played together in a much more natural way. And in a magical way, I felt like a kid again, too. 

On our last night at the beach, I watched our 18 month old look in wonder at the stars. And then she said “Family!  Hug!” for the first time and hugged us both. Pure magic.

In addition to spending quality time together, we are also creating traditions as a core family.  Our kids may not remember creating these traditions, but they will remember doing them as they get older.  Small things like eating at certain places, certain games we play while traveling, snacks I pack for the road, and the road trip playlists we create will all eventually become a part of the fabric of our family.  

5. Raising Good Travelers

A phrase I often live by as a mom and a teacher is “start out how you intend to finish.”  If I want kids that are good at traveling on longer trips when they’re teenagers, then I need to teach younger kids how to enjoy shorter trips,

Good habits start young. Just as I am teaching them their manners as early as possible, I also want to teach them to be fun travel buddies.

We want to encourage their natural love for adventure. This can even by exploring our own neighborhood, city, and surrounding towns as a tourist.  Now that our daughter has had a taste of exploring, she has started talking about places she’s dreaming of going. And at three years old she has started creating her own travel dream list. 

At meal times we often talk about where we all dream of going, and it is such a delightful conversation to have with a little one.

6. Travel with Little Kids is Cheaper

A lot of people make the argument that traveling with kids that won’t remember places isn’t the best use of your money.  HOWEVER, I would like to argue that this is the most economical time to travel with them. 

First of all, they’re small and don’t take up much room. We’ve been able to save money by renting small studios. As long as we had enough floor space to fit a travel crib, we were good.

When we do choose to eat out, little kids may not even need to order their own meals. Instead they can just eat off of our plates.

And perhaps most importantly, kids under 3 are often free for attractions like zoos, aquariums, and museums.  We have used their free entry as a chance to ‘scope out’ an attraction to see if it’s worth coming back to when they’re older.

7. They Deserve to See New Places, Too.

This is the bottom line.  I have a strong desire to see new places.  Every so often I need a different view- even if that means a short trip to a nearby hiking trail. My kids deserve that, too. 

We only get so much time, and that time seems to go by even faster when they’re little.  I want to pack in as much as I can with my kids while they’re still young.  And no, they may not remember the moment they first laid eyes on the beach or breathed in mountain air, but I will. 

They’ll have photos to last a lifetime . Photos at all different stages of their childhoods, with us loving them and loving our time together as a family.  No, they may not remember the details. But hopefully they’ll remember the feeling of growing up in a family that was curious, adventurous, and prioritized our time together.

If you’re looking for tips and ideas for travelling with little ones, check out the travel section of my blog here.

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