Parents, do you travel with your kids?

[Iowa Lizzy]

I''m not a parent (and don''t plan on being one anytime soon) but I wonder if someday I''ll be more apt to travel with or without my children.

My parents always took my sisters and I on amazing vacations growing up. Singapore, Bali, all over the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Russia. We usually went to the Caribbean, Hawaii or some tropical location for spring break. They even let us each pick the destination for spring break for our senior year of high school. A lot of people would ask them, "why would you want to take your children on such long and involved vacations when it''s much cheaper and more romantic to go alone?" They always explained that since they could afford it, they should give us as many experiences as they could. They still always took at least one trip per year somewhere just the two of them or as a group with their friends.

Looking back, I was probably a big PITA on many of those trips and I really ought to thank my folks for letting us go to so many amazing locations. My little sister wasn''t born yet when we went to France and she has always refused to go with my folks because in her words "I need to save at least one place for my honeymoon someday!" I have to admit, sometimes when FI and I travel, I look around at parents traveling with children and wonder why you''d take such young children (or sometimes, even teenagers) on these great vacations they probably don''t even appreciate. (I say this more in Vegas when I see parents with children in strollers than anywhere else

)

So parents, do you plan more vacations with, or without your children? If you don''t have children, did you parents take you with them when they traveled?

 

[packrat]

We never did any family vacations until once when I was in 7th grade. I went on a few 1 week vaca''s w/my parents later in my early 20''s and that''s it. If we could afford it, I would love to take our kids places. One of my cousins and I went w/our grandparents when I was in 5th grade to Texas for 10 days, during Christmas vacation and it really was a fun experience. I can''t imagine seeing other countries tho-that would be amazing!

 

[tyty333]

I wish we traveled more with our kids (or more without...just more). My husband isnt a good traveler and mix
that with long lines, impatient kids and ugly stares and well, you get the point. We have only taken them to
Atlantis in the Bahamas and we''re going on a Disney Cruise in a month or so. I hope all goes well so that my
husband sees that now they are getting older we can take them to more places.

 

[packrat]

That sounds like a lot of fun tyty! We were just talking the other day about when Trapper is a few years older going to Disney and also at some point a Disney cruise. This summer we''re taking a couple days to go to the zoo and later to a theme park. My grandparents used to take us kids to that theme park every summer-we have some old home movies of one of the times and it''s a stitch to watch. My parents just weren''t into that, and they''re not into it now w/the grandkids. I don''t want my kids to miss out on it.

 

[Cehrabehra]

We travel with ours. It is expensive but trying to find someone to watch three kids (and the associated anxiety of not having them with you) is a pain in the butt. Plus they get the experience. Sometimes they don''t appreciate it at the time, but later they do. My son just wrote a paper on the Mona Lisa and he was able to say he''s seen it Not a lot of 3rd graders can do that!

When we came to China on a pre-acceptance trip in 2008 we didn''t take them and in some ways it was nice, but the whole thing was difficult. For a lot of years we just didn''t travel because of the expense, but the logistics always work out better than you fear they will IMO. It isn''t hard to do it if you have the money.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

We have three children, ages 10, 7 and 5. We have never taken a vacation without them since they have been born. We do not fly anywhere, but we have taken car trips to Nashville, Canada, and will be traveling to Connecticut and New York City this week. Sure they can make us nuts, but no more so than they do at home!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Date: 3/28/2010 9:06:30 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
We travel with ours. It is expensive but trying to find someone to watch three kids (and the associated anxiety of not having them with you) is a pain in the butt.

I totally agree! It is difficult dealing with three kids 24/7 when you ARE used to it, I can''t imagine doing it when you''re not. And yes, it would be stressful being on vacation wondering what they were doing the entire time.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I grew up (with 2 siblings) on the east coast of Canada and we always went on a 2 week family vacation every year - nothing fancy, but we traveled through the Maritimes, Ontario, Quebec, Conneticut, Massachusetts etc. It was not always fun or stress-free, but it was worth it. However - my parents also took vacations without us

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Date: 3/28/2010 9:06:30 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
Sometimes they don''t appreciate it at the time, but later they do. My son just wrote a paper on the Mona Lisa and he was able to say he''s seen it Not a lot of 3rd graders can do that!

I can definitely relate to this comment. I remember being in Italy in high school on a tour of Pompeii complaining that it was SO HOT outside and I was SO TIRED of ruins. Now I look back at that and think "Wow. I was at POMPEII. I wish I hadn''t been such a jerk!" Some of my earliest memories are of vacations. When I was six, we went to France. My sister (who was 10) and I were sharing a room (adjoined to my parents room). I remember being jet-lagged and waking up in the middle of the night to raid the mini-bar fridge with her. We had the best time giggling and snacking. It was all fun and games until my parents woke up the next morning and freaked out because: "that''s not free soda and candy!" Oooh, they were NOT happy! I can''t imagine what the room bill was!! Whoops! I still cherish that memory.

It took me some time, but I''m so thankful now for all those experiences.

 

[vespergirl]

Travel Goddess, my parents were like you, that they brought us everywhere they travelled from the time that we were babies (mostly Europe and the Caribbean). I also agree that there were some trips that I maybe didn''t appreciate at the time, but I really love the experiences now that I look back on them.

My husband grew up in a family that didn''t travel at all (outside of car trips to see family) but he also loves to travel. He also thinks it''s important for us to bring our kids so that they will be more worldly than he was when he went into the world on his own.

We have a 3 year old son, and we have brought him on road trips, some trips around the country (NY, FL, etc.) and then he took his first international trip to the Dominican Republic when he was 2. He is a fantastic traveller - has never cried on a plane (has flown about a dozen times since age 1) and loves to try new things. I am pregnant now with our second baby, and will probably take a travel hiatus until he is 6 months old, but if he is as easygoing as his older brother, we will definitely continue to travel with the kids.

I will mention that usually once a year DH & I like to take a trip by ourselves (3 or 4 days) so that we can reconnect as a couple. I don''t feel guilty about leaving DS behind, because I am a SAHM and I feel like taking a couple of days break from him a year is good for both of us

 

[princesss]

My parents traveled with us - when I was younger it was driving to Canada, driving across the US, stuff like that. When I was 11 we moved to Thailand and we went on cool trips. I think living overseas did really great things for us - I could appreciate the trips a lot. It''s all my brother and sister really remember. LOL - I remember being so jealous of my ex because he went to Paris for sports and he was so blase about it! But then, going to Taipei for drama was totally normal for me.

I was really lucky, and I plan on making it a priority to travel with any kids that I have.

 

[curlygirl]

My parents traveled a lot with my sister and me when we were little. My dad got a job in Beirut and left before us to get the house set up. My mother traveled from NY all by herself with a 1.5 year old and 3.5 year old and those were the days of cloth diapers and no rolling suitcases! I'm not sure how she did it. They took us all over the Middle East and Europe and when we moved back to the States we also took many trips together. I'm sad that I was too young to appreciate all of it back then and don't know that I'll ever get the opportunity to go to many of those places now as an adult.

Maybe I'm a wimp but I've only taken my older daughter on a plane a few times before she started walking and have yet to venture onto a flight with both of my mobile children. I definitely want to expose them to different countries and cultures but just like my own experience, I'm not sure how much they will appreciate any of it at such young ages (3 and 1.5). I think once the little one is a bit older, we will consider it more but for now, DH and I will take the substantial trips by ourselves!

 

[purselover]

If we have a child I plan to do what my parents did. We took some amazing vacations all together to Europe on a pretty regular basis, but they would also occasionally go just the 2 of them. I think it''s important for parents to have alone time vacations where they can do just the things they want and be able to go out for drinks and have intimate time together - but I also think it''s important for children to be cultured and see different places.

 

[Clio]

Most of our vacations involve visiting family (neither set of grandparents lives near us), so yes, we do generally travel with the kids. Airfare for 5 sure does add up, though!

We take the occasional trip without them, but that''s pretty rare. We had our kids youngish, so we figure we''ll have plenty of time to take trips without kids in tow.

Now that the kids are older, we''re starting to plan more trips that don''t involve visiting family (although we do sometimes meet them there!).

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Wow, that sounds like a fantastic childhood!

We never really went on family vacations. Mainly because we couldn''t afford it. We went on a few, but they were local and usually consisted of camping. My dad lived in the DC area for most of my childhood so we''d go visit him twice a year. I guess you could consider that vacation.

We plan to go on vacations with our kids. Most likely domestic and once a year or so.

 

[Lilac]

DH and I have discussed this, and one day when we have kids we would like to take one trip with the kids in the winter (winter break or sometime around then when the kids have vacation) and maybe a short more local/driving trip with the kids in the summer. DH and I would like to take one trip by ourselves each year. This is what my grandparents always did and they loved their "alone time" vacation once a year, but also loved going on vacations with the kids.

 

[TravelingGal]

We plan to travel a lot with Amelia. The big test will come next Sept when we take her (she''ll be 3.5 years old) to Australia for TGuy''s mom''s 60th birthday. If that goes well, the full on travel will begin!

We''ll probably take her places at first that will be fun for younger kids. Places with beaches. Maybe Costa Rica. I probably wouldn''t take her to London when she''s 4.

But I''m going to be one of those parents who thinks it''s a good idea to do a yearly trip instead of giving Christmas gifts. She''ll hate me for it early on, I''m sure. But christmas toys and goodies don''t last all that long...memories do. Of course, she''ll get loot for her bday though!

We''re doing a shorter flight trip to Hawaii this fall, so that will be a good indicator as well. I''m all about the travel!

 

[princesss]

Date: 3/29/2010 12:19:11 PM
Author: TravelingGal
We plan to travel a lot with Amelia. The big test will come next Sept when we take her (she''ll be 3.5 years old) to Australia for TGuy''s mom''s 60th birthday. If that goes well, the full on travel will begin!

We''ll probably take her places at first that will be fun for younger kids. Places with beaches. Maybe Costa Rica. I probably wouldn''t take her to London when she''s 4.

But I''m going to be one of those parents who thinks it''s a good idea to do a yearly trip instead of giving Christmas gifts. She''ll hate me for it early on, I''m sure. But christmas toys and goodies don''t last all that long...memories do. Of course, she''ll get loot for her bday though!

We''re doing a shorter flight trip to Hawaii this fall, so that will be a good indicator as well. I''m all about the travel!

That''s a great idea, TGal! BF and I have already transitioned to trips/activities together instead of gifts for bdays and Christmas, but for some reason I hadn''t thought about how we''d continue it later in life. I really like this idea.

 

[luckyme502]

We do both. We will go on adult vacations, like to Vegas, and family vacations. But, my daughter also travels without me. Like, my parents are taking her on a cruise this summer.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We don''t go on a lot of vacations. . .more along the lines of road trips. We go to Canada two to three times per year (since we''re so close to the boarder - we live in WA state) and take the kids about half the time. We also go to Oregon a lot and also drive there. Last time we went, they came with. The time before then, we went by ourselves to Astoria.

The last real vacation, on an airplane, was a few years back. Eight days in California and we brought the kids. Our next vacation will be Hawaii and the kids are coming.

If we were to go to Europe, I would NOT bring the boys. They''re too young and I think that we''d spend more time keeping an eye on them, rather than enjoying the scenery. When they''re in their teens, we''ll probably go to England. DH and I have been discusing our desire to go there.

 

[icekid]

Date: 3/28/2010 9:36:26 PM
Author: Travel Goddess

Date: 3/28/2010 9:06:30 PM

Author: Cehrabehra

Sometimes they don''t appreciate it at the time, but later they do. My son just wrote a paper on the Mona Lisa and he was able to say he''s seen it Not a lot of 3rd graders can do that!

I can definitely relate to this comment. I remember being in Italy in high school on a tour of Pompeii complaining that it was SO HOT outside and I was SO TIRED of ruins. Now I look back at that and think ''Wow. I was at POMPEII. I wish I hadn''t been such a jerk!'' Some of my earliest memories are of vacations. When I was six, we went to France. My sister (who was 10) and I were sharing a room (adjoined to my parents room). I remember being jet-lagged and waking up in the middle of the night to raid the mini-bar fridge with her. We had the best time giggling and snacking. It was all fun and games until my parents woke up the next morning and freaked out because: ''that''s not free soda and candy!'' Oooh, they were NOT happy! I can''t imagine what the room bill was!! Whoops! I still cherish that memory.


It took me some time, but I''m so thankful now for all those experiences.

We didn''t travel much as kids, but I definitely hope to create memories for my kids like you have. You were a lucky girl, that is for sure. Hubby and I love to travel (though it will be on the back burner for a bit.. ) and will definitely tote the family around, at least half of the time

 

[Pandora II]

Definitely take her - it''s one of the things DH and I are most excited about as parents, watching our daughter experience what the world has to offer. We''re taking her to France in a few weeks, and then Wales and Cornwall in the Summer. Last year we took her all round Ireland.

We both spent many years travelling and living abroad before we had her and don''t feel the need to have time ''alone''.

My parents moved abroad when I was 4, and I''d been round the world twice by the time I was eight - China, India, Thailand, Nepal, most of Europe, the Pacific etc and have wonderful memories. My mother made us keep scrapbooks of each trip and they are some of my most precious possessions. If they could do that with 3 kids under 8 in the 1970''s, I can sure as heck do it with one child in the C21st!

 

[Indylady]

My parents always took me everywhere. I think my first plane trip was at 7 months old. I''m thankful that they did, and I can''t imagine it any other way.