Raising Kids Who Travel

Here are a few things that I have learned about helping kids be ready, willing, and able to travel.

At home:

1. Give your kids a small, functional wardrobe so that packing can be light. Comfortable clothes, but not athletic wear. Even kids shouldn’t look like tourists.
2. Discuss your travels as you do them, no matter how small.  Day trips with picnic lunches and sunscreen, sleepovers at Granny’s with pj’s and a change of clothes, and school field trips to museums can all be travel learning experiences when you point them out to your kids.
3. Go to a variety of ethnic restaurants. If they try everything, that’s great, but even if they just eat the chicken, they’ve still had a glimpse of far-away lands.
4. We gave “travel points” to our kids.  This is an imaginary system where we complimented the kids on things that would be good for traveling.  For example, waiting patiently in the doctor’s office--10 points; putting your book away when you feel carsick--20 points; packing your own swim bag for a day at the beach--30 points. Just point out the everyday things that contribute to good travel, and the kids will look forward to the real thing.
5. Buy them their own little suitcases. Pride of ownership!
6. Teach your kids to navigate airports, train stations, and highways.  Think out loud when they’re little (“where’s the monitor, there it is, let’s see, we need flight 333, it’s leaving from gate 17, it’s down that way”) then gradually teach them how to do it.  You can start in the mall, having them read the directory and leading you to the Gap. Within a few trips, you can say, “Get us to the gate,” and they will do it.
7. When they’re old enough, let them research the destination before your trip and give their input. Get library picture books if they’re too young to go online.
8. ​Go to an art museum. Before you go, find out what works you’ll be able to see, and put together a scavenger hunt for your kids. One kitty, a barefoot old lady, two naked guys, a sailboat, etc. (Note: this is a quiet, civilized scavenger hunt--there will be no running or shouting, and stay close to parents.) Before you leave the gallery, ask them to pick a favorite painting and tell you why. Silly reasons are permitted. Then take them to the over-priced cafe to split a piece of cake, or have a picnic, talk about the nice day you’re having. Before leaving, let them run around the grounds. Keep the visit short, have some laughs, keep those family outings coming.
9. ​​Do low-key foreign stuff in your house. Make croque monsieur while listening to Edith Piaf on Pandora.  Sing along in your best high-school French. Watch Ratatouille.  Talk about how someday you’ll go to France and eat real croque monsieur. Try not to sound like a dorky middle school teacher on Culture Day.  Just have fun with your kids.
10. ​Think hard before enrolling kids in time-consuming activities such as competitive sports which require kids to practice all summer. Your travels will take a back seat to the activity, which is fine if that’s what works for your family.​

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On the road:

1. Protein.  Trust me.
2. Before going to foreign countries where the kids don’t speak the language, teach them a few basic phrases so they can try it out. Please, thank you, no thank you, etc.
3. Figure out what they like, and spend a fair amount of time doing that.  For example, my friend took her two-year-old with her to Paris when her husband had a business trip there. Crazy, right? No. The toddler loved fountains and horses, and there are beaucoups of those in Paris. My friend pushed the kid around in the stroller, finding all the fountains and horses, and that earned the mom enough equity to sightsee. 
4. Don’t be afraid to do something ordinary if your child is lagging.  It’s ok to go to McDonalds or see a movie in an exotic location! We’ve been to Hard Rock Cafes the world over with our kids. It pays off. Besides, they have awesome margaritas.
5. When kids were small, our family implemented the Two-thirds of the Day Rule: the family may be out and about for two-thirds of the day, but must stay in the other third.  Morning and afternoon at the beach? Then have a quiet dinner and evening at home. Theme park? Go to Wallyworld in the morning, return to the hotel for lunch and a rest, then back to Wallyworld late afternoon and stay for the fireworks. You will enjoy yourselves more if you don’t exhaust everybody.
6. Get an anti-diarrheal antibiotic from your doctor before you go abroad. Don't ask how I know this.
7. On trips, keep kids informed.  Nobody likes to be dragged around all day not knowing where you’re going.
8. For little kids, use Ziplock bags for packing. Put a shirt, underwear, and socks in the bag and label it by days of the week.  Pants usually last more than one day, so they just go in the suitcase. Each day, the child takes out the appropriate bag and gets dressed in a flash. End of day, put the dirty clothes back in. Or use this fun video to bundle clothes.
9. For kids who can read, give them a packing list and let them pack. Double-check it, and you’re good to go.
10. Take cards along.  They can amuse themselves solo, with siblings, or with kids they meet. Keep a spare pack in your luggage.
11. Iron out finances before you leave. Are you going to buy them everything they want? If yes, skip to number 11.  If no, try one of these: either agree on a certain number of purchases (one stuffed animal at Wallyworld) or give them some money and let them spend it as they want (keep it in an envelope in your bag if they’re little). We bought our kids very few souvenirs when they were little, and it paid off. They didn’t accumulate stuff, and they spent their own money carefully.
12. Stay in a variety of places so your kids learn how to cope in every situation: relative’s houses on the fold-out couch, sleeping bag at friend’s house, tent cabin at national park, hostel with shared bath, rental house with Airbnb, motels, hotels, etc. This way they’re ready to backpack Europe in college!
13. Take along individual-sized fiber supplements.  Use at first sign of trouble. Trust me.
14. Hide an emergency entertainment item in your bag, and save it for those times when kids are losing it.  Find-a-word book, crossword puzzles, travel-sized game, pack of gum, new book, whatever will buy you some peace. Use only as a last resort.  Sometimes my emergency item never came out of the bag, and I saved it for the next trip.​

NEXT: Traveling with Teens