Travel with Kids

People are discussing on social media whether it’s possible to travel internationally with small children. And yes, it’s possible but a more important question is whether it’s necessary. Children don’t need it. It’s done exclusively for adults. We’ve traveled internationally with Klara. She tolerated it as a form of eccentricity in which her parents engage for incomprehensible reasons. I don’t experience any need to pretend that she benefitted from it in a way she wouldn’t have from spending that time at home with her parents.

I’m fairly well-traveled but I don’t see why people turn travel into some sort of a meaning-conferring activity.

4 thoughts on “Travel with Kids

  1. I traveled a bit with my child, including internationally to see our families. I do agree it is not necessary and there were times I felt that perhaps we all should have stayed home. As a punishment now, my child has really enjoyed our travels and keeps asking me when I am taking them on an airplane trip again and telling me about all the places they want to visit now…

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  2. “she wouldn’t have from spending that time at home with her parents”

    Does that include Canada trips or just other ones?

    My parents didn’t feel the need to drag us along on a couple of short Caribbean cruises and we were fine with that. On the other hand, years of spending a few months on the road travelling with my mother doing PR work were incredibly educational in all sorts of ways and the recreational stops on the way were more fun than pure recreational travel might have been.

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  3. “Children don’t need it. It’s done exclusively for adults”

    When I go on a recreational trips by plane I’m always irritated in the airport by people travelling with infants or extremely small children for that reason. I wonder how much fun being in a foreign country with a different language and medical system can be for a very new mother…. and wonder to myself if there are grandparents who’d enjoy looking after the children for a week or so…

    I understand that the parents want to get away for themselves but how much of a getaway is it if they have to attend to a two or three year old?

    A former student who’d worked as an animator said occasionally parents would drop their kids with them and announce they’re going an excursion (and assume the animation staff will take care of the children for them for two days….).

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