Eight Benefits of Travelling with your Kids

I am a single mother and an avid traveler. My friends always ask me how I manage to travel with my kids and if there any benefits of travelling with kids? Well, my reasons are endless, and these are some of them. 

I hear you guys. Yes! Travelling with kids does mean being always ready to run to bathroom, spoiling the restaurant table, walking slow, being cranky at all points, handling your kid's fights with other kids and so on. These are all there. But let’s focus on the positives. 

Travel is much better with your kid. It is about experiencing and creating memories together. It is for sure that travel doesn’t come for free but spending fun and quality time with your kid and moulding them is what makes the experience priceless. It is exhilarating – an extension of the joy of living life to the fullest. Here are some of the bright sides that I find travelling with my Kid:

1. Everything is Planned 

Of course, you have to book your flights, hotels, transport everything. We shall not take any risk of picking up random hotel at last moment. We Check in the flights to avoid standing in queue. Hence, everything is well-planned and sorted. Yes, of course, window seats are compromised.

2. Lots of activities and plenty of rest

Kids are always full of energy; they run and hop around everywhere. They are very keen of knowing each detail whatever they see. They never hesitate to ask silly questions to driver, attendant or even a side passenger. By end of the day we are an encyclopedia.

Once they go to bed, what are we going to do? so let us also take a good night sleep and feel the rest to activate our self for next day.

3. You get all kinds of Privileges

Travel with kids and you get various kinds of privileges, in a flight a kid is allowed to see a cockpit , a captain of ship allows them to sit in front, In zoo kids are allowed to feed birds, the pizza shop sometime allow kids to make their own pizza , Free meals , sometime even long queue are avoided , in flight or in hotels little presents are given to kids like a piece of cake , chocolate or small toy.

I remember in my Manali trip, my kid was given a free pony ride along with my horse ride , in our Goa trip, I was allowed to go with my kid for para sailing ( which saved my sailing cost ) , bus rides are free , hotels do not charge for kids below 10 years .

4. Food, Food, Food

Kids are hungry all the time, how many time you feed them, they are ought to say … “I am hungry”. With kids around you have all kinds of snacks , juice, desserts . Healthy food and local food both are been relished by the kids. Many a time, we don’t have to order food for our self, as we know it will be only a 2 bites for our kids and the rest goes directly In our stomach.

Making kid having different kind of snacks or local food will help them understand the culture of that state or country. Like Iddiayapam/Idli/Dosa in South India, Fried fish in Goa, Kabab in Lucknow , Chaat/Chole bhature in Delhi , Vada pav/ Pav bhaji in Mumbai, Dhokla in Gujarat , Thupka In Himachal and so on .

5. Connecting with new people

With kids often many travelers happen to chat with them. Sometime some traveler also entertains our kid or they are helpful till we finish having our food or some other work. It is always a pleasure and great opportunity to know about fellow travelers. This kind gesture only come when we are surrounded with kid.

6. Learning from kids

Making Sandcastles on the sea beaches, water sports activities, riding a pony, soaking in water, playing in fun fair, going on jungle safari, showing them nature, having fun and ride in amusement park and answering their numerous innocent questions are the best quality time spent with your kids.

Be a Historian to your kids, they are also fascinated for new things they see. Tell them about ancient history of a temple, take them on small treks to know the mountains and hills, set up a campfire, ask them to barbecue few potatoes. Not only plush hotel, take them to sleep in tents , stargazing and bedtime stories under the open sky .

7. Overcoming shyness

I usually tell my kid to order from the menu card (they feel privileged), ask them to check the bill and make the bill payment while giving cash, so that the understand the money and calculation, I allow them to speak to the local guides , interact with monks , to the kids of the villages. The interaction and conversation helps them to overcome the shyness.

8. Making kids smarter

Kids are plugged in to electronic and social media nowadays, using the same effect, I always ask my kid to start GPS and find out nearby restaurant or places to visit , ask them to read the map , check the language meaning on google or check the conversion rate of that country .

It is better to have kids with you than to spend a vacation feeling guilty and worrying about them. It’s so much more relaxed to have your kids with you!

I am travelling with my kid since she was 6 months old, So, now you appreciate that there are many great benefits of travelling with kids, and going on a vacation with kids is fun.

Everything might not go as per plan, but kids are going to love and enjoy it . Their smile makes it worth the effort. And by the time you are about to leave,  you will be busy planning the next vacation with your kid.