Children really are a great ice-breaker, and we’ve loved travelling with them. There is something so much more special about seeing places through the eyes of children, and having to slow down and smell the roses.

We are about to enter our 4th year of traveling the world as a family and I think it is the very best and most rewarding way to travel.The key is definitely slow travel and making sure everyone’s needs are met!

It was interesting reading the comments with many different point of views and I think that is because every child and every family is different, so their journeys will be different as well. Where and how you travel will affect things too.

And age has so much to do with it and the child’s personality. It shows in your words that your travels were with a 2 to 4 year old child, so quite different in some ways with our child who was 5 when we started and will be 9 in the fall.

She was reading Harry Potter on her own at 4, so her reading has been an essential part of our trip from the beginning, which really enriches her travels so much (we gear her books with the travel) and also gives her something good to do while on long drives, train rides or while waiting for a fancy dinner etc. Our primary purpose for our life as a field trip is for her education and the time together.

One person spoke about problems with long drives, but we have never had any and never use a dvd player during them. When we went into Africa from Spain we got up at 3 AM and took every mode of transportation from bus, to ferry, to taxi to train for something like 19 hours and she loved every bit of it.

She has boundless energy so we have never had any trouble with her keeping up and in fact she has been able to out walk and out run me since she was 9 months old and we never used a stroller. Even at 5 she quickly became a pro at boarding cargo ships, taking trains, riding bikes around European country roads, figuring out mass transit maps in every city, long plane rides and even horse riding in Andalusia or camel rides into the Sahara.

Children really can do so much more than we give them credit for and they learn so much through experience. The greatest joys of family travel is the time to bond, shared experience to laugh and talk about forever and doing ordinary things in extraordinary places!

As kids get to school age, one of the best things about traveling with kids is the education. You really can not find a better education for global citizens of the 21st century!!

When my child was reading Homer ( kids version) and Greek Myths, she was seeing more ancient ruins in Italy, Greece and Turkey than most people will see in a lifetime, including digging up shells with an archaeologist in Troy! She was reading Astrid Lingren in Sweden and Harry Potter in the UK. Family travel and books are a natural combination ( and e-libraries today make it even easier to carry many in little space).

I also like your tips for keeping them entertained on the road. A long car journey with kids can be a complete nightmare if you don’t prepare and pack a few entertainments (and snacks) in advance.

My son and daughter are very different characters, he can disappear in the bat of an eye and has no fear. Keeping tabs on him is hard work.

I also agree that a digital camera is fantastic once they reach 6 or 7. (sure beats the time my daughter shot a whole roll of file of the sky and her feet and half a head.

Thanks for sharing this. I’ll be sure to pass this post on the next time a friends says, “Well, I’d like to travel but I can’t because of my kids.”