by Kris Kennedy

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: August 13, 2008

Children and Travel

The most valuable advice to offer about travel with children is to bring the children. I do not mean not to forget them, but realize this is their opportunity to travel and include tasks for them and include them as a travel partners as much as possible.
All travel can be stressful, but with this advice, the stress from young ones becomes manageable.

Telling them about the trip
With children they want to know where are we going and when will we get there. The also will experience the trip from their frame of reference. Sacajawea told Lewis and Clark that the expedition would come upon the mightiest river they had ever seen. They said they had seen many mighty rivers. When they saw the Columbia River Lewis wrote the simplest phrase. Today we saw the mightiest river we had ever seen. A group of toddlers who lived along the Columbia River set out with their parents for a road trip to Southern California. Their parents told the children would see the ocean for the first time. They asked what the ocean was and the parents answered a lot of water. The children knew of the river, but could not relate to what a lot of water meant. They asked whenever a body of water, creek, river, or lake if that was the ocean. When in Oregon the parents pointed out the ocean, the children asked "Where" Enjoy the explorative spirit of a child just as Lewis and Clark had to learn that their perceptions were not complete prior to setting out on the expedition.

Luggage
Human beings want to feel valued and needed. Children are no different. In this age, many rolling bags and backpacks exist. Children might even have them for school. Let children deal with the care of some of their belonging on a trip in one of these rolling bags. The lessons learned will help them as adult travelers and offer present day distraction. It might seem easier to deal with all the family needs in one bag, but children feeling important offers more to the parent than compact luggage. The parents do not have to deal with children waiting patiently while the parents deal with luggage. The children have luggage as well.

Activities
That small bag the child has authority over can be his entertainment center. There can be activities for him to do while traveling. The bag could include healthy snacks that the children are willing to eat. A child saying they are hungry when there is no food available that the child would eat or was at a decent price creates a travel nightmare.

Attitude
Travel with young ones requires that we keep a positive attitude. Most travel has difficulties, but children with little travel experience might overreact. Unless something is serious simply, explain the problem as though it is simply a part of the trip.

Children on there first trip offer a fresh look at travel. Parents should enjoy their fresh appreciation as Lewis and Clark appreciated finally seeing the mightiest river.

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