When I look over the family photos we’ve taken over the past few years, I see familiar locations. My house. My yard. The local playground. A few of them were taken on short trips, mostly within a few hours of my house by car or ferry. These are the sorts of trips that do not require a passport or a plane ticket to take. They are, therefore, the sorts of trips that are easy to manage with children.
On our honeymoon in Maui in 2001
We have never been big travelers, my husband and I. But we have traveled. We’ve been to Hawaii a couple of times, and I’ve been to the East Coast of Canada a couple of times. We’ve traveled separately to Florida in our teen years, and Jon has flown a lot for work. The last trip of any size that we took was to Las Vegas in 2005. Our daughter Hannah was born (prematurely) 4 days after we returned, and that was sort of the nail in the coffin of traveling for pleasure – at least for right now.
In Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia in 2004
I know people who travel much farther and more frequently with their kids. They take them to Mexico and Europe, to see family or just get away. Some people stay closer to home but do a lot of camping or take long road trips. I am sort of in awe of these people. But, all the same, I am too afraid to try it myself. The prospect of my kids crying through 3 hours of an 8 hour plane ride or trying to entertain two tired and hungry kids in a customs lineup is just not appealing. When it comes to travel, for me, the fun doesn’t really outweigh the hassle. And yet, some part of me wishes that weren’t so. That I felt more inclined to pick up and go with my little ones in tow.
7 1/2 months pregnant in Las Vegas in 2005
So I look back at old photos wistfully. Me in Nova Scotia. Me in Mexico City. That beautiful sunset on the beach in Maui. I reminisce, and I wonder if I’m being too negative. And then I remember how frustrated I felt when Jacob cried in the car for 90 minutes on the way to Bamfield. Or how Hannah wakes up really early when she’s not in her own bed. And I decide that maybe I am being negative, but maybe that’s OK for right now. Because it won’t always be like this, after all. Or, at least, it had better not.
What about you? Do you travel with your kids? And how has it worked for you? Or, like me, have you been largely homebound since the little dears arrived? Do share!
I can understand that feeling (i.e. ugh, just too much hassle to travel). But it is not allowed to live for too long in our home.
Half of my family is in Australia, so at the very least, we feel the need to make it there … yes, one of the longest posssible journeys one can make on a plane! I can honestly say though that travelling with children is not bad at all. Sure, you don’t get to nap on the plane anymore, but it is such a joy to share new places and things with your kids. We love it and spend every last penny we have on travel. (Which would explain the state of my home!)
Hi Amber,
Last year we had a friend who travelled from Surrey, BC to visit for a couple of weeks. She almost didn’t come because she was so daunted by travelling with her two little girls (2 & 4). They managed fine but of course it was a little stressful. We have also mostly avoided any travel with the kiddo’s, especially when they were younger. The worst trip I remember was my one year old crying for an hour while I drove home from my MIL’s house. We did attempt a camping trip with the kids when they were nine months and four years. It was a 2.5 hour drive and we stayed three nights. My husband ended up getting pretty sick (advanced poison ivy) on the second day but the kids did alright for the drive there (with a stop or two) and slept most of the drive back. I think two nights would have been more than enough for me – since we all know most of the work for any travelling falls on dear old mom. We also had a great time at Niagara Falls once for two nights – although I remember Tegan not wanting to settle for sleep. I’m at the point now – with a three and six year old that I feel a need to get away for a trip with the kids. A nice little break, someplace new and fun – just to get away from the everyday. I hope you decide to take a little trip, it’s nice to get away from the same four walls for a day or two
As a family, we’ve always traveled (though not much, or not transcontinental, after my daughter was born because of her health issues). True, I’ve never enjoyed our kids’ jet-lag, and it’s never been just like when my husband and I used to travel alone, but we’re now a family, and this is how we travel: together. And, I must add, we love it.
.-= Francesca´s last post ..Sideway snow =-.
We all agonize about bringing kids along on a longer trip, I think. My hubby and I just got back from a trip to Cuba (sans son) and while there, we noticed a lot of couples with babies in tow. When we asked them what their biggest hassle was in travelling with their little ones, they said it wasn’t so much in bringing the children, it was the organization to bring the children. Thinking about all the little things they would need, planning for potential problems, and eventualities. Being there with the kids is the joy that comes from that.
One couple, while we were on our vacation, had an 18 month old on the plane who was teething, and the pressure was very painful for her (boy did she cry!). But they gave her Motrin, she slept, and they slept. The whole week at the resort, she was one happy sand-castle building little girl! Her mum said it was the best vacation they’d ever had.
makes me feel braver about bringing our son the next time, maybe.
And Vegas pregnant? Brave woman! All that walking…. oof.
I would like to try a small day trip with the girls. Just up to Harrison or something. Mike is deathly afraid of a car trip longer than 30 min. He breaks out into cold sweats anytime we have to cross a bridge to go anywhere, already dreading the possibility that we might get stuck on said bridge during the return trip home.
Maybe it will be hell…or maybe it will be fine. But until you try it you just don’t know.
@Caroline: I went to Vegas at 6mo pregnant. I even managed to RUN across Las Vegas Blvd to catch a bus LOL
.-= Carrie´s last post ..Just a dash will do… =-.
We don’t travel with the kids. Well, we have been to Winnipeg twice and Toronto twice, always to see family. I really did not enjoy it. The plane rides, the change in schedule, the not sleeping. Not fun. I would rather stay here and save money to be able to travel when they are older.
I am going to BlogHer in August and my husband is going to join me after. So we will be travling without the kids and I am so excited.
.-= Capital Mom´s last post ..Babysitter =-.
The East coast of Canada and Hawaii are on my “list”! I have found that (so far) travelling is much easier without the kids. Because they are now 8 and 12, I can leave them with Daddy for a while to get out my wanderlust. I’d rather my husband come with, but he actually does NOT like to travel, and finds it a waste of money, so it is my passion not his. I say that as if I have been to all sorts of places, but in fact I have had just a few “girl nights” with my school chums, and one fantastic trip to Italy (with those same chums). This coming Spring I am heading to England with my sister to see my last surviving British relative, and that should be fantastic too.
We do get out as a family camping and going to family things off-island, they travel okay, MUCH better now that naps, toilet training and other routine busters are out of the way!
.-= *pol´s last post ..I’m so proud I could cry… =-.
I’m a total wannabe-traveller-with-kids but I find it hard to even make the five hour drive to see my dad and step mom with them. My husband longs for us to go on road trips and thinks we’re all a bunch of whiners. When he was a id they travelled across the country in an uncomfortable station wagon, 3 kids squished into the back. No one was allowed to complain. Well, our kids may get told they can’t complain but they tend not to listen. I’m all about reality. I think hubby is living in fantasyland. Maybe if our kids had different temperaments I’d be more into it because I do really miss travelling. I would love to go to Mexico again. Europe would be awesome. Maybe in three years or so we can consider it again. Although there is something to be said for traveling for free with an under 2 yr old!
.-= Melodie´s last post ..5 Ideas For Getting Your Nursling To Stop Twiddling =-.
I can relate. I admire those traveling people too. We did it this past year… took our 1 year old & 3 year old to Argentina. It was one word: WORK! But, life back at home is WORK as well… I won’t say that I won’t ever do it again. But I do get second thoughts like you’re describing.
I’ve traveled tons with my kids and love it! I have almost always done it alone and generally (but not always) travel to places where we will meet up with people we know.
In 2007, I flew from MN to Boston with four kids (one was a baby), alone, with two flight transfers, starting at 4:30 a.m.! I thought I should get a medal for that one.
I’ve flown with my kids over the years to California (twice), New Mexico, Ohio and Boston, and I regularly drive to Nebraska with the kids alone.
We have NEVER had crying on planes. I told the kids one year that I’d give them a candy for each compliment they got at the end of the plane ride because I knew from experience how many people would come up and thank them and I thought I might need a little extra incentive with my fairly wild 4 y/o son. They scored a lot of loot.
It takes work and major Mary Poppins attitudes, but it can be done and it’s so worth it!
.-= A Magical Childhood´s last post ..10 Ways to Make Today Magical (Winter Style for Warmer Climates!) =-.
As a kid, my parents traveled with us every summer since I can remember. They bought a camper which they often called our motel room on wheels. It was stocked by mom cleaning out cupboard and putting extra pots, dishes, etc. in the camper & yardsale finds. When it was time to go someplace all we had to do was load it up with clothes & food. For us kids, we had old toys that we kept in the camper that became new to us because that’s what we had to play with, along w/ some new coloring books, etc. for rainy days. My parents started us off by taking small weekend trips closer to home by the time our annual weeklong summer vacation came around we kids were already pretty good little travelers.
.-= Condo Blues´s last post ..5 Homemade DIY Sleds =-.
Oh Amber, you’ve made me all wistful and pensive. I actually have traveled a lot, and I find it one of life’s greatest pleasures. Now that Lily’s here, I’ve only traveled to see family. Which is very nice and an important thing to do, and we’ve done it quite a few times now, but oh, the thought of traveling for FUN? It’ll be several more years before I can even contemplate such a thing.
Also? I say this with TOTAL affection as a fellow paleface, but you must have been the whitest people on the island in that first shot. :^)
.-= Dou-la-la´s last post ..Weekend Movies: Multiple Organisms =-.
I always pictured a cruise as some huge floating muzak-filled mall with an endless buffet of mediocre-to-crappy food. Horrors. I know that cruises are probably not like this, or at least not ALL like this, but they never held any attraction for me.. until I had a baby. Now, a giant floating hotel where people bring me food, there’s a choice between pools, and a giant playground for Josh sounds pretty good. Add to that the fact that one would actually end up somewhere potentially interesting, at least for the day, and that one doesn’t need to unpack or repack between destinations, and I’m sold. All I need to find now is a company that doesn’t release their garbage/sewage into the ocean (and a spare 1000$ or so) and I’m headed out
I first flew with my son when he was 8 months old. I was totally apprehensive but I wanted him to meet his two great-grandmothers and a host of other relatives. So we made it happen. It was a lot easier than I feared. We just went with the flow and it worked out fine – extra toys and such to distract. We took him to his grandparents in Aruzona near Christmas, and will go to a convention (3 hours drive) end of this month. Driving is nice – extra time and stops help – but I feel very good about travel in general.
I think it’s totally ok to not like the travelling with kids bit.
I am sort of sitting totally on the fence on this one. I love to travel. I hate that feeling the week before though when there is so much to get ready and organise. The week before is always the week I want to cancel everything and hide under my bed. I am usually ok once we leave the house (and usually forget something). The furthest we did with Dharma was the 10 hour drive up to Scotland’s Highlands. Through the night. Love the Highlands. Don’t love driving through the night.
.-= Mel´s last post ..Day 11: Pit stop =-.
I was talking with an expectant couple and mentioned how we don’t travel at all anymore and I miss it, and they said, “Oh, but we’ll travel even when we have kids!” And I just nodded and smiled and then laughed a little when they were out of earshot.
Because I was so that couple, pre-kid. I love flying to England (from West Coast US) especially, but now — not so much. We’ve done two cross-country plane trips with our baby, and it was two too many. We did one road trip, and it was alternate bliss and horror. I was telling my mom this, and she was like, basically, Suck it up. Just do it. And I was like, Um…why? Why put all of us through torment when just waiting it out is an option?
That said, I am a big believer in other people traveling with kids if it works for them. I don’t want to be forbidden to travel with kids. I just choose not to. For now.
.-= Lauren @ Hobo Mama´s last post ..Ten places to amuse kids during bad weather =-.
We used to travel all the time before kids arrived on the scene. The arrival of my son ended all thoughts of travel for my husband. I haven’t been able to change his mind. He can’t abide the thought of them freaking out. And he doesn’t want to pack all the stuff. We did manage to go to Osoyoos with both kids last summer and we ended up bailing half-way through the trip. Not because the kids were unhappy. But because my husband was. I am willing to put up with the struggle of travel and the weird sleeping arrangements in the hotel but he isn’t. I’ve actually been considering taking just my son down to Disneyland this year if I can’t convince Hubs to changes his stance on the “no travel rule”.
.-= Marilyn´s last post ..Family Bonding and GPS =-.
My husband and I just got back from 5 days of camping with our 3 kids (7, 5, and 17 months) in Sequoia National Park. We had a great time! The one thing I notice about travel with children is that they always seem to make a developmental leap during or after the trip. Travel exposes kids to new experiences, new people and new vocabulary. So if you can bring yourself to brave it, I think it’s worth it! It’s not a “vacation” in the pre-kids sense of the word, but it is still good to get away. Over the past seven years we’ve taken kids to Hawaii, Boston, Toronto, and even on a 5-day cross-country drive on our move from Michigan to California.
Two posts you might remember from me on the topic:
The value of traveling with your baby:
http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeeding123/the-value-of-traveling-with-your-baby/
Tips for Infant Car Trips:
http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeeding123/tips-for-infant-car-trips-mom-to-mom-18/
The one thing I should note though is I don’t think “travel” has to be long distances. It can be a trip to a different park or museum or even a new-to-you branch of the public library — a broadening of the typical experiences to which we try to expose our children.
.-= Angela White´s last post ..International Delurking Week 2010! =-.
We’re not big travelers. We tend to go close, to my family’s ski house in Vermont or Ed’s family’s house on a little island off the coast of Maine. Even with those close trips, we haven’t been away in at least 2 years, maybe 3. We’re homebodies.
And I figure the baby will be able to go along for the car rides when we want to go, but it won’t be often!
.-= abbie´s last post ..I Think I’ll Keep Him =-.
“the fun doesn’t really outweigh the hassle” – you said it! We used to travel all around the world, but trips have been very limited since Q-ster was born. Oh well, it won’t be too much longer before we get on the road again. I feel really comfortable traveling with him at this age, so it’s just getting his little brother a year or two older.
.-= Lady M´s last post ..My First Peacetime Plush =-.
Great to see you’ve been to Nova Scotia a couple of times. We hear from folks that our Province is a great place for family travel. One family we helped plan a trip for this past summer was Lorraine, the founder of My Busy Kit, a great travel app for kids. She shared her experience of travelling with her family on her blog, Keeps Me Smiling. You can read about their Nova Scotia travels here:
http://keepsmesmiling.blogspot.com/search/label/Big%20Trips%20-%20Nova%20Scotia
People like Lorraine and other family travel people we connect with regularly share their tips for making the family travel experience better. And we like to share this family travel advice through our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/AuthenticCoast We hope you’ll connect with these resources and find ways to keep enjoying travel together.
I think a lot of it has to do with the temperament of your kids. Silas is finally old enough that he’s mellowed and is thrown for less of a loop when his schedule changes for a vacation… When he was younger a higher-strung we never traveled. But this last summer him & I were able to go on two mini vacations within driving distance and he dug it immensely. Now Seth & I need a vacation away, just the two of us. The last time we did that was summer of 07, and we just drove 5 hours away to eastern washington. Heh.
.-= Jasie VanGesen´s last post ..I need you to need me. =-.
My husband and I were big — BIG — travellers before we had our son. But as much as I love travelling, I wish we didn’t have to now that we are parents. Unfortunately, with both of our families living on opposite sides of the continent, that’s not going to happen.
I am envious of the other posters on this blog who have had positive experiences travelling with kids, but has anyone had a positive experience travelling with a baby? We’ve taken our son on three round-trip, cross-country two-leg flights in his first year, and each one was it’s own special horror. He was *that* baby. You know, the one who cried the *entire* flight and only stopped when he finally exhausted himself from screaming just as the plane touched down. It was so awful, the only thing I can liken it to, in terms of shear awfulness, is severe food poisoning.
Any secrets on flying with babies? Because after this last Christmas flight debacle, I am seriously considering saying “never again” and just letting the grandparents visit us from now on!
.-= Sarah´s last post ..Santa Baby =-.
I haven’t travelled much, and really don’t have any desire to. I’m content being in my own neighborhood.
I know there are lots of wonderful things to see half-way across the globe, but for now I’m happy just seeing the local things…and Las Vegas. I can always find a reason or excuse to go Vegas.
My husband and I were huge travellers before we had our daughter. Unfortunately her personality doesn’t lend itself nicely to travelling — she doesn’t like change (whether it be time change or surroundings — ie. sleeping in a hotel room).
But we’re ok with putting off travel plans for a few years until she tells us she’s ready. She’s barely 2 so it may take a few years
This gives us a chance to explore our community and plan driving trips to cities nearby — something we’ve never done before.
You’re right. “It won’t always be like this, after all. Or, at least, it had better not.”
.-= Mommy Quit´s last post ..How do I update my resume? =-.