I want you to close your eyes and fantasize about going on the vacation of your dreams with your family…your husband, your wife, your kids….
Are you day dreaming of a tropical beach, and laying on a lounge chair drinking a frozen daiquiri while the kids play for hours in the white sand? Or, are you picturing your beautiful family smiling in front of the Arc de Triomphe while noshing on a perfect croissant?
Now, open your eyes and remember this is real life. And, in real life, when traveling with your family, and especially young children, your strawberry daiquiri is most likely watery because you didn’t drink it fast enough due to separating non stop sand fights between your kids, and your toddler is most likely having an epic meltdown in front of that epic Arc.
So, you ask, if this is the case, and this is the reality of traveling with young kids, then why the heck have we traveled with our children over 20 times in the past few years?! The answer is simple: although it might not always be easy, or “picture perfect”, the experiences and memories made as a family far outweigh anything else.
Our day-to-day lives are filled with school drop offs, appointments, cell phones, meal preps, household maintenance and work. We go, go, go. When we travel, even if we are only a few hours from home, we slow down. We talk uninterrupted. We make eye contact. We laugh more. We connect. Without fail, I always find out something new about my kids each time we travel.
And, possibly, moreover the family connection and memories, we travel because it affects our children in such a profound way. Each and every place we visit raises questions of culture, future adventures, and personal discovery. I can see them grow on each new trip, and their “where are we going next” excitement in between in each trip is infectious, and drives us to never stop adventuring.
Although they might not remember all of our trips when they get older, I know that they are forever changed for the better for having the experiences. And, I am forever changed by experiencing the new adventures through their eyes.
xo Elisa
