5 Reasons to Take Your Kids Traveling
Written by: Sushma Sharma and Pavita Singh
Traveling is an incredible opportunity to see the world through different lenses and acquire different perspectives. To meet new people, experience new cultures, and try new cuisines. For many of us, travel is also a chance to take a break from either the stress and chaos or the routine and mundaneness of our everyday lives.
If you have kids, you might be wondering whether or not it’s a good idea to bring them along on your next big trip. After all, if the idea of travel is to relax and get away, wouldn’t taking the kids along defeat the purpose, given the challenges of traveling with kids? Or how many times have you heard other parents say, “I’ll bring the kids when they’re older, when they can really appreciate the experience”?
It is true that traveling with kids comes with its unique set of challenges, and that if you take the kids when they’re really young they might not remember the trip, but taking your kids traveling also comes with its unique set of invaluable rewards that simply cannot be obtained through any other experience. By the time you finish this blog, you should feel no hesitation about bringing your youngsters along on your trip, whether you fly on private planes or regular old coach. Below is a list of reasons why you should take your kids traveling.
- Builds Stronger Family Connections.
Experience the world together Taking trips as a family provides a unique bonding experience that you might not be able to get at home. Maybe you and your partner are at work all day while your kids are at school or daycare, and the only opportunity you have for quality family time, if at all, is in the evening over dinner. When taking a family vacation, the entire family does almost everything together all day ever day for the duration of the trip. Family trips are also a chance to create beautiful memories that will last a lifetime. Families with happy memories early in life tend to exhibit healthier dynamics throughout their lives.
- Teaches Acceptance of Differences. You may already be familiar with the research that says if you want your kids to be bilingual, it is best to expose them to both
Acceptance and understanding brings everyone closer languages when they’re young. Children’s minds are like sponges, absorbing everything that they observe, even if they’re not conscious of it. Enriching early childhood experiences are critical because they have a lifelong impact on kids. By exposing kids to different cultures at a young age, they will subconsciously become more accepting of people who are different from themselves as they get older. This acceptance of differences could play a significant role in reducing bullying or other types of peer conflict.
- Instills Resilience and Self-Efficacy. Whether positive or negative, being away from home is certainly a disruption to your everyday routine. You are forced to adapt to a new environment and new time zone and to come up with creative solutions to problems that you may not have encountered before. When you take kids traveling with you, it teaches them to be flexible and to adapt to change. It also helps them build the confidence they need to effectively cope with new or unforeseen situations.
- Improves Academic Outcomes. Research conducted at the University of Georgia found that college students who partake in study abroad programs demonstrate improved academic performance and higher graduation rates when returning home compared to students who did not. Given that early childhood is such a critical period for cognitive development, imagine how much more the impact of travel on academic outcomes would be among younger children. Travel enhances children’s sense of curiosity and wonder about the world, which makes them more likely to do better in school.
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Show them what lies beyond the textbook Makes your Child World-Savvy. Traveling simply teaches kids about the world in a way that textbooks cannot. When kids travel, they can see what they read in their textbooks come to life. Through traveling, kids can learn more about what different places have to offer, pick up new phrases and languages, and exhibit greater cultural competency, all of which will be assets in their future pursuits.
So why wait? For help planning your trip, get on Konversai and get some real personal travel knowledge. If you’re considering visiting a new country with your kids, you can use Konversai to have a live video conversation with a native or anyone else (with or without kids) who knows that country well, giving you a perspective that can’t be found in a travel guidebook. You can hire guides, plan experiences, and check out tour companies. Likewise, if there are any destinations that you know well, you can share your knowledge and experience with others through Konversai. Konversai both allows and encourages you to be both a provider and a seeker of knowledge and go the full spectrum in exploration of your interests. So get on Konversai, then on a plane, see the world, and give your kids an experience that will benefit them throughout their lives.
3 Replies to “5 Reasons to Take Your Kids Traveling”
Yes! I wholeheartedly agree. Our kids’ favorite memories are of vacations we took together. Both kids had their first experience in a foreign country when they were five years old. They learned to communicate with other children despite the language barriers. We have been to children’s museums and amusement parks all over the U.S. and Europe. When our son was studying abroad in college, he was thrilled that he could show his fellow students how to navigate the Paris Metro, all because he had experienced it with us when he was 15. Our daughter is a confident, knowledgeable traveler because of her early experiences.