Family travel means slowing down, savoring moments
Print Edition
I REMEMBER how exciting it was traveling around Asia when my wife and I were newly married and first living in China. At that time in our lives, travel was a must and adventure travel was preferred. Now, three kids later, we have not lost our love of travel nor that thirst for adventure. However, we have had to approach it all a little differently.
Gone are the days of showing up in a foreign country with a backpack and a whatever-comes attitude. These days, proper planning and a list of contingencies are completely necessary. The adventurous attitude is not gone, though, not even close. In fact, we might say it has gotten better. We are still seeing foreign landscapes, trying strange foods, and interesting new customs, only now we see them unfold through the eyes of our 5-year-old.
The hiking and climbing still happen, but the mountains are a bit smaller and there are more accessories that need to be packed and carted around — many, many more. We still get to experience local cuisine, only now we have help ordering it. You’d be surprised the strange pride you feel seeing your 8-year-old pointing and motioning over the menu in a local restaurant in rural Vietnam. The side glances and giggling as the dishes arrive and everyone picks at them, trying to figure out what it is we actually only adds to the adventure.
When traveling, a good rule of thumb is to experience as much of your vacation as possible. This is where a 16-month-old really comes in handy. Because she prefers getting an early start, we are often awake well before the sun comes up. That happens to be the perfect time for walk on the beach, and watching her watch the sunrise is completely worth the lack of sleep.
Traveling with young kids definitely has its perks. Not only do we typically get preferential treatment in customs lines and for airplane seats, we also have use of a stroller, which is great for hauling gear when the kids are running around. Instead of marathon vacations where we rush to see everything in a short amount of time, with the three girls, we get to enjoy a new place on a much more intimate level, pausing to tie a shoelace offers a glimpse of the world from a completely different perspective. And isn’t that why we travel?
(Jeremy Schuitman is a high school physics teacher at Concordia.)
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