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11 Reasons Why Traveling is Great for Your Kids

It’s no secret that our family loves traveling together. Aside from seeing new places, I’ve discovered several other great reasons why traveling is great for your kids.

Giving your kids the gift of travel is one of the best things you can do for your children. Well-traveled children tend to do better academically and grow into open-minded, compassionate individuals.

Besides that, there are many other practical benefits of traveling with your kids. Some of these benefits are simple, and you start to notice them the more places you take your child together.

 

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Related: 16 Travel Essentials for Kids You Need

Why Traveling is Great for Your Kids

It’s an Adventure!

The first reason why traveling is great for your kids is because it’s an adventure! Discovering new places together is the best type of adventure to my family. It helps your kids discover things and venture outside of their comfort zone.

Your family discovers new things!

Traveling exposes your family to new things you may have never tried at home. Your kids start to look forward to all the new adventures they’ll experience as traveling.

When traveling with kids, you have an excuse yourself to try silly and crazy things. As a child, our trips tended to be simple, but we like to try new things together. I’m not afraid to do the silly things or the adventurous ones either.

The best thing is, even if you are making total fools of yourself, no one really looks at you like you are nuts. They know you are having fun with your kids on vacation.

Your Family Makes Memories

Years from now, your kids may not remember the presents they received at Christmas, but they’ll still think about memories you created together. You’ll laugh together a decade from now about things you did together or jokes you made.

Memories last far longer than presents.

When you go on all those adventures together, you create a storybook of memories for your family. While traveling isn’t needed for those memories, it creates a diverse range of things you experience together with your kids.

Kids Experience Other Cultures

We all want to have empathic children, and one way to foster that is to expose your children to new cultures. Empathy comes when you have the ability to see someone else’s perspective.

Introducing your child to unique cultures and ways of life will help further their acceptance. When you travel to new countries, be sure to step out of the tourist traps and see what life is like for those who live in those regions.

Seeing new cultures give insight into the greater world. Your kids have different insight than their counterparts who haven’t seen other cultures, and that’s quite a blessing.

Travel Kicks Stereotypes to the Curb

As much as we try to stop stereotypes from developing in our children’s minds, they often do, but traveling is a time when kids often kick those notions to the side. Kids that travel often tend to have fewer prejudices and stereotypes, creating well-rounded humans.

Isn’t that something we all want?

Kids with extensive travel under their belt tend to be more open-minded towards new cultures and people. This carries with them throughout their lives, and it’s a noticeable difference. Traveled individuals tend to feel more comfortable with differences rather than feeling at odds with them.

I notice that the more you travel, the more kids see the similarities between people, cultures, and places.

Traveling is Educational!

One of my favorite reasons why traveling is great for your kids is that it promotes hands-on learning. Travel lets kids meet new people, places, and cultures. It’s the best type of schooling – world schooling.

Most kids learn great by experiencing things first hand. Learning about the ocean while visiting the ocean is better than reading books. Checking out historical sites brings history alive for kids rather than being a boring history story.

Not to mention, kids get the chance to experience hands-on activities. When traveling, consider trying cooking classes, enjoying wildlife experiences, and pushing your child to try new things. All of these new experiences teach your  family something different they may never have learned without that trip.

Travel gives you an organic learning experience; first-hand learning will always trump textbook learning.

Traveling Increases Compassion

If you step outside of the traditional tourist areas, it’s often a way to show children how other people live. Traveling tends to make kids feel more compassionate.

Not all kids have access to things they have.

Kids need to understand the others live impoverished lives without running water, adequate food, and access to education. Talking and reading stories about this is one thing, but seeing it with your own eyes is entirely different. Your kids get a first-hand experience.

Family Travel Teaches Responsibilities

Most people wouldn’t associate traveling with new responsibilities, but it’s true. Trips and traveling don’t mean your kids stop pitching in; at least, it shouldn’t mean that.

Traveling away from home changes your regular routine, so kids and adults alike assume new roles. Those roles may look different, but it gives kids a change to step up into different roles.

Kids Learn Patience

You might think that patience teaches YOU patience. After all, traveling with kids is never an easy task.

However, kids have to expect the unexpected. They deal with changes in their schedules, eating habits, and sleeping patterns. They also wait through the lines at airports and wait on the airplane or car rides.

It gives kids a time to be creative and learn how to pass the time. Getting to your destination is not always a walk in the park, but boredom is good for kids.

When we are home, we often try to find all the ways to stop boredom from setting in, but traveling means it’s inevitable at times. Sometimes, the trip you pick isn’t as exciting for all the people in your family, or even the particular adventure may not be for them.

That’s ok!

Kids have to learn to be patient.

You Learn How to Make the Most of Your Day

Visiting Dolphin Cay with our kids at Atlantis

Do you ever feel like, when you are home, you waste the days away? Sometimes, that’s ok, but I notice my kids are ready to go and start something new when we travel together. They don’t reach for their tablets or TV nearly as often.

We truly make the most of the hours in the daytime together.

Whether that is going on an adventure or simply lounging on the beach together, we don’t waste the daylight hours inside or staring at a screen. We explore, try new things – even if it’s a new food for lunch – and maximize our vacation time.

Sometimes, Travel Teaches You to Adapt

No matter how much you plan, things undoubtedly go wrong at times. Your luggage gets lost, the weather turns bad, or the trip simply doesn’t go as you hoped.

These things are simply part of life, and kids watch how you adapt to these situations. You learn how to handle and endure situations together, making the best of a bad situation.

Later, these situations may end up being funny moments.

I remember, as a child, getting lost with my parents driving home from a beach vacation. This was in the days before GPS, and my parents simply had to find their way. We laugh about it now, but years later, I know there are far worse things that happened then getting lost!

Kids Lead to Faster Lanes and Priority Boarding

This reason is for the whole family. Families with young kids typically have access to the faster lanes at airports, and that feels great when the line is forever long.

Many airlines allow parents to pre-board the plane because it makes it easier to get car seats and kids situated. However, use this option with caution because adding more sitting time to the already long flight may not work well with your kids.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear why traveling is great for your kids; there are so many benefits! Your kids will gain education, memories, and a better world understanding than kids who never travel. Those are some awesome reasons to embark on your next adventure together!

 

 

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