Travel enriches real-life experiences among kids

This day, last year — the trio took off for their first Euro trip. We were nervous about taking our kid along. In the past, we did international trips, particularly to the European countries but without her. And, we had many reasons for that. Our extensively exploratory nature, food and of course the urge to cut-off from the parental duties to truly call it a vacation. By now, she is grown enough to not know our plans and hiding from her was no option anymore. Her puppy eyes finally convinced us that she could be a great company — and to our surprise, she was!

After this trip, here is how my perspective towards international travel with kids changed. Here are the reasons why?

1. First-hand learning experience — Kids are curious and because they are not so well-read (when compared to adults), visually experiencing the different places, culture, tradition helps them absorb the new environment and understand better. Compare it to say, reading a book about a country and explaining the people, their food habits, clothes and festivals. Every time, I resort to jumping to google to show what it looks like. Visual learning is best among kids.

2. Food habits — You are very conservative when it comes to feeding the kids back home. Safety, health, hygiene are of paramount importance and therefore you resort to fresh, home cooked meals for your child, all the time. But when you travel, you are super flexible, and you observe that the child is too! Same logic can apply back home. The child does not need 4–5 freshly cooked meals (they do not demand it either). Instead, invest the time in engaging well — exploring new games, reading or playing together. Use your time with the child with tact.

3. Making new friends and acquaintances — Now, here is the most interesting part. Its easier to adapt, make new friends and engage in a dialogue with people like us. On the trip, we understood that kids are fastest adaptors. For the sake of company, my child proactively approached the kids in our tour group. They were from different backgrounds, but mostly European. Ascents, habits were different but, she shed her inhibitions, did not care much about being judged and made new friends. Initially she spoke less (she was a good observer), but later as she witnessed acceptance she opened. Infact, there were some positive rub-offs too! Those kids woke up early and went to bed by 9:00pm; my child followed suit.

All in all, travel makes one a well-informed individual. Invest in an atlas — it’s the best way to make you child explore new places, learn more about them, generate curious, and at the end, have a good brainstorming session to decide on the next holiday destination for the family!