I've discovered that travelling with my family is actually a whole lot of fun - and less stressful in some ways than the solo thing. We are treated quite differently (4 kids in one family is pretty unusual in the places we've been) and usually get extra attention and care from grandmotherly types in restaurants and hotels. Where I have been met with reserve or been ignored when asking a question while I've travelled alone, when we have the kids along I can't recall a situation where we have been ignored and where someone (not necessarily the person we initially asked!) hasn't helped us.
Since our kids are actually interested in art, culture and history (probably a survival instinct) we still get to check out the museums and galleries that intrigue the grown-ups, but we also get to go to zoos and playgrounds where we meet other (usually local, because what nuts travel with their kids?) families, and sometimes get invited to join them at meals or special occasions which give us a chance to meet people and experience things that we would be excluded from were my husband and I travelling on our own.
Watching our kids learning and teaching games to local kids in Korea, Poland, Greece and others, where they didn't begin to speak the same language, and seeing their parents looking on in approval - well, it kinda makes you think that peace has a chance...
And while sometimes their attention span makes it hard to spend a day focussing on the intricacies of Etruscan civilization, it's surprising the things that interest them and the incredible detail that they notice. In Greece last spring, our four year old son was absolutely fascinated when we went to the Acropolis, with the limbless caryatids on one of the temples. We spent longer playing the "count the missing bits" game and actually paying attention to the carvings than we probably would have had he not been along to draw our attention to them.
One of our favourite ongoing games when we travel is the Great Treasure Hunt. At every museum or gallery we stop by the gift shop and the kids pick out a couple of post cards they like, then the whole family looks for those paintings (or whatever) throughout the museum. Since we all have different tastes, we get to see a lot more than we would if we were just focussing on our individual interests and the game tends to keep everyone interested and motivated as the hours drag on. At home each child has their own little album for their "treasures" and when we get home we note on the back the place, date and whether or not we found that particular treasure, so they can have their own little travel memory albums, too.
I know there are families who travel across oceans, only to eat in McDonald's and visit the various Disneylands, but we think that if you give those sponge-like kid brains something worthwhile to absorb, they'll take it up just as easily as they memorize the characters in their favourite cartoons, and they'll remember it better than you can, too.
Threaded Mode
