Dawn

I have been traveling with my now 20 month old for the past two summers. And it has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I don't think your kids should be dumped at the grandparents house for the week. Of course there are things that can not be done, like visiting museums for 6 hours straight and dining at 10pm, but lets face it, when you have kids, those days are over. I would not trade in the memories we are building for anything! <BR> <BR>You have to be sensible, if you are in a restraunt and the baby is screaming, it is time for you or hubby to take the child for a walk. Remove the child from the situation. But most of the time, if your child is well behaved, which thankfully mine is.., the experience is more than rewarding! We have been all over the UK and Central Europe over the past two years.., I can't wait to plan our next trip! <BR> <BR>So Cynthia, YES! travel can be done with kids.., it is up to you and your husband, but if you enjoy spending time with your child, which you should or you shouldn't have children in the first place, then bring them along, and enjoy every minute of it! E-mail me if you have any questions Cynthia!

Old Mom

Someone here mentioned that you'll have to wait and see what your kids are like, and I agree. My daughter, the firstborn, was and remains to this day a great traveler; she'll go anywhere at any time at the drop of a hat. My son, however, is the absolute reverse, and it was a shock to discover that he wasn't about to be the same kid as his sister. They are now 28 and 25--she's just the same, and he is content to go somewhere for a day only, and sleep in his own bed at night in the town he grew up in. Let me add that it is VERY important for you and your spouse to get away at least once a year all by yourselves. Good for the soul. Good for the kids.

greg

There is often also an end to "family" travel when the children get older. And it is not as old as you might think. So think about this likely family travel possible time "window." There are ofcourse families who do not experience this end of "family" travel. Ours was not one of them. <BR> <BR>At younger end, we chose closer destinations for a short time either with or without children. Traveling with infant "support" kit on a long trips was a bear. Even when we left them at granny's she could only keep them so long. <BR> <BR>From toddler to 14, we took them everywhere. They did not complain coming with us. In many cultures (at none business oriented destinations) the children magically attracted attention of the locals. We got to go to family oriented sites and mingled with the local families. <BR> <BR>Around 13 yrd old on, they started to resist doing anything other than hanging around with their friends at home. This curtailed our family travel as well as travel by ourselves as they were not old enough to be left alone, were too bored to stay at relatives, yet did not want to travel away from their friends. <BR> <BR>In retrospect, we were glad we used what turned out to be our family "travel" window, without knowing that they were the ideal time to take a trip as a family. <BR>

momrath

my son who is now 15 has been travelling with us his whole life. we took him to burma when he was 1.5 years! (which is a story in itself). we now live in asia and travel extensively all over the world. sure it was different from just the two of us, but i think it was better. seeing the world through your child's eyes and sharing new experiences is one of life's great pleasures. especially in asia where local people love to take care of your children while you have a quiet meal.we try not to overdo, plan plenty of rest time, accept that room service is sometimes the best choice when everyone needs a night off. in answer to your question about the best place: honestly I can't think of anyplace we didn't enjoy, but if i had to choose both best for us and best for child it would be a tie between rome and bali. <BR>

gb

When my kids were younger than school age, I used to joke that vacation was taking care of kids somewhere else! So make yourself as comfortable as possible. Don't take long plane trips. Young kids usually don't do well after several hours. Long hours in museums don't go over well either. Go to the beach, take that Disney trip and explore outside theme parks for adventure. Visit US historic sights when your kids are school age, making history come alive. Then, when they are older, they are much more patience, and interested in the historic places in other countries. Follow their interests-sports, insects, puppets, toys etc.On our first trip overseas to England, I was impressed that my nine year old daughter could really understand and appreciate the age of castles, and was able to reflect on it. On the same trip, we went on a "Beanie Baby Hunt", searching all over Great Britain for retired beanie babies with great success. Yes, you can travel, but travel with them, not opposing them.

jean

Traveling with children is almost as easy as having children at home... by that I mean that some are easy and some are not very adept at travel. <BR>May I only say that if you chose to travel with your children (as we have with our four) that not everyone enjoys your children as much as you and your family do. By that I mean if you are staying at a hotel that has two pools and one pool is for families and one pool is NOT for children don't think that everyone wants to hear "Marco Polo", etc....we have already done that. <BR>I feel stongly that if a room cost $50.00 or $1500 a night children should not run down the halls, jump on beds, or spend their evening in the lounge on the consigere floor. My parents took us on many great trips, as we have taken our own children on many trips--but more and more I see parents letting their children run completely wild. It is not pleasant for anyone.

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saz

Children are learning everyday even if they are a week old. A child wil lalways be amazed with the new things he sees. He might not even remember the trip but he will still be learning in it.

Me2

Love the posts by gb and Cindy, and I second their opinions. Also consider that your financial abilities may change after baby. And even if you do get away alone together while grandma babysits, it is definitely not as carefree. Someone always ends up needing a foot xray or develops a sinus infection... definitely not &quot;no strings attached!&quot; But remember that it does get easier as they get older. Beach vacations are the best for families, which we did within driving distance. But now I do regret that we didn't get away to Caribbean destinations as a family when the kids were younger - now it costs a fortune to stay at a nice hotel (they are 12 and 14 and usually fall into extra-adult prices - if the resort even allows four to a room!) My older daughter's favorite family vacas are relaxing at resorts (Atlantis), while my younger son likes the touring, exploring types of trips (Europe).

Monica

My husband and I love to travel, and since our daughter was born (she's now two) we've been to Oregon for a wedding, Seattle/Vancouver, London and Costa Rica. We're planning a trip to the UK and Italy for another wedding when baby #2 will be three months. It's totally possible to travel with children, you just have to have reasonable expectations. You can only do about half as much when you consider earlier bedtimes, naptimes and the inability to dine in fine restaurants, but to us half as much is still better than nothing!

StCirq

We traveled a lot before our kids were born, but actually our serious traveling began after we had kids. We traveled while I was pregnant with both kids and when each and then both of them were less than a year old. We've been traveling with them ever since. They've seen France (we have a second home there - an old house in the southwest where we've spent many a happy summer since my eldest was in kindergarten), Italy, Spain, England, Austria, Switzerland, and loads of time in tiny little out-of-the-way places in rural France not too far from our home in the Dordogne. Next year we're going to Ireland - the kids are 12 and 15 now - before we head to France. <BR>Since we had kids, my husband and I have taken only one vacation without them - to Spain for 10 days. I enjoyed that vacation away from the kids (they were with grandparents), but I've enjoyed the ones WITH them all the more. We've also traveled with them within the USA, too, of course, to Colorado and Florida and California and South Carolina and Chicago - usually short trips to visit/spend time with relatives. But the overseas trips, even with babies, were the most memorable.<BR><BR>I will never forget my son, 11 months, chewing as happily as any French baby, on a foot-long baguette, as we strolled him through the ch&acirc;teau in Angers, or my daughter, at some fast-food place at the airport at Heathrow - some huge American lout was attempting to pay for a hamburger and fries with dollars and was yelling at the top of his lungs &quot;It's GLOBAL CURRENCY,FOR GOD'S SAKE! I JUST WANT A BURGER AND YOU WON'T TAKE MY GODDAMN MONEY!!&quot; She was 7 years old and sidled up to him, having had a lesson in English money on the airplane on the way over, and poked him in the side and said &quot;Excuse me, but this is England. You have to use pounds to pay. They look like this&quot; - and she pulled out of her pocket the sample currency I'd been showing her on the trip over. The guy was actually stymied and shut his trap.

Lucy

My parents took my 2 older sisters to Europe before I was born when they were 4 &amp; 9 years old - they were gone for around 9 months &amp; travelled all over the place in a combi van (mainly camping!)

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