Hello everyone,

Me and my wife are 43 and 38 years old respectively and our kids are ages 8 and 10. Both me and my wife love to travel.

We have lived in two countries so far and have traveled to New Zealand and Canada as a whole family. We spent 22 days in New Zealand last year and it was an expensive affair. My question were:

1) How many of the folks here travel to all destinations as a family with kids ? How many have started traveling as a couple of with friends after their kids have grown up and moved out ?

2) Traveling as a couple reduces your costs as compared to traveling with kids. I am thinking in 10 years my kids will be adults and me and my wife will still be 53 and 48 years old which is not too old for traveling to various places assuming we will still have 10-15 years left for active traveling,

When my kids are grown up, they can always travel by themselves or with their families if they have the financial capability. And its not that I am saying that for the next 10 years we remain grounded. But instead of taking trips to faraway destinations we take shorter trips (long drives over weekends for example) within our country which are not too heavy on the wallet. By faraway destinations I mean places like Brazilian rain forest, Galapagos islands, Antarctica , two months in Europe etc. Its not that we have to show all these places to our kids right now.

Does anyone think like this ? My main logic for this thought has to do with finances.

Thanks.

Instead of depriving yourself of the pleasure of traveling with your kids, why don't you look into where and how to travel cheaply?

Sure, I got sticker shock when I looked at the prices for New Zealand (admittedly I was in southeast Asia, a very cheap place to travel, at the time), but I dealt with it by traveling by bus and staying in youth hostels. With four of you youth hostels should work very well - many will have quad rooms, and most will have kitchens. Apartments will also work, letting you eat in for breakfast and dinner and fix sandwiches for picnic lunches.

Antarctica is about the single most expensive place to travel on the planet, and the Galapagos not far behind (at least the way most people do it), but they are only two places out of the very many you could visit. For Europe, you can control costs not only by staying in youth hostels and apartments, but by visiting the south rather than the north and the east rather than the west. Stay for one month rather than two, don't move arond too much. Book train or plane tickets well ahead for cheaper rates. For even cheaper travel look at Asia.

i could go on, but instead I suggest you read "Europe Through the Back Door" and Lonely Planet's "Shoestring" guides. Posting on the continent specific boards here will also get you continent specific help.

Who knows what your situation will be in ten years? How healthy you will be, for a start? Travel while you can.

I agree with you train of thought, OP.

My husband has 3 kids and the last has turned 18. All our trips in the past 5 years were without kids, some of them very fancy so I would of hate to think about the cost if we took them. Possibly it is different as I am not there mother so these were not really considered family trips.

Hubby and I are 50 and 44 and we're about to travel with a group of 10 to Fiji soon. We have a number of other friends 5 years older than us and their kids have grown up and they always go away in large groups, usually to Phuket or Bali. These so called grown ups are bigger party animals than 25 year olds! (I'm not a big drinker or stay out all night person!)

When I was a kid we would drive 'to the country' 3 hours away (central Victoria, Australia) to stay with friends. We'd go for 3 or 4 days and they were the highlight of my childhood. I didn't need Disneyland or expensive holidays.

It amazes me when I see trips that some families go on as the kids are more impressed with eating at McDonalds or swimming at the hotel pool than the fancy tourist attractions that parents had paid thousands to bring them to see. I often wonder who is the trip really for?

So then it makes sense to start "real" traveling after kids have grown up and moved out !!

Now I don't need to feel guilty about not going to Europe or South America or Rwanda to see gorillas next summer and blowing up a load of cash

Money aside, one of my big regrets is that we did not travel to Europe or the Caribbean or Africa with our kids when they were teens.

After my own kids grew up and I started teaching, I took the HS kids in my Art classes to Italy, Spain and France. For many, it was life-changing, and I was truly sad I had not given that to my own kids.

You don't have to do it every year, but two or three trips when they are mid-teens would be great.

Also, the fact is, you have no guarantee that you will have not health issues 10 or 15 years from now, or other family things that will interfere with travel.

Hi,
Travel with kids means lot of fun but take care to them is responsible task during travelling. kids usually crying after week-up then it create disturbance to other if you travel by bus, train and flight.Similarly travelling without kids are cost effective and no responsibility.we enjoy lot with friends.

I think that, like anything else, balance is key.

If you have kids and you have the means to do it, I think that family travel is a great thing to do. Families spend time together, you expand the kids' horizons, you learn about the world, each other, etc. And the kids learn to travel - not just about the places you actually go, but how to actually travel, plus other life skills, self-confidence, and so on. It can really expand their world and open up opportunities for them.

Also, I think that it is important for couples to take time to be with each other - as a couple, not just mom and dad. Make sure you take care of all aspects of yourselves and your relationship, not just the parts that pertain to the kids. AND - this is also good for the kids. It is important for them to see their parents as multi-faceted individuals and not just as mom and dad - and this is what the kids learn when mom and dad go to activities without the kids - they learn that you are people too It is also important for the kids to learn how to be away from mom and dad - to be with grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, family friends, etc. for a period of time. The ability to be independent from mom and dad and live to tell about it is incredibly important for kids' development. By travelling without the kids, parents give the kids this opportunity for development.

Well said, November_moon

My kids have been traveling with my husband and I their entire lives and are now in their late twenties and early thirties. Although they live in another country,we have been blessed to still have them meet us during Christmas for a family vacation the past 5 years.
Our family vacations from the time they were little were usually overseas and this allowed them to think globally and experience different cultures and attitudes.We stay at 3 star hotels or apartments,do our own tours and drive ourselves through the various countries which make it financially feasible for our family.The memories we have made traveling together through the years are priceless!