Some Friendly Advice for Traveling with Kiddos (kids)
By Harry Alvarez | January, 18 2025
Traveling is an essential part of every education. Whether a child participates in a school trip, a gap year or a family vacation, the opportunities for learning are boundless. These trips become the real-life supplement to the learning that happens within the four walls of the classroom. When exposed to the wonders of the natural world, the ingenuity of our species and the hurdles of humanity, kids (and adults) learn so much. We learn grit when trying new foods or sleeping in new spaces, and make real-world connections while seeing how architecture and building materials adapt to different environments. We learn humility and listening skills while stumbling over a dinner order in a new language. There’s a huge space for beautiful moments, while attempting to avoid the all-feared tantrums.
First of all, it is possible to travel with kids. And far. Don’t let folks discourage you through fear and pessimism. Take a passion-based approach and lean into the potential for the wonderful moments that will become formative memories for them. As a child I traveled with my family to our homeland of the Dominican Republic a few times, and those occasions hold an outsized hold on my nostalgia, somehow outshadowing any grief I certainly gave them or any struggles I felt along the way.
Don't expect home. Oftentimes we have a tendency to over-prepare and try to bring home with us. Yes, pack some snacks and your favorite baby carrier. Don’t bring two strollers, a pack and play, a year's worth of diapers, prepared meals, etc. The beauty of travel is immersing in someone else’s home. Don’t expect the environment to adjust to you, attempt to adjust to the environment. People have kids everywhere and you will find diapers at every supermarket and corner store.
Plan around the sugar levels. Kids have growing bodies that they have not quite gotten used to. The concept of hanger is one that adults are all too accustomed to that kids just don’t understand. Make sure to take into account their metabolic needs. Children’s metabolic rates are generally higher than adults’ because their bodies are growing rapidly, which requires more energy. Their blood sugar levels can drop more quickly. Studies show that eating regular, balanced meals can stabilize energy levels and mood, especially in active or exploratory settings like travel. Scheduling physical activities shortly after meals ensures kids have the energy and focus to enjoy the experience! A walk around a city is good right after breakfast, maybe not so good right before lunch.
Explain “the poop situation”. No, not everyone goes the same and different is just that; different. Make sure the first time your kiddos experience a squatty potty or latrine is not when they really have to go, or when they haven’t gone for days. Do your homework and find out what the norm is, and explain it to your kiddos beforehand. Visual aids and all. Make it cool, not scary.
Give them grace. They will run around the most inappropriate spaces (mine, once, embarrassingly, up onto the private altar of a historic space of worship). They will say something they shouldn’t and they will misbehave. But all kids do this, and no one is going to judge your parenting. If they do, that’s on them.
Explore the edge of their, and your, comfort zone, but don’t push yourself too far beyond it. We learn the most at the end of our comfort zone but the moment we cross it and start to fear for our safety or are overly uncomfortable our bodies go into flight or flight mode and we stop learning. It’s not just me that says it; The Yerkes-Dodson Law explains that optimal learning and performance occur when we are just outside our comfort zone, in a state of moderate stress. This state, often referred to as eustress, enhances focus and engagement. However, when stress levels exceed this threshold—triggering the fight or flight response—the brain prioritizes survival over learning. Hormones like cortisol are released, impairing memory, problem-solving, and the ability to absorb new information. Staying in the “stretch zone,” rather than the “panic zone,” maximizes growth and learning.
Slow travel. Don’t plan a 5 week trip with 7 airplane rides, 5 trains, 10 cities etc. That’s a recipe for chaos and disaster. Rather pick one or two spots and settle in for a bit. This will give the kiddos a chance to adapt to their environment and start to learn. This goes back to the stretching of the comfort zone. The longer you’re in place the more comfortable you become which optimizes learning.
My partner and I travel with our kids often; as of 2025 they’re 4 and 9 years old. Sometimes it's a weekend trip to the beach or mountains and other times it's a weeks- long trip overseas. We’ve noticed how these experiences stretch our kids and begin to mold their world view. My oldest struggled with his use of Spanish (which he speaks), but flourished during our visit to Granada to see my wife’s host parents from her study abroad in high school. While he still refused to speak to us in Spanish we would overhear him talking eloquently to them when we weren’t around, explaining what life was like in the Dominican Republic or why (he believes) we moved there from the United States. Our little one has shed all fear of just about everything after spending a week meandering the medinas of Marrakech. I doubt either of them will ever forget riding camels in the Agafay desert.
