• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Products / Baby Gear
    • Best Mom & Baby Products
    • Ultimate Baby Registry Guide
  • Pregnancy
    • Prenatal
    • Breastfeeding
  • Baby
    • Month 1-3
    • Month 4-6
    • Month 7-9
    • Month 10-12
    • Second Year
    • Toddler
  • #MomLife
  • About Rookie Moms
  • Nav Widget Area

Rookie Moms

Pregnancy > Parenthood

You are here: Home / Momoirs of a Rookie Mom / Travel with little kids? Yes, says Travellin’ Mama

Travel with little kids? Yes, says Travellin’ Mama

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn


I have to admit that I’m intrigued, bordering on obsessed, by parents who travel with their very young children. As a travel LOVER, I aspire to leave the country every year someplace other than a Disney cruise. But somewhere between my good intentions and the realities of airfare and car seats, I freeze in my tracks. This guest post continues a short series from other real-world moms who have traveled with their little ones and lived to tell the tale.

Nancy Harper is a Canadian mom, writer and travel junkie who lives on a farm in Ontario. She is the author of Travellin’ Mama: A Parent’s Guide to Ditching the Routine, Seeing the World and Taking the Kids Along for the Ride, and the instigator of her family’s upcoming current two-month odyssey through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

A few years ago, a random middle-aged guy told me that traveling with kids is IDIOCY. And he was kind of right in a way. Crappy stuff happens, for sure, like when I spent 36 hours trying to get from Melbourne to Toronto with a squirming, barfing one-year-old on my lap.

Maybe you’re wondering how young is too young when it comes to taking your kids on the road. Many parents say the best time to start traveling with kids is never.

While I agree that traveling with babies and toddlers demands a certain skill set ”“ steely determination even ”“ I actually think that hitting the road en famille rocks (even when it TOTALLY sucks!) especially if in your carefree pre-kids days you happened to dig traveling a lot. And here’s why: Because the altruistic mom who gives and gives without getting that regular gig for herself wakes up one day to realize the children she so painstakingly raised are not only completely spoiled but utterly incapable of knowing what it is to be considerate of, or even vaguely aware of, another person’s place in the universe.

I was really fortunate a few years back to experience a long-haul family adventure across Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and southeast Asia. And although my kids were older at the time (6 and 7) I do believe that babies and toddlers aren’t necessarily travel-averse creatures, or that we should automatically give up doing the things we love because of them.

The trick is in the approach (and of course the ability to keep your sense of humor handy at all times).

So here, in my humble opinion, is the long and the short of it:

long flights bad, road trips good

Plus a few other tips:

  • Don’t expect too much of them (no kid cares about the scenery!)
  • Take on something you want to do (give your kid some credit ”“ they can almost certainly handle something a bit more interesting than a playground)
  • Lighten up and don’t forget to have fun
  • Be flexible even if you have a plan
  • When traveling by plane: Got a baby? Reserve one of the bassinet seats. Toddlers and older kids? Let ’em watch as much TV as they want!
  • By train: Reserve a sleeping car if possible. Kids love the sense of adventure and discovery as much as you will.
  • By car: See as much of the U.S. and Canada with the kids as you can. If you’ve got plenty of time, drive only a few hours day and give them plenty to get excited about at the next destination.

What I do know is that in all my adventures with my daughters ”“ many of them awesome, some about as palatable as a poop sandwich ”“ have reaffirmed for me something that most Rookie Moms readers likely already know: Going after what we want doesn’t make us bad or selfish parents, it actually makes us happier people, and therefore better parents.

I dig this philosophy so much I wrote a book about it. Travellin’ Mama is about the funny stuff that happens on the road with kids. It’s also about the unbelievably annoying shit that makes you want to start smoking again.

Mostly it’s about showing parents who yearn to travel that it’s not only possible to travel with kids, it’s amazing to travel with kids. And it sure beats living with the regret of having put off one’s own dreams to faithfully toe the modern parent’s sacrificial line.

We should all take the time we need to do happy-mom things. And if your happy-mom thing happens to be traveling, who’s to say the kids can’t come along for the ride?

Related links

  • Nancy’s website
  • Travellin’ Mama on Facebook
  • Nancy Harper on Twitter: @TravellinMamaBk
  • Top 10 Reasons to travel with your kids

[All photos from Nancy Harper and Travellin Mama blog except the snazzy header which Whitney made for our series of fun, real-world travel adventures]

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
RookieMom Heather
RookieMom Heather
RookieMoms co-founder & mom to 3 boys in Berkeley, CA. Bossy big sister and project manager turned blogger. Find me on my other site on 510families.com or hiding in my minivan eating dark chocolate.
RookieMom Heather
Latest posts by RookieMom Heather (see all)
  • Best Gifts for a One Year Old – Top picks for 2023 - October 10, 2023
  • 6 Fool-Proof Strategies for When Your Toddler Won’t Stay in Bed - August 13, 2023
  • 7 Super Great Nursing Sports Bras + 1 to Avoid - June 6, 2023

November 30, 2012 12:42 pm RookieMom Heather Filed Under: Momoirs of a Rookie Mom, Travel

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter

Primary Sidebar

Search our site

The Best 20 Stay at Home Mom Jobs in 2024!

The Best 20 Stay at Home Mom Jobs in 2024!

19 Best Nursery Gliders of 2024! [Tested by Parents for Parents]

19 Best Nursery Gliders of 2024! [Tested by Parents for Parents]

The 50 Best Toys for 2 Year Old Boys in 2023! [+ Toys of the Year]

The 50 Best Toys for 2 Year Old Boys in 2023! [+ Toys of the Year]

6 Fool-Proof Strategies for When Your Toddler Won’t Stay in Bed

6 Fool-Proof Strategies for When Your Toddler Won’t Stay in Bed

The Best Gender Reveal Gifts (30+ Unique Ideas!)

The Best Gender Reveal Gifts (30+ Unique Ideas!)

10 Best Strollers In 2023 – For Every Mom’s Needs!

10 Best Strollers In 2023 – For Every Mom’s Needs!

Join our Rookie Moms Facebook Page

Rookie Moms

Disclosure

Review Policy
Privacy Policy

This site is an Amazon affiliate.

Popular Articles

150 Unique Middle Names for Girls

Footer

Browse By Age

  • Pregnancy
  • Month 1-3
  • Month 4-6
  • Month 7-9
  • Month 10-12
  • Toddler
  • Preschooler

Problem Solving

  • Sleepy
  • Eating
  • Breastfeeding
  • Home
  • Baby Registry
  • Pregnancy
  • Baby
  • Toddler
  • Preschooler
  • Baby Gear
  • #MomLife
  • Holidays
    • Holiday Gift Guide
    • Holiday Entertaining

© Copyright 2016 · Pretty Lifestyle WordPress Theme by: PDCD