You remember so fondly your (relatively) stress-free travels before children. You may wonder, is it possible to have similar experiences as a family beyond the routines that hold you all in check at home?
Writer, mom and avid family traveler Molly White, thinks it is — if parents spend time weighing out which of two travel perspectives fits their family best.
One approach: Creatively adapt your own personal bucket list of ambitious adventures to fit the needs of your family. “Creativity and compromise are key components here,” White says. “Realism is essential.”
The other approach: Acknowledge that travel with kids is a whole different ball game. Choose destinations and modes of travel with their needs and interests as your drivers. This travel mode may look less like adventure and more like “safe” resorts, packaged vacations, few transitions, longer stays and shorter travel times. The key here is to embrace the truth that traveling with kids is a life stage, while at the same time promising yourself a return to adventures later.
“I know families on both ends of the spectrum,” says White. “The point is, both approaches are valid.” Once you decide which approach is best for your family, don’t even look in the other direction.
“Do not get trapped in the-grass-is-always-greener comparisons or any kind of “should-ing” during or after your trip, and instead, acknowledge that travel with young kids is a huge feat,” White says. “Before you start planning, sit down and make peace with what works for your family right now.”
How do you determine which travel approach is best for your clan? Pondering these questions may help:
- What is your budget and what compromises are you willing to make?
- What is your family ready for from a mental health point of view?
- What do you aim to get out of traveling together?
- What will feed your soul? Theirs?
- What type of travel will feel worth the effort in the end?
- What kind of travel will make you feel refreshed (and not regretful) when you get home?
Perhaps most importantly, ask yourself whether now is the time for family travel given the costs in stress, time and money.
“Be realistic. The packing and preparation can easily outweigh the benefits,” White says.”Even for the most adventurous, spontaneous and easygoing families, good planning and careful consideration are what make a successful trip.”
If your family is ready to roll (or fly), we invite you to “Go West!” to any of the destinations highlighted in our March/April 2025 issue of Seattle’s Child Magazine.
We’ve got destinations to meet a variety of adventure levels in the western U.S. and beyond, from a short-ish drive to San Juan Island to the way, way west of Hawaii to adventures thousands of miles away.
