Wanderlust.

[rivka]

Over Christmas, talking with my sister Debbie, the subject of our 2002 trip to the Florida Keys came up. I said to her, "You know, that was one of the nicest vacations I've taken."

"Wow," she said. "You really haven't traveled much."

It felt like a slap in the face, although I know she didn't mean anything of the kind. It's just... she travels a lot, and she makes enough money, and spends it frugally enough, to go on exotic and exciting trips. Since we went to the Keys together, she's taken a small-boat cruise to the Galapagos, for heaven's sake. She's been to Egypt. She goes sea kayaking in Alaska and hiking in New Zealand.

I had meant to be saying something about how much I enjoyed traveling with her, and what a peaceful and relaxing trip it had been. I wasn't trying to say that I thought the Florida Keys were the best place in the world, based on my extensive survey. I haven't traveled that much - we simply haven't had the money for it, or the time. But I'd like to do more.

So I've been daydreaming. I'm helped along by my discovery of the concept of family adventure travel. It's nice to know that there are other people who think it's perfectly plausible to take a 6- or 8-year-old child on safari to Tanzania, or on a cruise down the Nile, or touring in Vietnam. Further surfing has led me to infant adventure travel, minimum age one year, with possible trips to Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Lapland, Egypt.

Okay, that last concept might be a little extreme. But it's feeling good right now to have a sense of expanded horizons. In a few years, we might go anywhere.

Comments

[erbie.livejournal.com]

We've always traveled with our daughter. Her first cross country trip was at three months old, and she's been on at least 3 cross country trips every year of her life. She's four now, and she's even been to other continents. When she was one year old, we took her on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. When she was 3, we took her to Japan and Taiwan for 2 weeks. Just this past summer, she spent her fourth birthday on a 2-week cruise from Los Angeles to Florida, vis Mexico, the Panama Canal, Curacao and the Bahamas.

Barring money issues, there's no reason you can't take even a small child on a great trip. Most of our travel has been to visit family either across the country or across the globe, but when we've gone on real vacation vacations, we've done cruises. We're actually considering a cruise either to/from the Mediterranean, or within the Mediterranean for the summer of 2007, when we will have an almost six year old and a one year old along with us. We may just decide to go to Europe and take trains around though, since it's probably going to be cheaper.

There are certainly things that make traveling with small kids easier on parents. Having more than one helps. Having at least one who speaks the language is good. Bringing a favorite lovey/comfort object is a good idea. Also, for flights and train rides, plenty of snacks and entertainment. We always get new sticker books and give them to her on the plane. And she usually sleeps on planes as well.