I know that people likely think we are nuts to take our kids to places such as this. I don’t blame them - it’s definitely unique for families to travel to off the beaten track locations with their kids. The thing is, for us travel isn’t just a thing we do, it’s in our blood, in our DNA - and for us it’s as natural as breathing.
To give some history, my mothers parents, my grandparents, were avid travellers. My grandfather travelled a lot for work and during the war, and my grandmother travelled extensively as a mature adult. What’s cool about this particular trip is that it’s the very same places that my grandmother visited years ago. Her journals describe the areas of the Silk Road that we will be visiting ourselves. It’s kind of neat to think that we are walking in her footsteps all these years later. My grandfather bought our family travel agency, Lloyds Travel, in 1969 and it’s been with us ever since. When he died, in 1986, my mother took over the business, and while owning a travel agency does make travel more convenient, it’s not convenience that pushes us to explore the world.
The first real trip I remember taking was when I was 9 years old. We went to France and we biked along the Loire valley. There were long days, days I wasn’t sure I would make it the distance we were trying to achieve. There were obstacles along the way but we survived and it left an impression on me. We didn’t have a lot of money, but my mom wanted us to travel, and so it meant we biked and/or camped in areas of Europe while I was young and my brothers were very young. We all went, we all pitched in and there was never a question of it being too hard or too complicated with us kids, we just went.
The year I graduated from high school we went on our first trip to a third world country. We went to India and it was very different from what we had ever done before. But we were ready. We had travelled together, faced challenges together and now we were ready for the next level. My youngest brother Erik was 3 at the time and I’ll admit it was a hard trip. The boys were young and it was difficult for them to understand and remember not to brush their teeth with the water or put their hands in their mouth after touching something. It was hot, the culture was different, the food was different, many of us got sick and the poverty was eye opening. But we saw the most beautiful sites, I walked across the marble of the majestic Taj Mahal at age 17. We rode elephants, learned to haggle, had tea with carpet shop owners, slept on trains, and more. To this day the memories of that trip are still engrained in my mind.
I can’t say that these trips are always super easy or fun. There are lots of exhausting days where you are dirty and covered in sweat and dreaming of the comforts of your own home. But the opportunity to see and feel, and smell and taste how other people live in the world is powerful. It’s these trips that have awoken in me and my family a sense of adventure and a yearning for more.
After India, our family would take many more trips together. My mom always worried that as we got older that we would never be able to find the time to travel together as a family anymore, and while that has happened over the years as each of us have had work and school commitments, we have managed to come together every few years to see a new part of the world.
When I got married and started my own family, the travel has continued with them, why would it stop now that I had my own kids. We had travelled with my young brothers to remote parts of the world for years, why would I do anything different with my own children? The thought never crossed my mind that what we were doing was hard or dangerous or crazy. It was how I was raised and how I wanted my own children to be raised. Thankfully I have a very supportive husband that believes in what we do and is up for whatever crazy adventure that we dream up.
As we abruptly initiated Dave and our kids into this world of travel, we have (I think) instilled in them a love for adventure, for meeting new people, for trying new foods, for learning how other people live, and for learning the history of the places we choose to explore.
Is it hard? Of course it is. There are unique challenges to travelling with kids, especially when they are young. The packing process when they were young was rigorous and stressful. Jet-lag with kids is challenging and the long flights with them were trying. What I would say though is that at 7, 10 and 12, we now have three amazing travellers.
The last few days have been challenging. We flew for 11 hours then sat in an airport for 4.5hrs then took another flight for 7. We are in a country that doesn’t speak english with food that is unusual. We are facing daily temperatures of 35-45 degrees and not always with access to somewhere to cool off. I’d say any one of those things would put a kid over the deep end and churn out a pretty awesome temper tantrum. What’s amazing though, is that these girls haven’t complained once. I know they are tired, I know they are hot, I know that they are unsure about the food that gets placed in front of them, but still they don’t complain.
If I let the fear of how they would do, or what they would eat, or how they would sleep, creep in and prevent us from pursuing these experiences, we wouldn’t be where we are today. It’s not a secret sauce that I’ve blended up to make them good travellers, it’s just been practice and exposure. Like with anything, the more you do something the easier it gets and the better you get at it. I’d recommend to anyone to take a leap of faith and give it a try. It’s easier than you think - and you get better at it. I also believe that the exposure and learning experiences they have on these trips far outweighs what you can learn in a textbook.
I can already see the “good traveller” traits coming out in my girls as they get older. Cadence is reaching a whole new level of independence on this trip and Avery and Fiona take bold steps each and every day.
I’m excited for their futures in travel and where they will embark to on their own when their turn comes. Cadence is already talking about her first solo trip that we will send her to after graduation. I hope she dreams big.
My brothers and I have built a life filled with travel, and it has all stemmed from the big leaps that my mom and Bruce took with us as kids.
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