Traveling with kids is not always easy. On a recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with my three boys (age 8 and twins age 3), one tried to board a flight to Seattle, another dusted our seats with pretzel crumbs, and the third nicked his finger in the luggage carousel. But it was all worth it once we arrived; I will never forget the looks of wonder on their faces as they released baby turtles into the sea.
Family travel can have immense benefits for the whole clan. In a 2023 survey from the Family Travel Association, 82 percent of respondents said the experience brings them closer, 79 percent said it enriches a child’s education, and 73 percent said it makes them better global citizens. A third believed it made them better parents. Here are tips for planning and enjoying an epic vacation avec enfants.
Dream big
Take a moment to consider what would make a really memorable trip—beyond the constraints of time, budget, and your own sanity. If the kids are older, can they help brainstorm places to visit, or things to see and do? Use maps, photos, stories, and movies set in the location—anything that gets their minds spinning with promise. Do you want to go somewhere you know well, so you already have the lay of the land, or to an unfamiliar spot, so everyone can share the thrill of discovery?
Set expectations
Don’t pack too much into the suitcase or itinerary. ”You don’t need to bring that much stuff to entertain kids,“ says Afar Editorial Director Sarika Bansal, whose toddler happily spent an hour giving river rocks a bath during a camping trip. Bansal has rethought her own expectations too: “I’ve realized the folly of trying to visit two museums, a fancy restaurant, and a hip neighborhood all in one day. And that’s OK! I don’t need to see it all.“
Cari Gray concurs. The founder and CEO of Gray & Co. not only designs customized active trips, but is also a parent of a 12-year-old who‘s been to 31 countries. When planning family trips for her clients, she prioritizes multiple-night stays in locations instead of single-night stops, a strategy that allows kids to settle in and have a good sleep. “If you can see one part of the world more deeply, we strongly recommend that,” says Gray, who‘s also a member of Afar‘s Travel Advisory Council. “Nothing spoils a vacation day more than a kid who hasn‘t slept or had time to deal with jet lag.“
Heather Greenwood Davis, a travel writer who also runs the Globetrotting Mama blog, has traveled with her children (now 19 and 22) since they were born, including a yearlong round-the-world trip. She says she learned to keep details on a “need-to-know basis with little ones,” adding that it‘s “better to surprise than disappoint.“
Try new things, together
Travel is inherently educational and mind-opening for kids, but you can up your game by getting creative with their interests. Have a manga fan? Visit bookstores in Tokyo. Have a swimmer? Don snorkel masks and take the plunge in Belize. Think, too, about how to create traditions—perhaps with a cooking class—and inspire curiosity and empathy by meeting local people. Let older children plan a day. Journal together.
Sarah Dusek, owner of Few & Far, a carbon-neutral tour company, says she helps families make memories together by ”finding unique and extraordinary things to do, whether that‘s swimming with pink dolphins in the Amazon or meeting meerkats in Botswana.” She‘s also a firm believer in showing children how travel can positively impact local ecosystems and communities. ”When they‘re young, they get to see the good that travel can do, and that instills that superpower of traveling well.”
Embrace the tricky parts
Things will go wrong. Lean into that. Be glass-half-full, even if the neon, sugary, other half of the glass is all over your pants. Bansal says that she‘s stopped stressing about long-haul flights with her daughter: ”I‘ve recast them as an opportunity to spend valuable quality time together.”
Above all, be kind to the kids—and yourselves. As Greenwood Davis explains, ”navigating those hurdles helps to build resilience. Travel allowed [my children] the space to grow and then bring back what they learned about the world and themselves to their classrooms and neighborhoods.”
