Long Term Travel with Kids

I'm inspired by this article in the New York Times about long term travel with kids. When P and I were first married, we took six months off to travel, backpacking through the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

It was difficult to put our friendships and our work on hold, we reasoned that we'd never again be freer than we were at that point in time. We had, of course, all sorts of worries: would we get a disease, would we be homesick, would be sick of one another? I probably would never have gone had my husband not persisted in getting me to look at what I was worried about, learn more about the destinations, and really think about how much the trip would mean to me (and him).

I won't go on about all the things we learned on our adenture. It's sufficient to say that we came back a little humbler about our place in the world.

A few years later I had major surgery and then herniated a disc in my back. I was bedridden for almost six months. For months, I didn't know whether I would ever walk properly again. My husband set up an early MediaCenter beta on our home TV and I spent hours each day looking at pictures of our trip. They helped me remember how strong I felt during the time we were travelling and they helped me put aside the pain of the moment. Most of all, though, they made me grateful that I had seized the moment and not put of the trip of my dreams until some magic point in the future.

Looking back at that trip now, I can't believe I ever considered not going. In some sense, it made me see that anything is possible.

Now, years later, I'm completely recovered, and we have two wonderful children. Travel is an important enough part of our lives that we've made a commitment to keep doing it. True it's not as easy as it once was. Yes, we have to consider safety more carefully than when it was just the two of us. Having the kids, though, opens up whole new worlds to us as well. They've forced us to slow down the pace a little and get to know the places we visit more intimately. People want to interact with them, and in turn with us. And of course, we hope that our children will learn and grow as much from their travels as we do. We're forced into local markets, pharmacies, and playgrounds. All-in-all, it's delicious

Still, I feel, we've been fairly cautious overall. We've made several trips to Europe, but no place more challenging. Though both my husband and I are self employed, we've done nothing longer than a month. What's next? I'm not sure… but I'm glad that this article got me thinking a little more broadly.

References:
NY Times: A long weekend: How about a Year

0 comments | Posted on November 6, 2007 | Save to del.icio.us

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