Two days ago I read an interesting post on the subject of excuses concerning travelling on the blog Podróżniccy. We were reading and reading, and it was like we’d hear some people we know: I cannot take days off, I don’t have the time, I have so much to do, I don’t have the money, I don’t have anyone to watch my dog, maybe some other time, etc., etc…. We were most interested in the thread concerning children continued by the team from Domowa.tv.
As we know quite a lot about travelling with a child, we’ve decided to take part in the discussion and say what we think… 🙂
Let’s start with a short retrospective: when we didn’t have Maks and we enjoyed travelling to various places (we liked it from the start!) we used to hear our few friends who had children say that a child changes your life entirely, that you cannot party as you did before, that you cannot just leave for a journey, and that all you have left is a sofa, a remote control and maybe a playground next to your house… Moreover, in my job (as a sociologist and a market researcher) I’ve often heard people say things like: we used to like travelling very much, and now, if you go with children, you go to the beach and that’s all…
We didn’t have our own experiences and we were wondering: is it really like this? Are they right?
Parties have indeed changed – because someone had to stay with the little one, because we had to watch the time (because granny cannot stay with him forever), because someone has to take care of him in the morning, finally, because a party for a nurturing mother for several reasons is not a dream come true – believe me! 😉 But why would we stop travelling?
So, we decided to see for ourselves what is the deal with travelling:
– when Maks was 3 weeks old we went for a weekend to Kazimierz, then to Łódź, Tricity and Cracow
– when he was 2.5 months old we went for a month-long car trip around Europe – we had a wonderful time in the north of France, Spain, in Portugal, Andalusia, Cinque Terre – it was a perfect time for a journey because that’s when mom means the world to a little one…
– when Maks was a 5-month-old child he started to travel by plane – first he took a short flight (to Italy!) and he’d already experienced a cancelled flight, delays and other attractions
– when he was almost 7months old we went to Mexico… and that’s when we started a storm! 😉
BECAUSE… YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND TO TAKE A CHILD TO MEXICO!
Because if you want to take a child, go to the seaside and don’t leave the hotel and the nearby beach…
So, we’re advocating for the action initiated by Podróżniccy and we’re busting myths associated with the assumption that a child shouldn’t go for an exotic journey – probably until it turns at least 7 😉
1) I’m not going with a little child for an exotic journey because it will not survive a 10-to-12-hour flight!
If you haven’t tried it, how can you know?
Most children are sound asleep during a flight for many hours because a plane produces a pleasant noise… There’s an even bigger chance for sleep, in case of a newborn, especially a breast-fed newborn – the only problems is that it’s mom has to prepare for becoming immobilized, but she doesn’t have much to do anyway.
In the case of an older child, there are children’s books, entertaining snacks, films, drawing, tablet puzzles, or whatever a little one likes. And what happens when (s)he’s tired of sitting? there’s nothing wrong in walking around the plane! And afterwards, (s)he’ll be exhausted and fall asleep!
I’m not going to lie, obviously: I’ve heard children crying for 80% of the flight, but, honestly, they’re an exception. The rest didn’t have any problems with flying; some of them were even treating the journey as an adventure. It’s important to start early and get them used to it!
2) (S)he can get sick and you won’t have good access to medical help…
This is one of the most frequently repeated concerns, especially by my mom. Of course, I cannot guarantee that a little child won’t get sick! But do you think that it will get sick more likely during the cold November days in Poland, or in the warm Bangkok? I think that every parent whose child spends winters in the Polish nursery/ kinder garden knows the answer!
In case of smaller problems – running nose, one-day-long fever, cough – we have a first aid kit with us that I’ve mentioned here.
In case of bigger problems, search for a doctor and you’ll surely find one, unless you’re going to the jungle. We prefer to know that the medical services are quite close and that we’re able to reach them. We’ve already tested paediatricians in Mexico on Yucatan and in Istanbul, where we used our hotel manager as our translator when speaking with the doctor. Is it doable? Yes, it is!
3) What is he going to eat there? He’ll get food poisoning!
What is my child going to eat in Thailand /Mexico / Georgia? I’m scared of food poisoning! We’ve come across these words as well. It’s much easier if you’re travelling with a newborn (as we did to Mexico) because he is breastfed, he eats jars with baby food and porridge – things easily AVAILABLE in stores. But what about a little one of 1.5 or 2 years? Most of them don’t like jars anymore, you won’t cook, so you’re eating out…
We’ve been eating out in Thailand, Israel, Turkey… I’m not going to mention other places because I assume that the Italian pasta and the Spanish paella don’t scare anyone 😉 Our middle eater was eating like a horse and he managed to find something for himself in every cuisine – he would die for fried rice with chicken! (like his mommy for pad thai!) He didn’t have problems with his tummy, or any other bad experiences, NOT EVEN ONCE.
So, what are you afraid of? Maybe your child would also fall in love with Thai, Mexican or Chinese cuisine? You should only remember to use your common sense and to be moderate – so don’t take the little tummy for street food in Bangkok the first day of your visit when it’s 40 degrees outside;)
4) It’s dangerous out there!
Ah, yes, you’re taking a child to SUCH a dangerous place??!!?? OK, I agree, we don’t like to expose neither ourselves, nor Maks to danger – we love life too much. So, we prepare ourselves – we read the information from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we don’t visit places commonly perceived as dangerous (i.e. the north regions of Mexico), we don’t tempt faith. But we also remember that there are people like us, and that they ALSO HAVE CHILDREN in the countries that we visit!
5) High temperatures and full sun is bad for him!
There are sun blocks, scarves, cups and hats. There are shaded spots where a little one can rest. Ours was 3 month old when he spent the end of August in Andalusia. He was enjoying the warm weather. Any negative consequences? A few small spots of baby rash. So another myth gone! busted!
6) He can get attacked by “tropical” mosquitoes and other mysterious creatures!
True. And Maks got attacked. So what? He didn’t even cry, he didn’t even scratch himself. He didn’t care about the Mexican mosquitoes; only the American tourists visiting the area of Tulum on Yucatan were giving him strange glances 😉
Meanwhile, our friends’ son got bitten by mosquitoes at his grandparents’ near Warsaw to such extent that he had to go to the hospital. So what? Maybe we shouldn’t travel at all and stay home in the evening? Go out and travel, just remember about something against mosquitoes and after bites – since Mexico, we’ve never forgotten!
7) He won’t remember a thing anyway! You’re egoistic!
I’ve heard that before. Why are you going? This child won’t remember a thing! First of all, we don’t know if it’s true: we believe that journeys educate, open minds, show various people, various lifestyles, teach tolerance.
Second of all, even if it’s true that he won’t remember a thing – so what? He’s spending time with his parents! And this is a high quality time, better than at home, because there is no work to do, no overdue report to write, no e-mails to address, no laundry, ironing, cooking, washing the floor, cleaning the bathroom, shopping, washing the dishes and hundreds of things that sometimes force us to place the little one in front of a telly because we have no other choice…
And thirdly, according to the theory that “happy parents raise happy children”, it’s worth being an egoist sometimes… 🙂
To sum up: it’s easy to find a million of reasons against exotic travels with a child but “a winner sees a solution in every problem” so if you have any more reasons, please, it’d love to “eat” them! 🙂
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