My daughter has been to nine foreign countries and about a dozen states. Not bad for someone who hasn’t even had her fourth birthday yet.

We just got back from Brazil a couple of weeks ago, and she is flush with tales of that adventure.

But of all her previous journeys, she will tell you two things:

1. In Germany there was a castle with a BIG bed in it.

2. At our hotel in Peru, there was a dog named Fanu.

What about tangoing with her daddy in Buenos Aires? How about stomping around the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle? Whirling along with the glockenspiel in Munich’s Marienplatz?

Nothing.

So why did we bother bringing her at all? The same goes double for her little sister, who still lives in a world with a now but no then.

If they can’t remember any of it, then what’s the point of traveling with very young kids?

Here are five.

1. Early childhood experiences shape who we become.

In those first three-or-so years of childhood, why do we celebrate birthdays? Eat Thanksgiving dinner together? Go to museums or the beach or the park?

Why don’t we just leave kids in their cribs until they can demonstrate that our efforts to entertain and enrich them will be rewarded with a place in their permanent memories?

Because babyhood experiences obviously count for something. In fact, those hazy early years are among the most formative in a person’s life.

What better time to introduce a child to the world?

2. Being a parent doesn’t mean you hit the pause button.

I would never claim that our children drive our travel decisions. If that was the case, we’d just go to the nearest hotel with a pool for every vacation. The destinations we choose are selected because they are on my husband’s or my wish list.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Putting our suitcases away for the next decade makes about as much sense to me as giving up coffee until my kids are old enough to drink it.

We travel internationally because we are fanatical about it. And by bringing our kids along, we don’t have to put the brakes on doing something we love.

3. Because it’s more fun with kids.

Why don’t we just leave our kids with a babysitter while we travel?

Because we happen to be rather fond of the little scamps and like having them around. And the feeling seems to be pretty mutual.

4. Because passports don’t work on a one-punch system.

The most frequent criticism we hear about our family journeys is that we are cheating our kids out of the chance to truly experience destinations because we are taking them while they’re too little to appreciate it.

Hogwash.

There isn’t a country on this planet with a “no readmission” sign up at its border.

Just because they visited somewhere with us as toddlers doesn’t mean they can’t return there when they are old enough to plan their own vacations.

If they want to experience a place through more mature eyes, they can go back.

Heck, we might even go with them if they’ll let us.

5. Because families have a collective memory.

Families are so much more than the sum of their parts. The things we choose to do together become part of everyone’s story. They form a family identity that bonds us together.

Our kids don’t have to remember anything now for the memories of a trip to be important. As they grow, there will be tellings (and retellings) of our adventures. They will see themselves in pictures. They will know that they were part of all the fun.

Until then, we will remember it for them.





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