'Family Travel - Do You Opt for Convenience or Curiosity?
As a travel professional and a parent, I am often asked whether it is still possible to have “real” travel experiences with young children. In this article, I share my own experience of a 'lightbulb' travel moment and explain how families can combine ease and comfort with authentic culture, local food and opportunities for kids to learn about the wider world.
One of the many challenges of having children is working out how to go about your family holidays. There’s no doubt that bringing kids into the mix certainly makes many of us re-evaluate our travel choices.
I personally went from travelling to some fairly far-flung places (think Ethiopia and El Salvador) to a short haul villa holiday in Cyprus which curtailed my wanderlust somewhat and left me hankering after my backpacker days.
What I quickly came to realise though is that I could start instilling my love of travel into my children from an early age.
Cyprus didn’t have to be just about lazy days by the pool and trips out to the beach and the zoo.
For us it was also about exploring off the beaten path villages in the mountains, exploring ancient history and archaeological (and UNESCO World Heritage) sites and understanding Cyprus’ local crafts and living traditions.
We picked fruit from our villa owners’ orchard and ate delicious local seafood. The kids learnt how to say the essentials in Greek and marvelled about the mythology of Aphrodite (whilst eating ice creams of course)!
It’s about getting the balance right for both you as parents and for your kids. I genuinely believe it is possible to tick all the boxes on a family holiday: rest and play, comfort and exploring, pool days and proper culture.
What Cyprus taught me is that family travel does not have to be a choice between convenience and curiosity. With the right mindset, and a bit of planning, you can build holidays that feel easy, yet still stretch your children’s horizons and reconnect you with why you fell in love with travel in the first place.
