Archives for August 2017

Most people try to travel the world before they have kids or wish they had, or resign themselves to hoping their retirement package will stretch to cover a cruise once the kids have all left home. But there are a lot of reasons to travel with your kids. Here are just a few.

Language

The younger children are when they are exposed to other languages, the more likely they are to retain the ability to learn them and are more likely to take an interest. It’s one thing playing a CD of Spanish or Chinese in the car on the way to Kindergarten, but hearing a language spoken in its own country is a completely immersive experience. Experiencing the culture while hearing the language will have a far greater impact on your little ones.

Culture

Being an outsider in a foreign culture can be jarring even for adults, but it has its upside. Children who grow up aware of other peoples, places, cultures, and traditions are far more accepting than their peers. A teenager who has traveled as a youngster will be much more open to new people and experiences.
The importance of knowing that our version of ‘normal’, be it food, language or clothing, is just as strange to some people as theirs may seem to us.

Shared experience

Shared experiences make for great family bonding time. Travel makes for great family experiences, far more memorable, and often more exciting than time spent on home soil. Whatever age they are now, or were when you traveled, look back at the pictures and reminisce together, it will bring back great memories, and you’ll probably get a good few laughs too.

General knowledge

Well-travelled kids have a far greater general knowledge base than other children. This may be in part from things they pick up along the way on tours, museum visits etc, but more likely, they are simply interested. Children who don’t travel are quite happy in their comfort zone, sticking to what they know. Children who travel are aware of the wider world; they are far more curious, and more inclined to learn about, things outside their home-base.

Experience over Material things

Every parent wants to give their children the best they can afford, but this doesn’t always mean stuff. Ultimately, they will get bored of the X-box or outgrow their mini-bike, but an incredible experience will stick with them for a lifetime. When their next show and tell features a sea shell from Mauritius, you’ll know it was worth it.

Don’t put off travel because you think your kids are stopping you, book your flights to Tel Aviv, your cruise to the Caribbean or take a road trip to Mexico. Pack the kids up and show them what’s really out there. They might grumble at the long hours in the car, but you’ll have an amazing family experience, and your kids will definitely thank you when they’re older.

Travel is one of the best educations that a child of any age can receive. There’s little that can replace the experience of seeing something with their own eyes. When they travel they come into direct contact with unfamiliar cultures, people, landscapes, foods, plants, animals and climates. They sometimes have to communicate as best as they can in foreign languages and when they are given the chance to experience independent travel, they learn to deal with unforeseen changes to schedules.

Teenagers particularly benefit from the challenge of discovering environments that are different to the ones they are accustomed to. As they travel from place to place, their interests in learning about language, geography, culture and history begin to grow. If you plan on taking a trip to South America with teenagers in tow, some of the most inspiring destinations to take them to are as follows:

Angel Falls, Venezuela

Angel Falls, located in Canaima National Park, Venezuela’s second largest national park, is the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall at 979 meters. Inaccessible by road, a trip to Angel Falls can only be achieved by taking a small plane from Ciudad Bolivar to a native village deep in the rainforest and then a white water rafting trip – around four hours – to the base of the waterfall, where travelers spend the night in hammocks in the middle of the forest. The climb up to the waterfall’s viewing platform is normally undertaken the following morning. The exploring nature of this trip as you white water raft your way to the falls is what really appeals to the adventurous teenage spirit, which is why it’s a trip you really don’t want to be making without an appropriate travel insurance plan in place.

The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

If you want to introduce your teenagers to some of the most incredible flora and fauna on the planet, take them to The Galapagos Islands off of the western coast of Ecuador. An archipelago of volcanic islands, The Galapagos are home to an incredible array of endemic species. They were studied by Charles Darwin and form part of his theory of evolution. Teenagers who visit these islands don’t only get the opportunity to explore the beauty of our planet in the present, but they also receive an education in our planet’s biological history.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Apart from being a series of jaw-dropping architectural structures, this world famous site constructed by the Inca community is a gateway into South American history. A trip to Machu Picchu gives teenagers the opportunity to learn first-hand about Peru’s pre-colonial roots, customs and beliefs. It’s living proof of a culture that knew nothing of the Bible nor of the Catholic religion; a culture that had the ability to build incredibly high structures without the aid of heavy construction machinery, like the kind we employ today.

If you add the excitement of actually making the pilgrimage trek along the Inca Trail, camping for at least three nights en route, making exhausting climbs and moving through incredible countryside, this is perhaps one of the most thrilling destinations for teenagers to visit in South America.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

If your teenage children aren’t particularly lovers of the great outdoors, South America still comes up trumps with Argentina’s capital city. Brimming over with museums, galleries, theaters, street art and independent cinemas, young people with an interest in the arts must visit Buenos Aires at least once. Restaurants open and serve dinner until late – as Argentines have a custom of eating at around 10pm – and children are always welcome. The city’s parks are vast and refreshing, offering plenty of needed respite from the relentless movement and excitement that surrounds.

If you happen to be a meat-loving family, then Buenos Aires is, once more, an excellent place to visit in South America as you’re not likely to find a better steak served anywhere else on the continent… anywhere in the world, to be more precise. So if art, theater, football matches and food feature at the top of your teenager’s list of favorite things to do, you know where your next flight booking should be taking you.