Travelling with kids – the world through a child’s eyes

Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I’m really into travel. In fact it’s quite uncharacteristic of me to stay in one place for so long (even if it is true what my husband says that living in Bali is like being on holiday every day). Of course I’ve had the whole being pregnant and having kids excuse for a while but now they’re getting bigger, I’m starting to daydream about another travelling life – this time with kids in tow.

I’m pretty sure these dreams will stay dreams for the next few years at least (the Balinese frown on travelling far from home, especially not young children) but I’m hoping I might be able to twist Made’s arm into agreeing to a little family holiday in the next couple of years. My brother and I travelled a lot as kids – mostly camping holidays in France, road tripping around Europe and Thomas Cook holidays to somewhere random and sunny – my mother would have the bags packed for weeks not knowing where we were going, just waiting for the right deal to come along. I want the same for my kids.

I think it’s so important to show kids the world outside their front doorstep, no matter where they live. Everyone says how lucky my two are to grow up here and I agree but I’d still like them to see more of the world.

So here is my little wishlist of kid-friendly travel ideas. Maybe we’ll get to some of them one day

Tokyo, Japan

I’ve visited Tokyo several times and I love it so much. I think it would be a million times better with kids – there’s so much for them to do here and I could blame my excessive shopping on buying stuff for the kids when actually it’s for me.

Kerala, India

I never wanted to go to India before I went there. In fact I was kind of dreading it and wondering why on earth I’d put it on my itinerary. I guess it was fate or kismet or the universe telling me I needed to go there because of course I loved it. I only visited the north of India but I’ve heard such amazing things about the south – Kerala in particular. I want my kids to see it too.

Lapland

Santa lives there. Need I say more?

New Zealand

I had a ticket and a work visa all ready for NZ but I never quite made it there. I still want to go and my dad returned from a month stay there a couple of weeks ago and raved about it. I’d love to hire a camper van and travel along the length of the country with the kids.

Sweden

Despite my love of Nordic countries, I somehow never quite made it out to Sweden (and had a disproportionate number of visits to Norway) so maybe I can make it up by going back with my kids. It’s always struck me as a particularly child-friendly country and I love Scandinavian design – the kids clothes in particular are amazing. Yes ok I want to go there to shop.

I don’t know when (if ever) I’ll get on the road with my kids as the idea of travelling with 2 little people sounds kind of daunting. But I’m inspired by my friend Erica’s travels across Indonesia with her daughter (and now son too!). She’s so intrepid – like she just went to Bandung with a newborn and a pre-schooler. Insane! and inspiring. The furthest I’ve ever been with both kids is Candidasa, which is like 40km away….

If you have any location ideas for travelling with kids, please send them my way so I can add to my wishlist

Oh also I had photocredits for all of these but then my browser crashed and I lost all my open tabs (with the credit links) so sorry if I’ve stolen your photo – please let me know so I can give you credit!

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