how to travel with kids?

[marley raedeen]

not sure if this is the right category to be posting this in.. hope this works lol
my man and i used to do a bit of traveling together. i basically grew up on the road with my mom and he also did a bunch of solo travel. but we have kids now and are so lost as to how we can actually accomplish anything. we're stuck renting a house 😬 til the end of the year and our oldest is a special needs kiddo so we have lots of appointments and in home therapies but we're really itching to get them out more. guess I'm looking for any ideas of how to actually do that? do any of yall travel with kids (i haven't seen much on this site but I'm sure you're out there haha)? how do YOU do it?

 

[Joey Garbanzo]

I second the "don't" reccomendation. Not saying you can't do it but that "the state" and various institutions will most likely take issue with raising children like this which will make your life much harder.

 

[marley raedeen]

i mean...yeah. definitely rough in ways and have to be extra careful to not put em in sketchy situations but being able to do that shit when i was little was the coolest and i want to be able to do that for them. obviously will have to look way different than it would without them.

 

[marley raedeen]

I second the "don't" reccomendation. Not saying you can't do it but that "the state" and various institutions will most likely take issue with raising children like this which will make your life much harder.

oh no doubt. this might have come across like I'm trying to just like.. GO. full time on the road with little kids and do a bunch of wild shit. i'm not haha. basically just want them to be able to see a bit more of the world than our shithole town during their childhood. we'll still need to maintain a home base especially since we're around here for appointments and whatnot w one kiddo quite a bit.

 

[NamelessExistence]

Maybe get an RV. I knew a family who lived on a tour bus styled RV who traveled that way and when my dads band would go on the road the band would join them.

 

[ali]

RV is totally doable. Or car camping with a couple of tents for privacy. Bike touring works too. Or cruising/liveaboard.

I've refrained from commenting on this thread because i don't have kids of my own, but since people aren't really giving many helpful responses i can share that over the years i have met plenty of long-term traveling families with kids of all ages. The thing is you're not going to be meeting them in a ditch near the hop-out. They're going to be at national parks and paid campsites and marinas and doing the festival circuit, that sort of thing.

Depending on their age it might be good to set up a homeschooling routine so that they don't fall behind, and in some places you might be legally obliged to do that. Several parents i talked with have said that they needed to adjust their traveling schedule and style to accommodate for the kids, giving them time to do their schoolwork, recover from a physical day (especially if bike touring/hiking) and so on.

It might be easiest if you start with a clear target like just the summer holidays, or just a semester on the road, that way it will not seem so daunting for you or the kid. One couple i know started with a year-long tour of the national parks and now it's a couple years later they're still traveling i think, so you never know. I imagine a lot comes down to how comfortable you are being a parent and a teacher in one, and how independent the kid is, how much they want to hang out with other kids, that sort of thing.

Just to reiterate, though, i am not a parent, do not have kids of my own or any exposure to kids in my extended family, so i am only relaying what i heard from parents i met in campsites, at festivals etc. I know there are a few people on StP who have traveled with their kids in the past, but not sure if they are still around. I'm sure if you get out there you'll meet people, though, especially if you go to more family-friendly places.

 

[marley raedeen]

RV is totally doable. Or car camping with a couple of tents for privacy. Bike touring works too. Or cruising/liveaboard.

I've refrained from commenting on this thread because i don't have kids of my own, but since people aren't really giving many helpful responses i can share that over the years i have met plenty of long-term traveling families with kids of all ages. The thing is you're not going to be meeting them in a ditch near the hop-out. They're going to be at national parks and paid campsites and marinas and doing the festival circuit, that sort of thing.

Depending on their age it might be good to set up a homeschooling routine so that they don't fall behind, and in some places you might be legally obliged to do that. Several parents i talked with have said that they needed to adjust their traveling schedule and style to accommodate for the kids, giving them time to do their schoolwork, recover from a physical day (especially if bike touring/hiking) and so on.

It might be easiest if you start with a clear target like just the summer holidays, or just a semester on the road, that way it will not seem so daunting for you or the kid. One couple i know started with a year-long tour of the national parks and now it's a couple years later they're still traveling i think, so you never know. I imagine a lot comes down to how comfortable you are being a parent and a teacher in one, and how independent the kid is, how much they want to hang out with other kids, that sort of thing.

Just to reiterate, though, i am not a parent, do not have kids of my own or any exposure to kids in my extended family, so i am only relaying what i heard from parents i met in campsites, at festivals etc. I know there are a few people on StP who have traveled with their kids in the past, but not sure if they are still around. I'm sure if you get out there you'll meet people, though, especially if you go to more family-friendly places.

this is kind of my thoughts exactly. we already planned on homeschooling and I'd like to think I'm pretty competent with that. i was homeschooled (and my mom did a damn good job of it too. not like some parents that don't actually do anything and try to let a screen teach their kid.) so i have that background. always did really well in school too.
we gravitate towards more natute oriented "chill" destinations anyway so that works in our favor.
I'm thinking it's probably not going to be immediate because we do need to maintain a home base for now and i don't think we can rent and travel like that at the same time. probably just gonna work our asses off and get some cheap land and a livable structure whether that be a trailer or tiny house (but even those can be pricey and we're not made of money so idk) and then go from there.
i know people travel full time with their kids but right now i don't think we can. plus like you said that really depends on the kid. how well they actually tolerate being on the road. probably gets rough once theyre a bit older/dont want to leave their friends etc etc. i guess we'll see what happens!
we'll still be young enough to get out and about once they're grown so plenty of time for non kid friendly stuff then haha. really just want to give them the most enrichment that we can while also keeping some sense of stability.

 

[marley raedeen]

RV is totally doable. Or car camping with a couple of tents for privacy. Bike touring works too. Or cruising/liveaboard.

I've refrained from commenting on this thread because i don't have kids of my own, but since people aren't really giving many helpful responses i can share that over the years i have met plenty of long-term traveling families with kids of all ages. The thing is you're not going to be meeting them in a ditch near the hop-out. They're going to be at national parks and paid campsites and marinas and doing the festival circuit, that sort of thing.

Depending on their age it might be good to set up a homeschooling routine so that they don't fall behind, and in some places you might be legally obliged to do that. Several parents i talked with have said that they needed to adjust their traveling schedule and style to accommodate for the kids, giving them time to do their schoolwork, recover from a physical day (especially if bike touring/hiking) and so on.

It might be easiest if you start with a clear target like just the summer holidays, or just a semester on the road, that way it will not seem so daunting for you or the kid. One couple i know started with a year-long tour of the national parks and now it's a couple years later they're still traveling i think, so you never know. I imagine a lot comes down to how comfortable you are being a parent and a teacher in one, and how independent the kid is, how much they want to hang out with other kids, that sort of thing.

Just to reiterate, though, i am not a parent, do not have kids of my own or any exposure to kids in my extended family, so i am only relaying what i heard from parents i met in campsites, at festivals etc. I know there are a few people on StP who have traveled with their kids in the past, but not sure if they are still around. I'm sure if you get out there you'll meet people, though, especially if you go to more family-friendly places.

i think any lack of helpful responses is probably due to me not being clear in the way i explained myself originally. totally don't blame anyone for cautioning anyone who's about to put kids in a risky situation.