Travelling with young children – some people’s idea of a total nightmare for others pure magic. And understandably so. Come on, we’ve all prayed not to be seated next to the screaming child on a flight or bus journey. Right? On the flip side, seeing new places through the eyes of children is simply enchanting.

Travelling with children is extremely rewarding and, having taken Tali to 15 countries (and counting), extremely possible.  There are some changes to how you travel, the methods of transport, accommodation and activities you do (pub crawls are not so family friendly). But the smiles and memories from seeing your child experience their first elephant ride make up for the loss of full moon parties and the like.

Tali feeding elephants in Laos

When you are with a small child, doors and people open up more than when you travel simply with adults. With children you are more approachable and it offers a chance to talk to people you might not otherwise have talked to. Kids are naturally curious and happily play with other children – they don’t need to speak the same language or share a culture to do so – they just get on with it, which encourages the adults to do the same.

Meeting villagers in Bangladesh

What follows is going to be a series of posts on tips and highlights on travelling with young children.  I’m by no means the expert on this and what works for me and my family won’t work for all. But, I do want to share my experiences to help and encourage other families to hit the road with their child or children. Challenging – yes. Worth it – absolutely!

I hope you find the posts useful and definitely please do comment with your own tips to build this into a shared resource for all who travel with junior(s) in tow!