Both pre and post-child, I have always loved to travel. Ever since my first overseas trip to Greece in 2004 as part of a study abroad program, it has been an important part of my life. Going new places, seeing new things, and meeting new people always reminds me that there is much more to this world than what exists within the confines of our daily existence. Getting out of my comfort zone and putting myself in a position of vulnerability through travel has always been, to me, one of the best ways to truly learn not only about others but about myself. Travel forces me to react and reflect, to listen more and speak less, to experience and to learn. It serves as a reminder that we are not as important as we sometimes think we are, nor do we really know ourselves as well as we may believe.

Almost three years ago, I was given the gift of a lifetime by becoming a dad. Out of my comfort zone? Check. Position of vulnerability? Double check. In every way possible, there has not been a single event in my life more seismic to my understanding of myself, my place in the world, and who exactly I wanted to be than the birth of my son.

Since that time, our family has completed numerous domestic road trips and long weekends traversing the US of A. Further afield, we have completed multiple overseas trips, including a four-month European road trip that took us to 12 countries in over just 11,000 kilometers of driving together as a family. We’ve done the long flights, we’ve missed our connections, we’ve moved to new digs every two days for weeks on end, and we’re here to tell about and ready to do it all over again.

Once you have kids, the next thing to come after the congratulations are the insights into how your life will change forever. “You won’t be able to travel anymore”, they say. “Your life is over until they turn 18”, they say. If traveling was important to you before kids, travel will continue to be important to you. Your life as an individual or as a couple does not end with a child. You CAN travel with kids, you CAN travel together to new and exciting places, you CAN still do things that fulfill yours AND your children’s souls.

To be sure, traveling with kids presents its own unique sets of challenges. But those challenges pale in comparison the experiences you have together as a family. Getting to watch your kids learn, grow, and experience new things is worth all the long flights, lost luggage, logistical challenges, and missed naps. Not only do your kids gain valuable exposure to different people, places, and cultures, but you begin to experience the world around you through a whole new set of eyes, those of your kids.

I believe that travel can be an incredible force for good and one of the best teachers your kids will ever have. Travel provides a way to learn while spending time together, and we put these principles to action with our own family.

As a management consultant who’s experience is rooted in project management and process improvement, planning and efficiency are, for better or worse, rooted deep within my soul. Counter to this is my burning desire to “just wing it” and travel without a care as to where I am going next or how I will get there.

Traveling with kids certainly requires a different kind of planning, so we strive to find the right balance of structure and freedom that is right for you to achieve that ideal trip while having all of the information you need to know when traveling with kids.

Getting under the surface of a place and its people, eating great food by locals who take pride in their product and country, or finding a one of a kind product can still be done with kids, it just requires some creativity, some smaller chairs, and some quicker reflexes.

Travel is a confluence of people, place, and time (past, present, and future). Traveling on your own path on your own terms can open not only the minds of your kids, but of the adults as well. After all, isn’t that the point of traveling, to go somewhere new, to have new interactions and experiences, all together as a family?