What Are Some Reasons NOT To Travel With Kids? Pitfalls Of Family Travel

This post may contain affiliate links. We may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase. Read Disclosure.

Yep, you read that title right! Don’t get me wrong, we love traveling as a family and have done for 16 years, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t any downsides to traveling with kids.

We love to keep things real with you, so we’re here to talk about some of the reasons people don’t travel with kids and some of the pitfalls to family travel. 

I understand all of them and have felt them too, but I should make it loud and clear for those in the back – the positives far outweigh the negatives!

So here are some reasons why not to travel with kids, and how you can overcome these annoyances and travel anyway and make amazing memories with your kids!

Reasons NOT To Travel With Kids

1. Lack of freedom

Many people have the misconception that traveling with kids means you lose pursuing your own interests to playgrounds, kids museums and science centres.

No wonder you don’t want to travel with kids. How boring!

However, it’s about creating a balanced itinerary.

Choose the most amazing kid activities and attractions that you’ll enjoy too (because if they aren’t amazing the kids will hate them too), and choose destinations that offer variety for all the family.

Build a family passion for activities like hiking and kayaking, assuming all family members are walking at the time of your vacation.

If you participate in highly engaging activities together, your kids will love traveling with you and will be more inclined to embrace those quieter more restful experiences like cafe bumming and reading books on the beach.

If you have older kids, schedule in time for everyone to do their own passion based stuff. Split time between mommy and daddy, so that dad can take them to the zoo one day, while mom does what she wants, and the next day mom can take them to the aquarium, while dad does what he wants.

Make sure this is only a half day activity though, it’s a family vacation, so you want to do stuff together as well.

2. Traveling with kids is too expensive

Yes, it’s true that kids add additional cost to a vacation, but they are an extra cost to your lives in general, so why think of this as a bad thing?

If you pay for all the extra-curricular activities your kids do after school and on the weekends, why not pay for them to have a holiday?

Go through your expenses and cut out things that you don’t need, and then put that money into your savings account for travel.

A couple of other tips to reduce the cost of family travel

• Choose smart and prepare well.
• Travel closer to home. Shorter getaways can be just as good and cheaper.
• Travel in your own backyard. It’s incredible the new things you’ll discover when wearing a different set of glasses.
• Go camping – cheap, fun, educational and even free in some places.
• Take road trips, especially now that fuel prices are so low. Check out our ultimate road trip with kids guide.
• Travel to the right currency. For Aussies right now, you want to travel in Australia – way more bang for your buck. Forget that overseas holiday, you’re losing 30% of your money just by leaving the country.
• Rent apartments. It’s cheaper and you can cook your own meals and save more money. Plus, you won’t feel so cabin feverish and the need to always be out spending money. You’ll appreciate a night in.
• Do all the free stuff. Nature lends itself to amazing travel experiences and it’s free.

3. They’re too young for travel experiences

Think your kids are too young for new experiences and it’s not worth it? Rubbish! No one is ever too young or too old to travel.

Even if they are too young to remember it, you can’t give up exploring new places because of this.

I have traveled with children from babies up until they are teenagers, and based on my experiences, babies are the easiest age to travel with kids, especially if you are breast feeding.

Savannah was only 8 weeks old on her first international trip to New Zealand, she was an easy traveler!

Mind you, it’s best you are a little flexible and easy going. If you’re so rigid with schedules and routines, you’ll fall apart. If that’s the case, family travel may not work for you, period.

Travel requires a certain element of flexibility, adaptability, and the willingness to go with the flow at any age.

4. They’ll drive you crazy

Small children will always have tantrums and this will drive you crazy.

Savannah drives me insane traveling in the car with her. Within the first 20 minutes of our departure on our 18-month Australian road trip, she was trying to climb out of her car seat and throwing vegemite sandwiches at me.

But we survived traveling around the entire country with her! This is just the reality of having kids. Sometimes they will want a snack, or they are tired, or it’s close to their bedtime but you’re far away from your hotel.

But here’s the thing – you can handle more than you think you can.

I managed it because I loved the moments in between. They were filled with so much nourishing bonding time that it made the insanity moments worth it.

I mean let’s face it, they drive you crazy at home. That’s why you know they’ll drive you crazy when you’re traveling.

The difference is your expectations of travel. You see it as being this amazing, relaxing time and you think kids will take that away.

Change your definition of what it means to travel.

It’s an experience to share with the only people in the world you can continue to love with such intensity even though they drive you crazy.

Some tips for managing the craziness of family travel

• Start them early. Train them to be great travelers. Despite Savannah’s car meltdowns, both girls are incredible travelers.
• Start slow. Practice with weekend getaways or staycations your kids. Don’t just launch straight into an epic family round the world adventure if you have no experience traveling together.
• Make it a family affair. Get the kids involved in the travel experience right from the planning stage. It makes a massive difference.

5. They’re in school

I’m probably not the best person to give you advice here as I’ll just say, “Who cares! Take them out of school to travel!”

I don’t have a great opinion of the traditional education system and I believe travel gives our young children a much more well-rounded, relevant education, and life skills.

However, I do have a teaching degree and 15 years of global experience as a teacher, so maybe it’s easy for me to say this.

I’m also very consistent and diligent in ensuring my kids are developing their skills and growing as a person. I love being a guide to them like this.

It might not be your thing to take them out of school and to homeschool them, and that’s okay, that’s what school holidays are for.

My girls are also very independent, curious, and love learning. It might not be your child’s thing.

It’s all okay as long as you know what works for you best and working around that.

You can always embrace homeschooling or distance education if you want more of a structured framework and guidance for teaching your kids on the road.

Or, just plan your travels around school terms and miss a week here and there if you feel comfortable in doing that and won’t end up in prison or paying a fine as a consequence (in the UK they love to fine you a hefty fee, even if it’s missing the last day of school where all they’re doing is watching Finding Nemo!)

Consider your decision carefully and make the best decision for you and your circumstances.

6. It’s too tiring

Ok yes, if you are traveling for a long period of time, it will be more tiring than if you were to travel as a couple or on your own.

But same deal with the driving you crazy part – you’re going to be tired anyway as a parent; you have managing school, work and general life at home. Might as well make the moments in between great, right?!

Here’s how you can combat tiredness with kids…

• Travel slowly.
• Don’t try and do everything.
• Take the grandparents – grandma and grandpa will love being babysitter for a bit while you relax with a book!
• Pick the right travel experience – maybe a cruise, camping trip, or resort stay might be your thing.
• Incorporate special treats for you – spa treatments, babysitter for the evening, kids club.
• Eat a high-energy diet. Not one full of sugar, caffeine and fake energy. A nutritious whole food diet works wonders.

7. They won’t remember it anyway

I know, just like they won’t remember all those loving snuggles you gave them when they were born! Does that mean you didn’t do it every chance you got?

You did it anyway. Why? Because you knew it would positively impact their growth and sense of self.

Same with travel.

Everything has an impact upon a child, whether they remember it or not.

It’s not the checking off the bucket list items that you’re traveling with your kids for, it’s to have memories and moments together that YOU will remember!

They might not remember the details, but that sense of freedom, togetherness, joy, and love will forever have an impact.

They’re more in tune with life and I know this will help them grow into more rounded adults. They’ll probably remember a lot more of their childhood if you travel with them than if you didn’t.

Savannah doesn’t remember much of our road trip, but the way it has impacted her growth is enormous. We’ve got photos and videos and shared conversations to help her remember.

8. Too much luggage

Yes there is a lot more luggage when you travel with kids, not to mention strollers, cribs, and all the things you need when you have babies.

If you are planning a trip with babies, having to carry enough diapers, wipes, and formula can be a good reason not to travel with kids.

BYou can work around this though.

Here are some ways to help with all the luggage when traveling with kids, especially young kids…

• Careful planning. Only take what will make your life easier. You can always buy most items, like diapers and wipes on the road. You’ll probably find most of your favorite brands still exist in other countries. Even the most remote places sell Huggies!
• Travel in a different style – we love road trips because we can carry more. You can even tow a trailer if you have THAT much stuff.
• Do laundry on the road. Don’t weigh your bags down with clothes, just wash them!
• Train your children to pack and carry their own luggage. Our girls have been doing it since they could walk. Savannah when she was 17 months old traveling to Thailand packed her own case.
• Only bring one or two toys. Your kids imagination will go crazy off the charts when they learn they only have the world around them to play with.

9. The world’s too dangerous

It sure is scary out there and we’re told on a daily basis why we should feel so afraid to step out of our door. You’re also just as unsafe at home as you are abroad, in most cases.

There are some dangers when you travel – you have to be wary of strangers, you have to keep an eye on your belongings, and most importantly, consider the heat and traffic!

It can also be magical and offers endless beauty and moments to discover, explore, connect and feel joy. It all depends on what you want to experience.

When I go, whether it’s quietly with age, or prematurely as a result of our dangerous world, I want my final breath to be full knowing that my memories were crammed with experience, joy and freedom.

I want that for my children as well. We won’t get that by hiding under the couch in fear.

The strange thing is when you get out from behind the couch and focus on living from the perspective that the world is safe and wonderful, you stop thinking it’s dangerous and you rarely have any experiences to prove you wrong.

Arm yourself with sensibility, tune into the present moment and your intuition, and make smart choices. You’ll be right!

And you will be right.

Final Word

I finish this article at the end of a day when I really needed to lean on my own advice here.

It was one of the most draining and crap travel days I’d had with my kids since forever.

They were at each other’s throat all day and so whiny and rude.

I was over it.

I pouted in the corner with a “F**k this. The US road trip is off. I’m not going to choose to live like this every day for the 2 years. It’s not worth it.”

But then at the end of the day, Kalyra sat on my lap at the restaurant after we had an amazing German meal together.

We were chatting and Kalyra was making us laugh with her quick wit. Savannah was curled up beside me on the seat asleep (divine perfection!).

My heart was full and I commented, “Gee that was a great meal and an awesome day.”

The struggles forgotten about and I was left with only the amazing memories.

Because that’s what travel does – the bad stuff is left as funny stories to tell once you get over it.

But the good stuff seeps down deep inside your soul, creates memories and bonds that can’t be forgotten, and forever changes you.

More Family Travel Tips

• How travel contributes to the well-being of our kids
• Are you struggling to make family travel a reality?
• How to keep kids safe when traveling
• Ways family travel benefits kids
• Tips for staying healthy on the road
• Tips for travel with kids
• Tips for flying with kids
• Tips for hiking with kids
• How to manage picky eaters when you travel with kids
• Tips for homeschooling on the road
• Is it okay to take your kids out of school to travel?
• How to plan a travel experience the whole family will love
• Is travel too expensive with kids? 11 ways to overcome this challenge