My toddler son wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.
We’d just finished touring Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park, and were strolling through the adjacent village of Naranjito. He had his trusty stuffed toy, Grover, in tow. It wasn’t long before a group of local children spotted it and approached him.
“Elmo, Elmo,” they gleefully shouted. My boy first looked confused, then beamed.
“It’s not Elmo, it’s Grover,” he exuberantly explained.
A friendly conversation all about “Sesame Street” characters ensued. His dad and I watched the bilingual interaction, both bemused and proud.
Fast forward more than 15 years. Our then-3-year-old is now a nimble, independent young man attending college nearly 2,000 miles from home.
I’m firmly convinced that our early family travels helped shape the confident person he’s become.
My son took his first trip at 8 months old
That Costa Rica adventure wasn’t the first time we took our son overseas. He’s had a passport since he was an infant, and it was first stamped when he was 8 months old. Friends and family thought we were crazy, but we couldn’t imagine leaving him behind.
Honestly, that initial jaunt was a bit of a nightmare. Our little guy got sick on the transatlantic flight, and we went through an entire pack of diapers plus several sets of clothes to keep him and the folks around us as comfortable as possible given the circumstances.
When we arrived at our destination, we sent out our laundry and immediately hit the drug store for electrolytes and extra rash cream; thankfully, his symptoms resolved quickly. We washed his bottles in our suite sink, he tried new foods (including mushy peas at a London pub!), and peacefully napped in his stroller while we were on the go.
That first trip helped set the tone for my infant son’s continued resiliency. During subsequent adventures, he saw firsthand the inevitable curveballs travel can bring. From flight delays and language barriers to ATM snafus and navigation challenges, he’s come to understand that how you respond to what you can control tends to make or break most situations.
Traveling at a young age has cognitive, social, and emotional benefits
Travel taught him to adapt, and it’s a skill that continues to serve him well. But he also learned so much more.
Children are naturally curious, and seeing different corners of the world was the perfect way to channel our son’s inquisitiveness.
As he encountered each new place and learned about its customs, religions, and language, his mind opened. Our kid asked questions, made observations, and started to connect cultural dots between his everyday experiences and those of the people he met. He’d try to say “please” and “thank you” in the foreign language of the place we visited.
We could see him soaking up as much of the environment as he could, which nurtured a love of learning he retains today.
Every time he interacted with a new person, he learned how to see past his own background and truly consider others. He built empathy for others, deepening his emotional intelligence. Each journey lifted his confidence, boosted his brain, and made him a more compassionate person.
He’s now a self-assured adult
Bringing our son along with us during our globetrotting meant he could experience travel’s unexpected twists, but knew everything would be OK because his mom and dad were right there with him.
Now that our son is away at college, he moves through the world with a quiet maturity, knowing he can handle whatever comes up. He’s become friends with classmates from around the world. He constantly, confidently explores his new hometown’s many nooks, crannies, and neighborhoods. And he’s recently started traveling internationally, all on his own. I couldn’t be prouder.
It wasn’t always easy for us to travel with a little guy, but prioritizing travel (and yes, budgeting for it) was one of the best parenting decisions we made.
Sure, there were occasional tantrums and minor mishaps when we hopped time zones or skipped routines. But the older our son got, the more he could roll with those proverbial punches with ease.
His assuredness was forged with every journey, and that’s a benefit I know will continue to pay dividends for him.
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