One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to show that your life isn’t over when you have kids. That you can still travel, explore and most importantly enjoy discovering new things. Well, today I’m going to take on a bit of a contrarian view.
I know that many of my readers don’t have kids, but plan to have them at some point. This post is for you, friends. First, let me start with the positive. You can absolutely do most of the things that you are doing now once you have children. It’s just that they will cost much, MUCH more. There isn’t any way around it, it’s a matter of simple math. You will spend more miles, more money, you will pay for overpriced food because it’s convenient. And the list goes on.
Some destinations will be out of the question due to remoteness factor. For example, I’ve wanted to visit the islands of Saba and St. Helena. Now the first one is in the Caribbean and maybe doable, but it requires at least 3 flights from where we live. Did I mention that we live in Florida?
St. Helena is finally getting its own airport next year. Right now you have to go by boat from Cape Town and it takes 7 freakin days. One way! I’ve read quite a bit about that island, and it looks fascinating. Plus, it has some of the best coffee in the world, and I am a coffee snob. But will we be visiting St. Helena any time soon? I doubt it. It seems too difficult to fly to Johannesburg, much less take another flight after that.
That’s why I try to pick locations that are easily accessible. Right now, we mostly focus on visiting US and the Caribbean. Side trips in Europe also work well for us because we already have to fly to Belarus to visit my family. So, the extra expense and hassle factor aren’t quite so significant.
Some locations in Europe’s vicinity unfortunately are off-limits at this point. While we could probably do a detour to Egypt and it wouldn’t add a huge amount of flying time, we won’t be going to that country any time soon. It is a place I’ve always planned on visiting, but it won’t be with my kids. I don’t usually make comments on tragic events in aviation industry because I don’t feel I can possibly say anything that hasn’t been said already. It feels shallow and gratuitous, so I don’t do it. But this latest tragedy with the Russian airplane has been very difficult to stomach.
I try to avoid anything related to this event, but it’s almost impossible. The other day we were eating at Wendy’s and the news clip came on. They were showing photos of victims and it literally made me sick. I couldn’t keep eating. The faces (a mix of Europe and Asia), the elaborate funerals, it all looked so familiar. We will not be going to Egypt.
Honestly, there is probably more danger in visiting Chicago or other major city in US. I just could not put my parents and my husband’s parents through something like this. They would be worried sick. While the logical side of me says it’s probably going to be safer now than ever before, I’m a parent now. Everything is different.
It’s never a good idea to delay travel (if you can afford it) because you don’t know what your health or financial situation will be like in the future. Something no one wants to think about, but your kids might be born with mental or health issues which could make travel incredibly difficult, if not impossible. I know families who are in this very predicament.
On a happy note, I wanted to share some good news from my husband’s cousin. She is pregnant, and they just had an ultrasound that revealed that the baby is OK. They also found out the gender and announced it to family via Facebook photo:
Hmm, I don’t get it.
This will be their first baby, and it has been a very long, hard road to get to that point. So I just wanted to share (she told me I could post the photo) because we love them both very much. I’m so happy they were able to fly to Hawaii and Honduras during last year using miles obtained via credit card bonuses (with the help of yours truly).
My advice to all of you childless individuals is to go to exotic places now. Do the Maldives, Tahiti, St. Helena etc. right now. Maybe even Egypt, depending on your comfort zone. Get it out of your system. You can always do “easy” trips later on.
Spoiler alert! There is no cure for travel bug.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Congratulations on the baby cousin! I just LOVE that picture of how they spread the news.
@Hilary Thanks! We are so happy for them. They are the nicest people you would ever meet, and both went through horrible tragedy and heartbreak. Hopefully, this is a happy ending at last. Or shall I say beginning!
P.S I don’t know if you tried again to subscribe. I checked, and it seems to be working for others, not sure why you are having issues. Sorry again.
St. Helena? Interesting, my husband and I have been intrigued by Tristan D’Acunha, somewhere near but still lost in the middle of the Atlantic.
My husband and I did some travel b4 child but we just discovered miles and points now so… The bad thing: we didn’t take advantage before. The good thing: it’s now cheaper than before!
@Leticia Definitely makes sense to look at things as “glass half full”! That’s something I need to work on. My brooding Russian nature tends to see the worst in everything. You are right, our little hobby opens up incredible possibilities. With some work, even visiting Tahiti (or another exotic locale) is doable for a regular family. How crazy is that?
Maybe we can have a meet-up in St. Helena or Tristan D’Acuhna (need to look that one up).
We didn’t start traveling until after we had kids. It’s still possible now and we go on 6-8 trips per year, but it is a lot more work! A lot more planning. A lot more hassle. And that’s true whether the kids come with us or not. When we leave them at home (like we just did when we went to Italy), I had to plan for their entire lives for 8 days and write up complex instructions for while I was gone.
Holly, very true! Travel after you have kids is totally possible, hence this blog. But it just involves way more hassle, money and miles. I would love to go for a week somewhere without kids, but my husband simply won’t agree to it. We have only left them for two days at a time. I loved every minute of it! But we also love traveling with our babies. It’s fun to see the world through their eyes.