How to Do Travel Adventures with Kids

Forget about vacation. No one relaxes with kids in tow. Adventures will be easier and more fun than you think.

We had this unbelievable experience swinging “on top of” Fjords, because I found a boat captain who agreed to take us on an off-season Fjord cruise on what the locals called the most stunning Fjord I had not read about in any travel guide, through our AirBnB host, of a mountain hut I booked an hour away from the nearest grocery store.

It might have been a coastal town in Portugal or one of the Spanish islands, I’m not sure, but I remember vividly the moment I fell in love with travel. My family was having dinner on a lively plaza, but I had no desire to sit down. The sun had just set, and warm twinkling lights surrounded the restaurants, stores, plants and trees. It was magnificently hot, and there were other kids running around, speaking a language I didn’t know.

“This was it!” I thought, as I felt my first travel high, a rush, and out of curiosity and with a sense of uncanny confidence, I approached the local girls around my age, to see if I could join them in their games (“It doesn’t matter if they say yes or no because I can’t understand them anyway; I can be anything, and anyone so might as well be brave!). I remember their smiles as I joined them, and suddenly felt like I could make friends—and just figure it out—anywhere. And that feeling has stayed with me ever since. Do I remember any sights from that time? No. I don’t even remember what country it was. But did I take away the most important thing? Yes, yes I did.

For The Love of Travel

Ever since, I have loved trips that fill the following requirements: foreign country, people speaking a language I’m not fluent in, a chance to “play” with or meet locals, and breathtakingly beautiful scenery that’s something I have never seen before.

For a Scandinavian, my experience is not unusual.

The Scandinavian countries are tiny in population, no one else really speaks your language, and it’s fairly easy to adventure to different countries in Europe, and even to Asia. So, foreign travel, even with young kids, is quite common.

I know this is not the case if you live in America, but, with the flight prices now being as high as they are no matter where you go (making it not necessarily cheaper to go to Caribbean, Central America or across the US than to other destinations—I mean it’s cheaper and quicker to get from NYC to Iceland than to Los Angeles!), I dare suggest this:

Stop vacationing with your kids. With kids, it’s always a trip. Forget the resorts and the kids’ clubs and Disneyland and theme parks. And start traveling with your kids instead. Why? Because if you really want to spend time together and “make memories”, a true adventure will be easier, more fun, likely cheaper & something you will never forget.

Let’s break down the most-talked about myths of why people choose to vacation, not travel, with their kids:

Waiting “Until Kids Can Remember The Trip”

I think this is the worst myth.

• American parents get less vacation time than any other advanced economy in the world, so if one or the other parent is tied to a traditional job, there are only so many opportunities

• We can never be sure when our child will start having memories

• If we want our kids to have a memory, what we do should be truly memorable

• Isn’t the point of a trip to have a great time right now, to detach from the daily routines and grinds, and to really live in the moment, instead of traveling just so we can reminiscence on it at a later time?

• And, isn’t the ultimate goal of a trip to be in awe, wonderstruck, so much so that it transcends your world? Because why would you otherwise pay the big bucks and leave home, for just a lackadaisical time?

Only Traveling to The Most Touristy Destinations

This is the second worst myth. Why? Because the world is such a magical place, and authentic experiences can rarely be found in the crowds.

• If you pick a resort in a tourist destination, you likely won’t see the country, learn about the culture, or experience the location (you’ll be drinking too much by the pool, likely burning yourself, and babysitting 24-7)

• If you go to a major capital city with very active little kids, you likely won’t enjoy the grown-up adventures the city has to offer

• If you go to a outdoorsy or historical destination and only pick places from the sightseeing lists, you likely will miss all the amazing places only the locals know

• If you only do tours with a guide, you are offered touristy experiences and you miss the chance to discover your or your kids favorite places on your own, and they might not be what you think they would be

• If you have someone else set up your entire itinerary, you lose the ability to change your plans as you go and wander around

• If you do ready-made tours or trips, it always costs astronomically more than doing the same things—or better things—on your own

So what to do instead?

Opt in for an adventure!

To choose your destination, ask, as a family, what interests do you all share and what would inspire awe?

To choose where to stay, ask, what allows you to experience the place most authentically: could it be a boutique hotel, an AirBnB or another securely rented apartment or house?

To choose what to do, well, my best advice from our best adventures ever, is to do your own research and don’t just count on the blogs and travel websites either, or people who have traveled there. Locals always know the best.

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Flights & Jetlag Are Too Hard With Kids

I promise you Disneyland is harder: they don’t even serve you wine there. So let’s break down the final myth.

1. Look, kids will have tantrums anywhere. The tantrums and the sibling fights are way more manageable when you are in a Swiss mountain hut or by a scenic Fjord or a Italian island beach.

2. As long as your kids can get through a movie on an iPad, even longer plane rides (which I consider 5 hours or more) are doable. And what’s a few hours of pain for a week or two of pleasure?

3. Jetlag is unpredictable but rarely does it mess up your trip. Uninterrupted nights can happen no matter where you are. If your kids are up at 1am, have a glass of wine, stare at the stars, and the next day, have a long nap.

Worldschool

Family travel can truly rock our world, if we let it.

In America especially, parents are quite concerned about their kids learning and education and how it shapes their child. But nothing shapes a child more than how they learn to see the world—there’s even a whole educational movement built around it:

“Worldschooling is when the whole world is your school, instead of school being your whole world.”

So what are we waiting for? There’s another way to travel, the Scandi way. And there’s never a better time than now.

x Annabella (more quick Scandi parenting and lifestyle tips on Insta or TikTok)

PS. Where would you love to go if you could anywhere? What places would you recommend to others?

Share with friends who feel like vacationing with kids is no longer working!

PPS. Do you ever feel like you wouldn’t even know where to start, to figure out a destination and an itinerary on your own? Let me know and I can break down the details of how I plan our trips: