This year's National Day holiday lasts a full eight days — doesn’t that sound exciting? People start planning their trips several months in advance. But here comes the question: is it meaningful to take children on trips?
Speaking of travel, I get excited. Just the thought of going out to play makes me glow with energy — even when traveling with two kids, I don’t feel tired at all. I guess my nature is just carefree and freedom-loving. Haha.
My friends all say to me:
“Now you have two kids, and you just want to stay at home all day. But you’re always thinking about going out somewhere — you’re really adventurous!”
When Changchang was just over a month old, our family of four went on a trip.
I carried her in a front-facing baby carrier, took high-speed trains, flew on planes, stayed in hotels, played in sand and water, ate meals — and no matter where we went, people stared. Everyone gave us curious looks and couldn’t help but say:
“Oh my, you’re taking such a young baby out?”
“Isn’t it exhausting to take an infant out?”
“Where we come from, babies aren’t taken out until they’re 100 days old.”
“She doesn’t understand anything — why take her out?”
No one could understand — what’s the point of taking a baby under two out? Isn’t it just a wasted trip? And with such a young baby, you have to take care of her and can’t enjoy yourself. Why go through all this trouble?
This view isn’t just held by older generations — many young people around me feel the same way. Whenever they travel, they absolutely refuse to bring their kids.
“A wasted trip” implies that taking kids on vacation is pointless. So what exactly counts as “useful”?
The educational philosophy of Chinese parents is often judged by the “usefulness” doctrine.
For example, playing piano is useful, but playing in the mud is not; taekwondo is useful, but hide-and-seek is not.
By that logic, tutoring classes are useful, but camping trips are not; learning English is useful, but listening to funny jokes is not…
Following this line of “usefulness,” travel is just aimless fun — it doesn’t earn grades, there’s no certificate, it won’t boost your scores or count as a special skill, so of course it’s useless, and not worth the time or effort.
If it’s so useless, then why do I still take my two kids on trips? Is traveling with kids really meaningful?
Many people say that traveling with babies can shape a child’s character, build confidence, teach independence, and so on. I don’t know if that’s really true. But in my opinion, travel is just about having fun and relaxing — and that’s the most genuine meaning of it all.
Financial Times columnist Janan Ganesh said:
“The more places I see, the less I believe travel has any inherent or universal educational value. Travel is worthwhile because it’s fun. Travel is for the senses, not for character.
Fun is reason enough to do something. Don’t fool yourself into thinking there’s some deeper meaning. The people I know who travel the most aren’t any deeper or smarter than anyone else.”
Actually, the reason I take my kids out is very simple:
For inner joy.
I love going out, and even with kids, I don’t find it a burden or feel worn down by daily life. I’m happy doing it.
Especially for full-time moms, staying home with kids every day is exhausting. Isn’t it great to have the chance to get out once in a while?
Not for anything else — just for inner joy.
A happy, carefree mom is in a better state to take care of and inspire her kids.
Enjoy quality family time
When you go out together, the family bond becomes especially strong. It’s truly wonderful family time. If I had to say what the meaning of family travel is, I think this is the most important one.
While traveling, both adults and children are fully immersed in the joy of play. The whole family sticks together 24/7, playing together, exploring unfamiliar places, and discovering the world with curious eyes.
Such wonderful moments are simply the best way to strengthen parent-child relationships and even the marital bond. I believe that taking a trip once a year is really necessary — the kids will look forward to it and be filled with anticipation.
Spending alone time with my eldest
After having a second child, my eldest needs more attention. I wanted to use this little trip to spend some one-on-one time playing with just my eldest.
When I told him we were going out to play together, he was so excited he couldn’t stop dancing with joy.
That day, after feeding the baby, I handed the little one to dad and took my eldest to play in the water by ourselves. We spent the whole time in the pool, didn’t talk about the baby at all, and didn’t need to take care of the baby either.
For two hours, it felt just like old times. My eldest laughed more than ever. On the way back to the hotel, he said to me:
“Mom, I love it when it’s just the two of us playing together!”
Even babies can sense things when they’re out
Take Chanchan, who’s such a young baby. Aside from the objective reason that I needed to feed her and therefore had to bring her along because I wanted to go out myself, she was actually able to sense the change in environment.
She heard the sound of the waves, felt the sea breeze, and experienced the softness of the sand. All of this can stimulate a baby’s senses and tactile awareness, laying a good foundation for improving their adaptability in the future.
Often, parents say, “Let’s wait until the child is a bit older before taking them out.”
How much older? Ten? Twenty? By the time they’re in middle school, they might not even want to go out with you anymore. They may prefer to travel with their friends instead.
Lately, there’s been a trend of “taking a spontaneous trip.” Why not try a spontaneous family trip too?
It doesn’t matter how old your child is — that’s not the point. The point is whether you’re willing to take your child on a trip.
Of course, traveling is a personal choice. If parents aren’t really into traveling and are the type who just “want to lie in bed and sleep through the holidays,” then there’s no need to force yourselves to take your kids out.
Because if you do, the inner struggle you feel will come through to the child, and for them, it could turn into a disaster.
In the end, it’s better to choose a way of interacting with your child that feels comfortable for you.