Benefits of Traveling as a Family (A First‑Hand Account From Childhood)
Are you wondering about the advantages of traveling internationally with your kids?
Will they remember it?
Will it change them?
Is it worth all the effort and expense?
I can’t speak for every child. But here's what happened when small-town me met a megacity on a different continent.
When I was nine, my family flew from Oregon to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had never been to a city with more than 500,000 people. That day, I landed in a city of over ten million. And the world cracked open.
This is what I learned by traveling outside the country with my family.
Spoiler: It wasn't learned all all at once, but over time, and with lasting impact.
Traveling Abroad Shows Kids That “Normal” Isn’t Universal
Until I left the country, everything in my town defined what was “normal”: green lawns, dinner at 6, summer in August. Then I found out:
• That August could mean winter on the other side of the planet, not summer.
• That “C” on the faucet could mean hot (caliente), not cold.
• That lunch could be the biggest meal of the day.
• That Kids Day (like Mother's Day, but better) is celebrated in Argentina every August—and it’s glorious.
That trip showed me, deeply and forever: the way we live is one way. But not the only way.
It was deeply liberating for me to continue growing up understanding with my whole mind:
• Cultures create and interpret reality in an infinity of ways.
• Anything is possible. Anything can be.
• We can choose.
How Family Travel Builds Confidence (Even When Everything Feels Foreign)
On that first trip, I didn’t speak Spanish. I couldn’t read menus. I was dumbstruck just walking down the sidewalk. But still—I made friends.
We played games, shared food, giggled without words. Planted trees, spun in circles, found insects, shared candy. Being a child is a universal language.
I learned that connecting with peers doesn’t depend on perfect speech.
I learned that building bridges with other humans depends more on swallowing away shyness and preconceived notions and just trying. With gestures, jokes, a smile. Eye contact. Heart.
In those connections, I understood empathy and kindness work.
That’s a life skill I’ve relied upon ever since. Every day.
A Travel Journal For Kids is an Essential Travel Accessory (and Sidekick)
At the last minute, my mom tossed a simple journal in my backpack. In all the hubbub, I barely noticed it at first. But right away that notebook became:
• My scrapbook
• My Spanish glossary
• My sketchpad
• My safe place when I needed quiet
• My bucket list for all the cultures I wanted to explore next*
I filled its pages with wonder, confusion, and joy.
* Australia topped the list and I was there by the time I was 16. Not because we had the money or because it was easy. Only because I was hell bent on getting there and discovering it for myself, and so I did. But that magnificent adventure is a whole different story...
And now, many years later, I design and handbind travel journals, because I know how much they enhance and capture the adventures. I know from personal experience the ideal notebook is the best sidekick a gal could hope for.
📘 Want to help your kids start journaling while you travel?
Download our FREE Travel Journal Prompts for Kids (PDF)
Perfect for road trips, flights, family vacations, and new adventures.
🌎 Want to see how much we took childhood, family travel, and journaling to heart?
Come explore our hand‑bound travel journals and scrapbooks—designed for all ages, and built to last a lifetime.
Family Travel Teaches Kids to Embrace the Unexpected & the Unknown
One of my clearest memories from that first trip to Argentina? The massive, chaotic family meals—where all the kids were seated at their own table, far from the adults. It was raucous, wild, and totally exhilarating.
Things didn’t always go smoothly for us in South America.
We got lost. There were tears. We didn't always understand the norms, or what was expected behavior.
I discovered pedestrians didn't always have the right of way.
I loved that you can clap on the sidewalk when there is no doorbell, and it works! People open their doors!
I was enthralled that an empty bottle on the top of a parked car meant it was for sale. What a cool code that everyone universally understood! No explanation necessary.
Through it all, I learned I could be flexible, to laugh when things went sideways, and to internalize that unfamiliar situations were totally navigable.
Not a day goes by that I don't find comfort in having learned as a child:
"This is strange. This is unknown. Take a deep breath. You've got this. Let's see what happens."
Travel Expands What a Child Believes Is Possible
Until I switched continents for the first time, everything I could dream of was shaped by the world I knew.
But as we flew into Buenos Aires, I saw:
• Buildings taller than I thought possible, stretching far into the horizon.
• Ten million people moving through one giant city like it was the most normal thing in the world. Dancing tango. (For reals!) Hailing cabs. Navigating two different national currencies everyone understood but us. Eating dinner at 10pm. Sending their kids to school in little white doctor coats.
• A reality completely different than mine—and just as valid, thriving and intriguing.
It made me want to see more, learn more, and become more.
Traveling as a kid turned my assumptions into questions, and my questions into paths I could follow.
Travel Sparks a Sense of Wonder
Some of the things I remember most vividly from that first trip to Argentina weren’t the landmarks or museums—they were the tiny, everyday details that felt absolutely magical.
There was tea time every afternoon around 5. So awesome! And the medialunas served each day were a mainstay: warm and fresh from the bakery on the corner. I simply couldn't believe such a cool, yummy thing happened every single afternoon.
I was ecstatic about the kioskos: little family‑owned shops on every corner where people could grab a last‑minute item and have it added to a family tab to pay later. Inside there was always glass candy display right at kid eye‑level—a literal wonderland.
At restaurants, even the fancy ones, people set their bread directly on the table next to their plates, crumbs and all. Not rude—just relaxed, human, normal.
Speaking of bread...it was always fresh, always purchased daily at a very, very local bakery. One never seemed to be more than a block away, no matter where you were.
And when you bought something small at a store, they wrapped it in printed kraft paper—the kind with patterns and colors that made every purchase feel like a present.
(Decades later, that printed kraft paper is what we use in our gift boxes. It’s an eternal salute to my happy 9‑year‑old self.)
I didn’t know it then, but those tiny moments shaped my sense of joy, of beauty, of what it means to be human in the world.
Benefits of Family Travel Across Generations
Thanks to my grandfather's job, my mother traveled extensively as a child. In India, she tasted betel nuts for the first time, with her mother. In Argentina, she drank milk delivered that morning and rode her first horse. In Greece she got to see the Olympics firsthand.
My mother saw how her parents were intrigued and excited by new customs and cultures, and she passed that same sense of wonder on to us. Her early travel experiences created horizons that she empowered us to explore.
The benefits of childhood travel show up years later, in the way we notice beauty, welcome difference, and share the world with the next generation.
Family and Travel: How It Gave Me a Sense of Self
When I got back to my fourth grade classroom after that first big trip, something had shifted.
I wasn’t better than anyone—but I felt different, in a good way.
I’d seen another part of the world. I’d learned new words, new foods, new customs. I’d made new friends, learned new games, discovered new tricks I didn't know I could do!
That experience gave me a quiet kind of confidence. A feeling that I could navigate the unknown, even if it was sometimes uncomfortable or a bit scary.
I learned that I could belong in more than one place.
It didn’t make me feel above—it made me feel bigger inside.
Traveling as a kid gave me a strong, spacious sense of self. Not just because of what I saw, but because of how I began to see myself.
And, above all...
I realized that the best parts of traveling abroad as a family weren’t the moments my mom planned. They were the surprises we made space for: The buses we missed. The last minute decision to visit a community of potters way up in the sierras that turned into a VERY long drive. Stopping at the outdoor vegetable market just because.
If you’re traveling with kids, don’t stress about perfection.
The memories they take home won’t be the ones you scheduled—they’ll be the ones that surprised you.
FAQs: Benefits of Traveling Abroad as a Family
Will my child even remember the trip? Is it worth it to take them traveling?
Your kids may not remember all of the adventures—but that’s not the point. I didn’t remember every detail from my first trip abroad, but I remembered the feeling. I remembered that the world was bigger than I’d imagined. I remembered it was possible to go. That perspective changed everything about the rest of my childhood and my formative years. I had a tool box that was much larger than just my neighborhood, or my home, or even my country. It made all the difference, in every way.
Is it good for kids to travel abroad? What are the benefits?
One big benefit, in my experience, is that travel rewires a child’s sense of what’s normal—and what’s possible. Even though I forgot the names of places we went or the food we ate, I always remembered that there are different ways to live. I remembered that the horizon is wide, and the door is open. I remembered that everyone else's reality is as valid as my own.
How can we help kids process family trips?
For me, a simple journal changed everything. I used it to sketch, write new words, save wrappers, ask questions, find a bit of quiet—whatever I needed. I think giving kids a place to process (with zero pressure) is one of the best gifts you can give during a trip. That’s why I still love hand binding travel journals for families today.
Is international family travel really educational for kids?
Absolutely—but not in the traditional sense. Traveling teaches children (of all ages) flexibility, patience, curiosity, empathy. I learned more standing on a street corner in Argentina than I did from any geography quiz. It's the kind of experiential learning that became a part of who I am, that made me feel unique and empowered.
However far you go, we hope the journey gives your child and your family something to carry—an insight, a question, a memory, a spark. Whether it’s their first trip or their fifth, I can guarantee you’re giving them something lasting: the knowledge that the world is wide, and they belong in it.
Here's to more wonder, more sketch‑filled pages, and more stories waiting to be told!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
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