HUFF POST CANADA
TRAVEL
Editor and co-founder, Chic Savvy Travels
Does Having Kids Mean the Death of Travel?
Is traipsing through India, taste-testing grains in Morocco and hiking in Peru still doable once a child comes into the picture?
Why not? Then again, I haven’t a real clue, now do I?
In fact, I may feel differently once our baby is born in June.
If you’re someone who has historically said yes to every adventurous opportunity possible (Want to jump out of a plane? Yes! Go caving? Absolutely! Glacier hiking? Black water rafting? Mountain climbing? Ah, yes, yes and yes!), then parenthood is bound to come as a bit of a lifestyle shocker, right?
But I have faith that new human life needn’t equate to the death of travel. A couple of years ago, a friend told me a story about a woman climbing to the base camp of Mount Everest with her baby in tow. Spectacular, I thought. It was a bold and brazen move indeed.
Then the alarmist in me started ringing: What would happen if the baby experienced oxygen deprivation? What if the mother did and couldn’t care for her infant? And is there an emergency service ward on one of the toughest, most romanticized and challenging mountains in the world?
Seems motherly worry had already created a comfy little nest in my mind long before I’d ever even entered the baby zone.
Thing is, I’ve been told many things about children and travel throughout the years.
Many folks have warned that embracing parenthood means having to say yes to cotton-candy theme-park travel and kid-friendly resorts with onslaughts of cheesy nighttime entertainment.
There have been warnings about the dangers of off-grid wanderings, unkempt lodgings and unsanitary conditions. And then there are those who’ve finger wagged against any place requiring vaccinations.
So, I thought I’d fish around Google for more information on the topic. Sigh of relief … There is hope, dear adventurers.
According to the site, Kids Can Travel, anything’s possible, from hiking Italy’s Cinque Terre and backpacking through Kenya to exploring Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Meanwhile, REI offers fabulous advice for backcountry hiking and camping with children, and World Expeditions features family trips to the Himalayas, Antarctica, Sri Lanka and Nepal (though children are generally 10 years of age and older for these treks).
Here are some great tips to help parents prepare for the journeys ahead:
