We Travel Full Time – Here’s a Real Look at What It’s Like With A 4 Year Old (Part 1)
We’ve lived on the road for a year and a half. Our son was 2 (almost 3) when we left, and a lot of the questions we get have to do with traveling with a kid. If you’ve ever traveled with a kid, you know it can be a lot. Long term travel with a kiddo is a lot as well, but (spoiler alert) it’s also very worthwhile!
When we started considering taking this leap of living on the road, I was worried about it ‘ruining’ our son. Kyle and I were following a long time dream of ours, but our son wasn’t even a thought when we first came up with the idea! We also know that traveling like this wasn’t his choice - it was ours. We wanted to make sure we weren’t putting him in a bad situation without knowing it.
We’ve learned a lot since then and wanted to share those learnings. We hope it inspires you to do some long term travel with your kids - whether you go all in with full time travel, or even just some longer trips!
First of all, no one we talked to was concerned about this ‘ruining’ him
We met with his pediatrician and even a child psychologist to be sure we weren’t setting out on an adventure that would cause us big issues later. We also talked with our own therapists, parents, friends, other travelers, etc. and the overarching sentiment was the same – we (his parents) are his ‘home’. If we are intentional to be there for the hard days, this will be a net win for him. And is has, in my opinion!
Have stuffed animals, toys and sunglasses - will travel
Ok, let’s talk about the struggles of traveling full time with a child in tow
I won’t sugarcoat this for you. There are some things on the road that are hard. Here are a few:
· The Schedule – Kyle and I both work for ourselves so we have to trade off work and childcare every workday. It can make for long weekdays.
· The Constant Change - The week before and after a city change often bring a downturn in his behavior, sleep and other progress (like potty training).
· Socialization – this has been a big concern for me because Rohry spends a lot of his time with just his dad and I. It’s great, but I’ve wondered about socialization with other kids his age. It’s something we’ve really had to work on, and I’ll share more on that in my next post.
· Costs - Everything is more expensive traveling with a kid. You already know that if you have a kid, but for long term travel we also need a bigger Airbnb than we otherwise would, accommodations for long drive days (which usually turns out to be Rohry and I flying and Kyle driving the car – so we add plan tickets to our bill), etc.
He LOVED this buggy ride in Cozumel, Mexico
That said, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. Here are the PROS of traveling full time with a child:
· We LOVE all the time we get to spend with him. Of course, that’s feasible even without the travel. But we feel so lucky to have these years where he’s with us full time.
· We are ALL more flexible because of our travel. Rohry has gotten to be great at car, plane, train, and boat trips. He even adjusts much more quickly to new cities now!
· Rohry is 4 and has had SO many life experiences. More than I had until adulthood! He still talks about the time we had a golf cart near the beach and the days we spent in NYC around Christmas and the time he skied with dad in Salt Lake City and… on and on.
On the ferry from Balboa Island to Newport Beach, CA
In fact, one of my biggest concerns now is that we’ve created a travel monster who is going to leave me to see the rest of the world the minute he’s ready! And how could I even fault him???
Traveling full time with a kid is exhausting. But it’s also magical and amazing. And should you want to do it (or even just travel more often), watch out for my next post on tips for long term travel with a toddler/preschooler!
As always, if you have questions about living on the road with a kiddo, please reach out! We love talking about it.
