Really? We were just discussing the feasibility of taking our 3 and 4 year olds to Paris or somewhere else in Europe for a week. They complain of being tired after walking 0.25-0.5 miles without fail. They are good to go in an art museum for 30 minutes max. Not much in the Louvre I can see in 30 mins. I don't see how I could pull off a trip to Paris with kids in tow and not pull all of my remaining hair out.
I'm not big into art museums, so my better half hit a couple of those up while I hit the streets, chilled at an outdoor cafe while the little guy was happy to munch on his "elephant ear" cookie and drink milk, later we got ice cream and I just let him play in a park while I took in the atmosphere and walked around with him.
Maybe it's because my idea of a vacation doesn't involve checking off a list of tourist-trap "must see" places. Instead, I like to walk around and take in the vibe of a city, enjoy the food and drink, and just relax. And we always try to get out of the city and to a beach or more rural setting for part of the trip.
Not to mention the poor schmuck sitting in front of your kids on the transatlantic flight enduring 10 hours of them kicking the back of his seat.
Doesn't happen with my kid. I'm not the let-my-kid-kick-the-seat-in-front-of-him type. There are still parents who raise their children to behave out there.
You all should wait until they are in college before you can truly expect to enjoy such trips. And that is of course assuming that you survive their teenage years. That is when you really lose all your hair.
To each his own. I've enjoyed every trip I've been on since my kid was born (he's almost 3) -- Europe three times, and a few domestic U.S. trips as well (not counting day-trips to the beach etc.).
The universe does not revolve around my kid, and he goes where we want to go -- not the other way around. He seems to be enjoying himself, and turning out just fine.
Or at least don't bring very young children and expect them to do much or care about much if you were in, say, Paris.
Oh, there's no doubt my kid would be equally happy checking into a Motel 6 down the road and swimming in the pool out back for an entire week. I'm not going places in the hopes my toddler will appreciate the architecture and atmosphere of a foreign country. We travel because
we enjoy it -- and he comes with us because he's part of the family.
We are sensitive to his age and try to find fun stuff for him to do, but so far I've found the main thing with little kids is that they just need enough time to run around and burn off excess energy, and if you give them some of that then they are quite content to do more low-key things during the day (e.g. if I get up a bit earlier than I otherwise would and go kick a soccer ball around the park across the street from the hotel for 30 minutes, I find I can enjoy a leisurely breakfast while the little guy munches away and watches the world around him). Rent a bicycle with a child seat and tour the city; take a boat ride; enjoy some street performers;
In a way I think hauling the kids half way across the globe for a relatively short vacation could be a little selfish and not a particularly productive way to spend your limited time with them. I'd rather take them to the playground in our neighborhood or let them play in the backyard or go swimming or something vs. make them sit quietly through a 24 hour round trip flight to/from Europe at the age they are at now. However I also want to go on some vacations in less than 15 years, so we will probably leave the kids with family and take some short jaunts around the globe. I think a 6-7 day trip to Uruguay and Argentina is the current plan early 2010 at this point.
There's plenty of playground-visiting going on in every day life; taking my kid on holiday with me overseas doesn't cut into that in any meaningful way.
To each his own. I'd rather have my kid with us as part of a family vacation than drop him off somewhere before I head to the airport. I've had plenty of child-free travel before we had kids, and I hope to have plenty more once we're empty-nesters. While my kids are young, I'd like to enjoy life with them, and for me that includes traveling and seeing new places.
All of this is dependent on not raising children to be center-of-the-universe brats, but that's a separate issue altogether.
YMMV
