Reasons to go traveling before having children

Have you been debating with your partner if you should go traveling before having children. Maybe you are wondering if you should have children straight away. Many couples get married in their late 20’s or early 30’s, then due to feeling pressured to start having children, they go straight from planning a wedding to planning for the arrival of small people. There isn’t much time to be just the two of you before your family expands. If you’re on the fence about booking that round the world trip before having children, then keep reading for reasons to go traveling before having children

Traveling with your partner forces you to tackle difficult situations together

No matter how organised you are, traveling will throw you a curve ball. You’ll have to learn to deal with new situations while keeping your cool. If one of you gets food poisoning or you both get stranded at a boarder crossing, you will learn how to tackle difficult situations together. Learning how to help each other and communicate respectfully when new problems arise will give your relationship a strong foundation, and extra problem solving skills when baby related problems eventually occur.

It will help you to become more open minded as parents

Traveling broadens your horizons, breaks down generalisations and makes you feel humble when you realise what a tiny dot you are in the world. It’s great to give yourself the opportunity to grow as an individual before you start to shape young minds.

Traveling is easier when you are younger

As with anything you do in life, having the fitness and energy of your 20’s does make going on a hike, catching an overnight bus or learning to scuba dive easier. As you age, traveling becomes more tiring and your fitness levels often decrease. If you want to go trekking in Nepal or climb Kilimanjaro, then it’s best to do this before you having children. It’s also much easier to get out of your comfort zone when you are younger. As we age we get more nervous about going on new adventures. 

Enjoy the freedom before having children

Once you have children, even when they are 40 years old, you will always worry about them. Travel before you have lifelong responsibilities, so that you can enjoy the experience of freedom before mortgages, college fees and knee replacements get in the way.

Traveling is not the same once you’ve had children

I have a circle of friends that travel a lot. Once the children come along, what was once an adventure in Borneo becomes a beach break in a resort with a kids club. No matter how much you may want to travel with your children, your children will most likely not want to travel with you. Kids rarely enjoy exploring the streets of Prague or visiting temples in South East Asia, because that just isn’t very exciting for them. Work on your bucket list before you have children, because it will be difficult afterwards.

You might find a country that you would like to experience living in

It’s entirely possible to move overseas once you’ve had children, but it’s much easier when it is just the two of you. Also, if you’ve lived overseas before having children then moving again once you’ve got small people in tow becomes far less scary. Many parents like the idea of moving overseas, but because they didn’t make that jump to move overseas or go traveling before having children they get stuck in their home country and never make a move to experience the lifestyle of living overseas. Read Why you should move overseas.

Traveling with children is expensive

When you are traveling with just the two of you, the costs are for two people; 2 flight tickets, 1 double room and 2 dinners to pay for. Children double the amount that you need to spend. I was having breakfast with my husband in the airport recently and saw a couple with teenagers having breakfast. Just looking at the four meals and drinks on the table made me realise how expensive traveling with children would be. It’s definitely more of a financial strain once you need to pay for extra humans to travel.

You might figure out that you actually don’t want children after all

Traveling will give you the time to think if having children is what you actually want and not what society is telling you to do. Parents who really want to have children often end up enjoying their role as parents. People that have children, because it’s the thing to do can sometimes end up regretting that decision.

It’s a good idea with such a life changing decision to make sure you consider all your options. Take some time to travel and enjoy being child-free and make sure that having children is totally what you want and not just what society is telling you should do. People have children to make them feel happy and enriched. Make sure you don’t rush and skip past all the other enriching experiences life has to offer to just get to the finish line a year or so earlier. 

Did you go traveling before having children? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. Maybe there are some reasons to go traveling before having children that I have not listed here.

Found this useful and want more travel tips and inspiration? Then follow me on Instagram to stay updated. You may also be interested in Weddings are overrated and I don’t regret eloping or Does traveling change you, or is that just a cliche?