Comments on: Oh China, Part One

By: Family Travel: Take the Kids to Hong Kong » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:02:16 +0000

[...] Oh China, Part One [...]

By: Oh China, Part Two » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel

Oh China, Part Two » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:09:11 +0000

[...] Oh China, Part One [...]

By: Travel With Kids - Family Matters

Travel With Kids - Family Matters — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Wonderful tips! I definitely agree with preparing the kids and explaining what to expect. We travelled to China and all around the world with my kids and they had a great time.

By: Laura Bond Williams

Laura Bond Williams — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:51:28 +0000

To familyonbikes: Kids on bikes! That is INCREDIBLE. Can’t wait to read more. Thanks for sharing.

To Amy: Thailand is definitely on our wish list!

By: Amy @ The Q Family

Amy @ The Q Family — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:17:18 +0000

I agree that people has this perception of fear when traveling with small children. We have traveled with our kids since they were about 2 years old to Thailand. The flight was long but we survived it. And yes, I agree with all your tips. Walking on the plane is a must. I think passengers would rather have kids walked up and down the aisle than screaming.

I’m looking forward to reading your part 2.

-Amy

By: soultravelers3

soultravelers3 — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:24:28 +0000

Thanks Laura, it seems we think alike! We do the same things with slow travel and alternating kid days with touring days.

I am really looking forward to your Part 2! Love the babe walking the Great Wall pic!

By: familyonbikes

familyonbikes — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:09:29 +0000

I think people make way too much of long-haul flights with kids. Our twins took their first 35-hour journey from Boise to Ethiopia when they were 6 weeks old, and then did the same thing 2 – 4 times each year until they were seven. Needless to say, we’ve spent many, many, MANY hours on airplanes – and the kids are just fine. We just make sure we have a couple of books and a handful of toys – and the kids are just fine.

I truly believe that kids will do whatever is expected of them – whatever Mummy and Daddy are doing is good enough for them. We took our kids out for a year on our bikes and rode 9300 miles around the USA and Mexico in 2006-07. Now we are getting ready to take off again – this time to ride from Alaska to Argentina! There is no doubt whatsoever that our boys will be just fine.

The trick is to never, ever underestimate your child – not even for one nanosecond!!

You can read about our journey at http://www.familyonbikes.org

By: Laura Bond Williams

Laura Bond Williams — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:57:21 +0000

Thanks Soultravelers3! Love your blog! That’s a great point about going slow. For us, that meant staying in one city and alternating sightseeing days with familiar “kid days” — parks, sandwiches and an early bath and dinner.

By: Soultravelers3

Soultravelers3 — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:11:48 +0000

These are great ideas about taking young children on long flights and I agree wholeheartedly that the prep ( and keeping it alive afterwards with books, videos and scrapbooks) is so important to help young children have a personal connection. I also think slow travel is very important for kids and families and it can actually save a lot of money since long flights are usually the biggest cost. Today, many people can work from anywhere in the world, so that is one way to add time if you can not take it off.

We started our open ended world tour with a ten hour flight from S.F. to Amsterdam when my daughter was 5 and we did many of these same things. The long flight was actually easier than I had imagined with my very active child. Paper dolls about a little girl going around the world with many costumes was a very big hit for us and so appropriate for our travel.

There are so many wonderful books for young children about traveling and different countries and we find making itineraries based on children’s literature of the area adds so much.

So glad to see more families choosing exotic travel and finding ways to make it a fun, educational experience!! Great job!

By: Laura Bond Williams

Laura Bond Williams — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:14:15 +0000

Thanks Kara! Yes, that is the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, http://www.mutianyugreatwall.net/. We hiked about a mile and half up and down between guard posts. There’s a gondola ride up, and we took a toboggan chute ride down. The kids did great, though we did carry them occasionally to give their little legs a rest.