Here’s why you should travel with kids:
They notice things that you just never will notice. Free from the worries of itineraries, packing, language barriers, exchange rates, personal safety, where their next meal will come from… kids have the chance to actually enjoy their surroundings.
Last weekend I was in Prague with my kids. My thoughts were generally along the lines of “this is one beautiful and one busy city”. My son, his thoughts were all about the transportation. He pointed out every single bus, tram, and train he saw. Free from the worries of everything else, he saw them all. (You will never notice the frequency of public transportation until you are with a two year old who loves anything on wheels or rails.)
As we walked and watched him pointing to the left and right, we confirmed each tram with a high-five (our way to combat the screams he would have emitted since we weren’t about to go on one just yet). Crossing the Charles Bridge, he raised his hand off to the right. We looked up, didn’t see anything. No high-five. Then he pointed again and we looked harder. Why, yes, there was a train. Way out there, heading away from the castle, yet still on the hill. I stared at it briefly, wondering how my son noticed it. It was far. It was moving in between buildings. As I thought about it, I had one of those moment where I stepped back and noticed the entire scene. It was dusk. The train was lit inside, going through the streets of Prague. There was just something beautiful about it, here we are surrounded by tourists in a very touristy area, but out in the distance life was going on as normal.
Then I turned around, and gave my son a high-five.
I was looking at pictures from Prague on my phone with my son, he immediately pointed to this tram. I didn’t even notice it, but later realized I probably took the picture because of the tram.
Oh, this is so, so true, and I love the way you wrote about it! And as a mom of a transportation loving 5 year old, it doesn’t end any time soon 🙂