My 3 year old has visited 32 countries AMA

[Dinoswearunderpants]

No doubt I'd get a load of shade about 'bragging' but that's not the intention. If anyone is interested in asking any questions about travelling regularly with a little own, feel free to ask.

I often travel just the two of us as his Dad can't get as much time off work as I do.

What job do you have that you can take a 32 holidays in 3 years?

Are you keeping count so he can put it on his dating profile when he's older? 😁

(really hoping that Bumble trend will be dead in 15 years)

Having travelled with my two since they were little (first flight was 3 months old for dc1, 5 fir dc2), I can tell you that some children adapt well to it and others just …. Don’t.

Just like some children sleep anywhere and others don’t. Some eat anything and others don’t etc…. There is still a huge part of nature involved!

Id be very careful about saying that your dc is a good traveller now because they’ve done it so much.

If you were to carry on travelling like that as they grow older, yes they’ll be comfortable travelling in away others don’t.

Downside for me is that they might struggle to find anything still to discover by the time they become teenagers.

a word of caution.
There is no way you’ll be able to take your dc out of school for a weekend trip nowadays. Schools are getting horrendous with that .

We travel with our little ones a lot too; I love it and the house is filled with photos and memories from our beautiful holidays. I definitely agreed about them gaining so much from it developmentally.

Other than Mexico, where was the best beach for toddlers?

What an odd take on it. Do you not do anything fun with your kids until they are old enough to remember it?

It's like saying you've "done" the UK by spending a weekend in London. Mountains, lakes, beaches, Danube Delta. You've not even scratched the surface. Fair enough for it not to be high on your list but you've not done it.

Okay... And your child will remember exactly none of them.

It would weigh less if you weren’t on board. So, if you are it will use more fuel and emit more carbon.

Usually when people say they've "done" a country they mean ticked it off the list of countries they can say they've visited.

Of course we did fun things. But 32 countries in three years is, I would suggest, slightly ott??

Your child would probably just appreciate the UK seaside just as much as holidays abroad.

You cannot possibly believe that there are half empty planes lying around so you might as well just get on board for a free carbon flight. You know that it's not quite the same as hitchhiking don't you?

I can't see the point. A three year old won't remember anything!!!

I bet he would rather spend his time in the Wacky Warehouse - or at a beach in the UK!

It's excessive. There is no point. Your child would be happier splashing about in puddles in the local park than being taken abroad. They would just be as happy.

I'm finding this a really interesting thread OP. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to travel independently with a toddler (even though I know that's pretty pathetic!) so I commend you for it.

I'd just say though, gently, that people who care about the environment actually are making active choices to do better and aren't simply accusing others of flying lots and then buying loads of crap online as you suggest. We haven't flown since having children; eat very little meat; don't order from the shops you mentioned or generally overbuy things like clothes; cycle on the school run despite full time jobs etc. All of these things make my life a little bit worse! But we think they are important. Please don't assume that everyone is just as bad as each other in some way environmentally, when there are many people actively making decisions to reduce their carbon footprints.

I absolutely love travelling but this seems odd and excessive to me. If you'd done a year backpacking it would make more sense. But 32 countries as holidays?
You didn't really go to Jamaica for his first birthday, it was just a nice excuse to go. Which is fine, but it does seem that you are trying to make this more about your child than it really is. You love travelling, so to do it you have to take him too.

But, it will all change when he goes to school as you can no longer get away with taking them out in school time.

Carbon offsetting is a potentially problematic tool and is very open to abuse by companies who want to greenwash their products.

It can’t be the solution to wealthy people to justify continuing their excessive lifestyles whilst the global south have their lives destroyed by extreme weather events and rising sea levels

Carbon offsetting can help us avoid catastrophic climate breakdown if it is used to offset only necessary carbon emissions which cannot be avoided.

If you care about it, you’ll read about it and you’ll realise that it’s bullshit to use it to offset this many flights. if you don’t care about it (guessing this’ll be a big fat tick for you OP) you will carry on having holidays and throwing around ad hominem insults at anyone who dares challenge you

Very young children generally do not enjoy travelling at all and take absolutely nothing away from it save tiredness and bugs, so let's not pretend it's for their benefit.
There are millions of healthy, fun, cultural, developmentally important things to do that don't involve hanging around airports and checking into hotels - if it's parenting you're after.

Are you concerned about the physical strain you've already put on his tiny body by flying so frequently?

Would I rather deal with a tantum on a beach in Bali rather than the local park, absolutely :-P

Funny that, I think everyone on the planet would. Read the room babe, COL crisis. And I say that as a high earner.

1. Spain 🇪🇸 (2)
2. Morocco 🇲🇦 (4)
3. Cyprus 🇨🇾 (2)
4. Romania 🇷🇴 (2)
5. Italy 🇮🇹 (2)
6. Mexico 🇲🇽 (2)
7. USA 🇺🇸 (2)
8. France 🇫🇷 Martinique 🇲🇶 (overseas territory)
9. Belgium 🇧🇪

10. Netherlands 🇳🇱 11. Sweden 🇸🇪 (2) 12. Finland 🇫🇮 13. Estonia 🇪🇪 14. Latvia 🇱🇻 15. Poland 🇵🇱 16. Norway 🇳🇴 17.Croatia 🇭🇷 (2) 18. Barbados 🇧🇧 (2) 19. Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 20. Grenada 🇬🇩 21. Saint. Vincent 22. St. Lucia 🇱🇨 23. Greece 🇬🇷 (4) 24. Portugal 🇵🇹 (2) 25. UAE 🇦🇪 (2) 26. Turkey 🇹🇷 (2) 27. Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 (2) 28. Germany 🇩🇪 (2) 29. Switzerland 🇨🇭 (2) 30. Austria 🇦🇹 (2) 31. Slovakia 🇸🇰 32. Denmark 🇩🇰

Do you worry about your DC's exposure to radiation with all those high altitude flights?

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/aircrew/cosmicionizingradiation.html#:~:text=Cosmic%20ionizing%20radiation%20(or%20cosmic,higher%20levels%20of%20cosmic%20radiation.

i haven’t made any comment re climate change but I am sure I am not alone in saying I have never bought anything from Shein or Temu, and I don’t drive. We have a car and my partner can drive but we very rarely use it.

I don’t think you can just project lifestyles onto other people and talk about glass houses when there is no indication whatsoever that they have a similar carbon footprint to yours.

Surely you don't only do things with your children to create memories for them though? If that was the case you may as well stay in one room for the first however many years of their life! OP is enjoying it (and will remember it!) and presumably DC enjoys it at the time and will love looking back at photos / hearing stories of their adventures when older.

OP it sounds amazing - can you list all of the countries you've been to? And do you find it exhausting? I have a friend like you who took her baby on a city break at least once a month during her mat leave. I thought I was pretty relaxed about travel but I find even a domestic train journey to visit family quite hard going with a baby and wouldn't be up for it for just a weekend sadly!

I honestly don’t think there is a secret as it’s very easy to travel with a child as long as they’re engaged. My under-3-year-old has visited many countries, has status with BA and Swiss, flies business and chills in the lounge before every flight sipping ‘baby’ champers. The looks of economy passengers as they see a child in the first row 😂