Are children missing out if they’ve been abroad?

[Shopperami]

Are children missing out if they’ve never been abroad?

original title needed to be never* been abroad

No. They don't understand and won't remember. Can they just want paddling pools, swimming pools and entertainments. You can get that at Butlins.

It depends on the age. Under 5 probably not. After that I think there is a benefit to discovering other cultures/languages.

I have some great memories of experiencing different things on holidays abroad as a kid - foods, coins, culture and language etc.

I was keen to take my DCs while they were still young enough to be fascinated by the little differences and they loved it.

I think children are missing out if they have never been abroad. Obviously if taking them abroad is not a financial option then that has to take priority as food on the table and a roof over their head is far, far more important.

But of those things are not the driving force then children absolutely 100% benefit from traveling.

I find it very odd that a pp says kids won't remember and all they want is a pool and entertainments. That is also 100% not true.

We are fortunate enough to travel a lot with our dc, now young teen, and have done since a baby and dc has been to a lot of countries both long haul and in Europe and remembers a hell of a lot! And has seen some incredible things. But our travel does not only revolve around a package holiday in a resort so that's a factor. In fact we have only ever done that once as a family and, yes dc enjoyed it but no more than going in a boat to see Niagra Falls or feeding baby koalas in Australia or seeing a christmas market in Prague for instance.

Travel broadens the mind and helps people to realise there are other lives out there, totally different to yours!

I am all for travel!

Thanks

I commented on the previous thread. I felt I was massively missing out as a child and resented it. My parents could afford it, but chose to holiday in the UK.

As an adult I've traveled loads, but I remember feeling left out as a child when other kids described their adventures.

I think it's good for kids to experience different cultures. We've never done package holidays - we go to Europe but we've done places like Budapest, Vienna, South of France, Southern Italy. We fly cheap, book an Airbnb and use local transport. The kids LOVE it. It's an adventure to them, and they learn so much. Don't be put off by taking young ones. Nothing is impossible. We've done this ever since DS1 was 18 months old.

I don't think they are necessarily missing out. It depends what you do at home and it depends what you do abroad.

You can visit wildlife parks in the UK to feed koalas, the European Christmas markets also come to the UK. You can visit a huge variety of different cities and attractions in the UK, plus coastal and countryside areas, where you can learn about all manner of cultures, history, geography, art etc.

You can also do all of the above abroad and the variety will be greater, but to not do it, isn't necessarily 'missing out'. If it's not affordable or impractical for whatever reason, don't worry about it.

Some DCs might have had all manner of foreign holiday experiences, but they might never have been rockpooling for crabs on a UK beach, see the variety of geological features in places like the Yorkshire Dales, or been to some of the great small specialist museums in the UK.

If they have relatives who travel abroad, they can help bring 'abroad' to them by bringing back souveniers. I often give leftover bits of money to my nephews, who have never been abroad, they love the different shaped coins, ones with holes in, or wedges of notes that are worth about £2 in total.

Depends what you do abroad. All inclusive were you never leave the complex? Total waste of time!

Yes, of course children are missing out if they don’t travel and learn about other countries and cultures. And it’s so easy to travel with children - they enjoy really simple things like playing in a different sort of playground and buying different sorts of cake!

I think it depends on what you mean by abroad.

If it is to a resort where you stay put and don't venture out, then I don't think they will miss much. But if it is to explore a new place, eat out, get about in a foreign country, then i think it is really valuable experience.

We don't have much disposable income but prioritise a European weekend once a year. We fly Ryanair with practically no luggage and stay at the cheapest hotels we can find.

We managed a long weekend in Cologne for 4 of us for £300, plus spending money. We stayed in Holiday Inn express on the edge of the city, breakfast was included so we ate well then ventured out and about. We had two really lovely proper restaurant meals, otherwise we just ate in bakeries and grazed. We bought all day family travel cards each day for about 15 Euro so cruised the city on trams. I spoke my crappy German and we got by no problem. We probably spend about £300 over there. Overall, that is £600, or £50 per month for a year, which is how I save up for it.

We are planning another adventure later in the year and half of the fun is in discussing where to go and planning it. My children are 9 and 7.

I was never taken abroad and I don’t feeli missed out.

Ive never taken mykids abroad as I can’t afford it.

They have been abroad with school to experience thing you and me cant give them, exclusive access to places and i feel that is better than any beach holiday imo

Yes, I think so. My mum was a single parent but some of my best memories of my childhood are of our holidays abroad. We didn't do resort holidays, they were all city breaks or hiring a car and exploring. We did a cycling holiday in Tuscany that was amazing!

It's not even necessarily more expensive v holidays at home. You can get cheap flights, stay in an Air BnB, etc. We spent the same on a long weekend in Berlin as we did on a long weekend in Devon last year.

Yes I think so!

Obviously if you don’t have the money, not much you can do about it but if you can afford it and don’t take them abroad then yes they are missing out.

No, I don’t think so. Even though, as an adult, I do a lot of international travelling, I also largely believe that if we all spent more time maximizing our relationships with the places we spend most of our time and people we spend most of our time with instead of pursuing exposure to some contrived and abstract "somewhere else" we'd probably be better off. Plus, you don’t have to travel thousands of miles to see communities who do things differently to yours; or to meet people who speak different languages and celebrate different festivals to your own; or to see landscapes which look nothing like the one outside your front door. Why is a remote village community in China more mind-broadening than a part of Bradford with a tradiiinal Muslim community? How many of us think it’s cultured to visit mosques and temples and churches in Turkey, India or Palermo yet would never step inside them in a UK city?

I didn't go abroad until I was 24. I never felt I was missing out on anything. The only thing was the peer-pressure factor when friends were boasting about where they'd been on holiday.

I've made up for it since and travelled to about 30 different countries at last count!

We're doing a mix of UK/abroad with our DS - his first foreign holiday was aged 3! Ironically, the ones he talks about and remembers mostly are the UK ones. He's just as happy going to Longleat as he was to go to Tsavo West in Kenya.

As for different experiences/cultures, a lot of places, especially Europe are pretty much the same these days. Your main shopping street in a European capital isn't that much different from a major UK city. Most Med beach resorts are pretty similar regardless of which country you're in.

But DS does enjoy sampling different McDonalds as each country has slightly different menu offerings! He particularly enjoyed Florida as the MaccyDs had a good range of self service cold drinks such as strawberry Fanta which he's never seen anywhere else.

My instinctive answer is 'no', but then I do think that the more experiences you have as a young person, the fuller your life is. But if finances aren't available, then it isn't the end of the world if you haven't been abroad.
Also, some people's experience of "going abroad" is very limited - a generic pool / hotel or apartment, and maybe a beach, which could be anywhere in the world. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it - I love a bit of AI in the sun - but it is hardly the richly educating experience that can compare with living with a family in another culture for a week, or visiting one of the may Wonders of the World.

One of our cheapest holidays was France by bike/train +airbnb. That broadened the dc's world view.

So no point to an all inclusive beach holiday then? As they could be anywhere?

Probably. Mine haven't been aboard yet.
Every time I think I've cracked it something crops up, allergies or finances.
I feel really crap that I've not taken them yet.

I agree with PPs. I have a friend who's taken her DS to a few countries but always to a resort that they've never ventured out of! I was talking to her about how we'd both been to Egypt, and they never even went and saw the Pyramids!. That seems strange to me.

I couldn't afford to take my kids anywhere that is notably different from the UK, until they were older (14 and over). But I feel they enjoyed it more, and got more out of it then, anyway.

It depends what else that have to miss out on to have a holiday. But assuming basic needs like housing and food are well provided for, then I think travel is very valuable.

Exposure to different cultures, places and history is ideal. But if that's not achievable, even a resort holiday can create great family memories of time spend together away from the daily stresses of home life.

I think the tide is turning and in the future less and less children will travel extensively overseas as flying will become seen as irresponsible.

Not missing out really although if you live in the Midlands miles from the coast, it's nice to hop on an easyJet to some guaranteed sun and sand. Corfu self catering can be cheaper than the same in Devon! Finances allowing it's an option. I'd love to take them skiing as it's miles easier to learn when they're young but that's out of my budget at the moment. I spend a lot of time hiking and so plan to drag them around a tarn or two in the UK this summer. Those holidays can end up pricey if you don't habitually camp or hike or know the area.

Often it's for the parents benefit. I go stir crazy at home with them over the summer and I like a beach and a book whilst they bomb around a safe pool with ridiculous inflatables. Obv that's a recent thing since they've been more confident swimmers. Taking babies abroad or camping is a bloody nightmare!!!