Are children missing out if they’ve been abroad?

[Shopperami]

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

Yes.
We never went abroad as dc, no money.
My dc have traveled extensively and have a wide range of experiences I never had.
They have a much better understanding of the world than I did at their age.

My children love going abroad and have been all Over the world. I love going abroad. I love holidays. But I don't think children who don't get to go abroad are disadvantaged.

Of course not

We never went away as a family and I did all my travelling when I got to sixteen and over!

Puts hand up. I've also been to Egypt and not seen the pyramids.

They're hours away from the main tourist resorts and many people report them as quite underwhelming, crawling with hawkers and surrounded by litter.

But I did go to some of the world's most renowned scuba diving sites and dived with dolphins, octopus, eels and lots of other sea life.

I'm a little at all these reports of people staying in an AI resort and never leaving because I don't believe that's true. There's almost always plenty of things to see and do outside the hotel and most people will go out at least a few times. A sunny beach holiday isn't necessarily less worthwhile than other types of travel, and people will still get to try different food, meet people who speak a different language and try out different sports and activities and have quality family time together while relaxing in the sun.

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

This is why we've taken our DC abroad and prioritised travel over other luxuries (even a bigger house). We live in the US and I feel (having not been brought up here myself) that it's important for them to understand that America isn't necessarily the best place on earth...here's a tendency to think that here (if you hadn't noticed)!

We prefer city breaks and seeing cultural sights, plus the odd beach. I don't think we'd get anything from a resort that we couldn't get at home.

In my opinion yes, they would be missing out.
Not massively, but they would be missing out on the experience of flying in a plane, seeing another country where the culture is different, different language spoken, swimming in the sea / pool, lots of other things.
I always loved family holidays abroad as a child, from camping in France and little apartments in Spanish towns to seeing the valley of the kings in Egypt. Loved it and it was beneficial to my general education I think.

I've also been to Egypt and not seen the pyramids.

Me too. And also I stayed at the four seasons in Sharm (which isn't even in the town) for a week and didn't leave. Sometimes, I just need a 6 days, 6 books, 1 sun lounger holiday.

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

I wouldn't say that. There is a lot of positives about a family spending time together, getting away from busy lives at home and relaxing and creating memories together.

You might get more relevant answers if you explained a bit more about what / why you are asking.

We didn't go abroad as kids and I never felt I missed out.
As an older teen I became aware that lots of my friends had all these experiences that I hadn't had.
And in my 20s I met and married Dh who in no way wants to go abroad even if we could have afforded it. Which we couldn't.

Now I'm trying to make up for it and take my teen DC away every year somewhere different. I feel I've kissed out just not because I didn't go away when I was little.

I bloody lived my UK holidays as a kid.

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

There are plenty of narrow minded people who go abroad regularly.

I have 4 children who have never been abroad. Honestly we have spent years renovating houses and never had the money, two of them have autism and I haven't felt confident they could cope before now. I'm confident they would cope now, but I just don't have the money. We are not the most cultured I'll admit, more theme parks and zoos than museums and galleries. We have a lot of UK breaks though.

Honestly, given most people I know in this area that go aboard do the whole all inclusive, sit at the pool all day, that's not us and I don't think the kids are missing out. I do like the idea of them learning other cultures but frankly with mine it's hard enough them understand our social norms let alone other countries. My eldest is 9 now, I would like to take them aboard new year, they are despite to fly.

There's lots of point to all all inclusive beach holiday. It's lots of fun plus relaxing. You dont only do thi gs that your kids would be missing out on if they didn't do it, otherwise you'd never leave the house.

Not so much the requirement to go abroad but I do think they are missing out when they are not exposed to travel and exploration.

There are many places in the U.K. which can be amazing, same for abroad.

For me it's all about enabling the desire to explore the world, the skills to travel and find out about everything and not just get in the car and drive to the same place every holiday, not just go on all inclusive package holiday and never leave the complex.

We think nothing about jumping in the car or on a train/bus and going away somewhere and exploring it. We use railcards, clubcard points, youth hostels etc to keep those costs down which means we can do different activities and widen the experiences for the children (and ourselves)

the skills to travel and find out about everything.

That used to be more of a skill than it is now then. When I went to India in 1993 with my bestie, we landed at Delhi airport at 11pm with. the lonely planet and 200 quid each and we just had to figure it out, but now you can just google your way around. It's a bit of a shame in a way but at the same time I hope my kids won't be riding on top of buses and ducking electricity cables.

This really will vary depending on what people value. Personally, I feel that exploring culture and history is beneficial to all people and that includes children and teenagers. However, I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t explore those things at home and so therefore don’t necessarily explore them on holiday either!

I would like to take my children abroad to do that, because it’s something I enjoy doing. I don’t look down on beach/lounging holidays, it’s just never been enjoyable for me. I do think there is a benefit to seeing different places and experiencing a different way of life, as others have said it ‘broadens the horizons’, but for a start you can do some of that in the UK. We have different lifestyles, plus different access to culture and history, across the UK, so it doesn’t just have to be abroad.

We can’t afford to holiday abroad (or even in the UK!) but expect to increasingly be able to do this in the coming years. Our children are still very young so whilst they would probably benefit from that now, I think as long as we get to do it at some point they will reap the benefit. As adults they may then choose to do more.

Whilst we’re here though, we regularly go to museums, historic sites, try different foods, all of which they enjoy, so they’re still getting some of that at home. When we can travel the biggest difference I think they’ll notice immediately is a different way of living, which I think is good for them to know that our way isn’t necessarily the ‘right’ or only way (you can discuss it or watch shows but experiencing it is much more tangible), and then they get the opportunity to experience a broader range of history and culture too.

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

This is usually because people are relaxed on holiday, open their eyes to see what's around them and talk to their children about it. There's plenty of people close to home that have lives totally different to our own, but most don't notice, think or talk about it.
Europeans are usually better travelled than people in larger countries. They can easily and cheaply country hop, so it is more common. Many children growing up in Australia, Canada or the USA for example might go abroad if they're lucky, rich or close to a border. It will certainly be far less common to travel abroad and I doubt that most miss out drastically.

I got to explore loads of the U.K. when I was a child. Didn’t go abroad until I was 16.

I certainly don’t feel I missed out, infact getting to experience so much of this country was a great way to spend a childhood

Of course they are. Travel is incredibly important and the cultures they can experience, the languages they can listen to and maybe learn, and the places they can explore is all a part of them growing as an individual and experiencing the world.

I travelled extensively in my childhood with my parents and those memories are so treasured. You are doing your children a disservice if you don’t even try and prioritise travel.

God there are some depressing opinions on this thread.
of course one European city high street is not the same as any other and it is a bit ridiculous to suggest it is. Budapest is not the same as Lisbon!

When we do city breaks (quite frequently) we do not shop! dc usually has some spending money and will have an hour or two to look about the shops and is quite good at pinpointing something they have wanted - for instance there was a cook VANS shop in Madrid and sc bought some that were not available at home at that time.

Usually shops are looked in en route to other places. We do lots of research on the places we visit and always have a rough itinerary in mind - depending on the place it might include the oldest building (castle etc), a traditional restaurant to try out local food, a museum, a gallery, historic areas - Jewish Ghettos in some cities etc, the top cafe or fancy cake shop, the oldest bars for a drink, a rooftop bar, swimming - pool or beach (man-made city beaches in Paris and Brisbane, floating swimming pool in Paris etc)

It depends and we try to balance a mix of what will interest dc and also myself and dh. We all LOVE going to new places and dc has a FAR better understanding of the world than I did at that age.

We also travel nationally quite a bit and have seen a huge amount of our own country so its not either / or really

I don't think they miss out. As long as you are broad in your upbringing of them. They can always explore when they are 18+ of interested.

I think they do miss out.

Travelling young (to see far flung family) is what gave me the flying bug. To this day, the feel of a jet engine ramping up for take off gives me thrills!

So it makes me desperately sad to see so many MNers terrified of flying (mostly for no reason at all), that it must really spoil theirs and their family's enjoyment of the holiday they are going in.

I think it's like lots of things like extra curricular activities, not essential but great if you can.

My dc have only been abroad once due to other financial priorities (including their extra curricular activities) but hopefully their first time will be the start of many.

We included them in selecting the holiday, looking at flight times & costs, accommodation, the local area, transport etc & I think they got a lot out of it.

It was only a week in Menorca & like lots of kids they enjoyed the sun & the pool more than anything else but it was very different experience to our previous UK holidays.

In my opinion the more experiences kids have the fuller their life.

My DC (ages 7 and 9) haven't been abroad yet. They're keen to go and we probably will in the next couple of years - to Europe via the tunnel.

BUT air travel is pretty much the single worst thing you can do for the environment as an individual. I agree with a PP who said that air travel will become more restricted in years to come. It will have to, or there won't be much of a world out there for our children to experience.

The days of hopping on a cheap flight without a thought for the consequences are numbered. I'm not saying that no one should ever fly and I agree that travel and adventure can broaden the mind. But people need to start taking responsibility for their actions.

lino Living in the US currently I do think that the lack of international travel does have quite a big impact. It leads to quite an insular outlook on the world, a limited understanding of interconnected we all really are. It is hard to really understand that there is more than one way of doing things if you have only ever experienced that one way.
There are significant geographical variations within the US but much more reduced cultural ones, although they do exist.
I think it is to the detriment of the US as a whole that only the wealthier citizens get to experience life outside their country.

I didn't go abroad till I was 15, but don't really feel I missed out.

I can't afford to take my kids abroad on a family holiday but they have been/will go abroad with Scouts which is a fantastic way of exploring the world, and usually not too expensive. (Oldest did 2 weeks in Norway & Sweden for £350ish)

I don't think it's vital, but if you have the opportunity and can afford it's a great thing to do.