To take my children on a long haul holiday?

[choccywoccywoowah]

I graduate next year. It's been a bloody long slog that (if I'm truly honest) has at times left me on the verge of a breakdown. I have been achieving A+ on the whole, but lowest grade has been an A- so I am fucking proud of myself. Over and above 1st class marks.

I want to celebrate by going on the holiday of a lifetime. Only been out of Europe twice in my life. Me and my partner have only been on one holiday (to Tenerife) in out 5 years together. Do I would love to all go to somewhere further (maybe Caribbean, Australia, East Asia). A family member told me that I am selfish as it's me that wants to go long haul and 'there is nothing for children in the Caribbean.' My 2 and 4 year old are full on outdoor lovers so I honestly can't see how Tenerife is more child friendly that other places. Give them a pool and a beach and they are loving it. Also SIL will be coming too.

So am I being incredibly naive and/or selfish for considering taking my children on a long haul trip?

We go long haul twice a year as well. DH is a Foreign.

We've taken Dd on long haul flights from being 2, and before iPads were the norm too. When she was small she had a small backpack of toys, several were new for the trip for the novelty gain - colouring and activity/sticker books, basic card games, tiny cars and doll sets, the travel playmobil sets, magazines with the free gift type thing, etc. And all long haul flights have constant tv with kids channels too.

Dd has never got bored on a plane - she has so much to do. Mind she's 15 now and just sits and watches films for the entire route.
It's me who is kore likely to get bored and fidgety!

And not all children struggle with heat and time differences. Just like not all adults do. Many children love the sun and hot weather. Dd was never really into beaches much bough loved pools, so we choose locations accordingly. She loved/lives cities.

The iPad/tablet ban - this only applies to a restricted number of locations. The vast majority of places you can still take and use them.

You know your kids best. Sounds like they are great little travellers already so a long haul flight would be fine for them.

Mine, on the other hand are the type that will not sit still, impatient, bored hungry etc before we've even left the runway! Not so bad now they are older but for the first few years we chose short flight destinations.

WTF? We've taken DD (at 13m and 3yo) to the Caribbean to visit family and she had a whale of a time both times! The flights were fine too - she mostly slept through the first time and watched endless kids shows the second time (gotta love Virgin Atlantic). There's loads to do and see, even for little 'uns. Go for it, OP.

My kids have been all over the world since they were tiny, including lots of amazing road trips. You get to see so much when you have your own car with you. They have gained so much and had such beautiful experiences. They love every bit of traveling, and are interested in all of the aspects of the places we travel to. I always do a lot of planning and research before we go, and top of the list of places that we hunt down are: beautiful walking trails, the best ice cream shop, wherever sells the best local dish, and if you aren't taking a car, best public transport links. Take them a little bag of imaginative toys, involve them in the planning and ideas stage, and make sure you sort out fruit and snacks before each leg. I do this and my kids travel very easily. Never been difficult on flights or anything. I actually cannot imagine booking 2 weeks in an all inclusive in Spain. You can travel so much further and do so much more on the same cost if you travel independently. Go for it!

I don't think you're selfish at all but do prepare well for the very long flight.
I recently flew from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi then Perth then Brisbane and honestly it was hell from Abu Dhabi onwards. Get economy plus or business if you can afford it and bring lots to entertain the little ones. Jet lag can also be awful I'm not sure how kids would react to that x

I don't think there's anything wrong with it but genuine lol at the poster who equates a 9 month old with a 2 and 4 year old!

Congratulations on your degree that's amazing!

Also I think you're a bit naive to say that 8 hours isn't much more than 4.5 hours. It is. It's a lot more tiring and you have jet lag to deal with when you get there.

they won't remember anything about the holiday at that age so it may as well be in the UK.

Thinking more about this statement, it implies that the holiday is all about the children and only the children. If the children won't remember it, it may as well be somewhere the parents will love and remember. Provided the children have fun, it doesn't matter whether they remember it or not. If you applied "they won't remember it" to everything, there would be no point doing anything at all.

I wonder what Caribbean 2 and 4 year-olds do as there is nothing out there for them?

We take our DC longhaul and to hot countries.

We all love the experiences, the DC get over the jet lag way faster than the adults do, and it's very hard to get bored on the flight now that there is such good in-flight entertainment.

(Disclaimer: I'm from a distant tropical country - if we want the DC to get to know half their extended family and culture, we kind of have to travel longhaul).