To not have attempted to go abroad yet

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I’m just not convinced it would be enjoyable with two under 5s. Am I wrong, or would it just be SSDL?

We’ve been on several abroad trips with our 5 year old and just turned 3 year old, with two planned this year. But that’s because for both of us travel was a huge part of who we were before we had kids. We’re not doing it for them, we’re doing it for us! It’s not relaxing, obviously, but then we’re not the all inclusive lie about by the pool all day type of people anyway. And honestly our May half term trip coming up is costing less than a week away in a caravan in England. Yes the kids would love the caravan just as much, but we love being in a different country and exploring somewhere new. It 100% all depends on what your priorities are as a couple and a family, for us travel is one hit that doesn’t make it right or wrong.

Why? I flew from auckland to Doha a few years ago and there was a family with small kids behind me I think the little one( about 2 or) must've slept 12 hours dolid on the plave

I think it depends on WHAT you do rather than being "abroad".
I find it easier, because it's new, so they are easy to entertain.

It only becomes a disaster when people try to recreate a child-free holiday with their kids. That is never going to work!

My 2 are older teens now but I’ve been taking them on holiday several times a year since they were born.

But I’ve never found my kids particularly stressful at home or abroad and I live for my holidays. There’s nothing better than feeling the sun on my skin.

I also think relaxed parents makes for relaxed kids and I’m never more relaxed than when I’m on holiday!

Depends on what you want from a holiday abroad. We had some lovely holidays when the kids (x2) were teeny - Northern France, the Black Forest, the Tyrol and Lake Garda. We found it best to stay in apartment hotels so we had space to chill out when they were asleep. When they are awake you can take turns if you need downtime (or you could look at Kinder hotels), but also it is quite fun discovering things you wouldn't do on a couples holiday like an Alpine park with a raft on a pulley so you could cross the river, and an amazing Alpine zoo in Innsbruck.

Or if you like centre parcs, try centre parcs in Belgium, Holland or France. It tends to be cheaper than the UK, the food is better and the weather is usually nicer.

We absolutely love trips and holidays with our children!! I travelled a lot pre-kids and now with kids has just made it even better. There is literally nothing I'd rather do. But we're fairly relaxed, not tied to routines on holiday and our kids have travelled abroad since being 9mths (oldest) and 7mths (youngest). I think going from being so little has made them amazing travellers, they've done short haul, long haul, Interrailing trips, European road trips, beaches, cities, mountains.
Our youngest is 5 and has been to France three times, Belgium, Holland twice, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Menorca, Florida, Greece. I can't even imagine not letting her experience all that, she's had the best experiences. (Obviously not basing on finances but just purely on age).

I love to travel and so do my children. Lived abroad when they were small so flying long haul / being in different environments was normal for them. Some of our best memories are from holidays. Enjoy UK holidays too but weather can be hit & miss…

No, we didn’t take our dc abroad at that age either. What’s the point? Much easier to have a break in the UK that they enjoy: familiar food, not too hot, what they can drink, no travel delays, loads to do….

Well you’re not being unreasonable because if the idea of it would stress you out then it probably wouldn’t be fun. But I’ve always taken mine abroad since young babies and had a great time. In fact the worst holiday I ever had when they were little was to Cornwall. It took about 6 hours to get there - could have flown somewhere quicker - and they grizzled in the car, then it rained for 3/4 of the holiday and we couldn’t really do anything so they were trapped inside. And it was expensive! Always had a far better time overseas

i think it really depends on how used to travelling your kids are. My parents took us abroad from 6 months old, so it was fine

I do not understand this mentality. It depends on the child / children.

DS travelled a lot after 12 months and before the age of five because it was easy! We just plonked him in a backpack and carried him if he got tired.

We also took things to amuse him and engaged with him. We liked spending the time with him. He got used to traveling so it's never been a problem - for me that's part of why he travels well - it was normal. It was also cheaper.

You eat out at lunch (which is cheaper) and then either at hotel or self catering dinner as the evening is when you have meltdowns. Work out any other pinch points. Temper expectations from the start to stop them getting too wound up. Give five minute warnings that you will be moving on from an activity so they understand transition time.

If you have been away in the UK, it's really not any different.

For boring reasons we did centre parks witha 1 and 3 yo then did an all inc 5 star resort 3 weeks later.

I thought centre parks was a holiday but the All inc changed my mind.

I won't be doing centre parks for a loooooning time.

2 x more all inclusives booked this year.
I never understood who AI was for.... its for tired parents who dont want to think!!!!

I do feel you on the SSDD thing though. I quite selective and its short haul allllll the way

I don't understand center parcs. I’ve looked at going before and it was just over 2k so a similar price to what we paid for our all inclusive last year except no food is included at CP obviously and then they also expect you pay for most activities on top! Just seems overpriced for what is effectively a middle class version of Butlins.

Is this a weird rich person problem where it’s meant to be obligatory to take children abroad? 🤔

Same. Just organise things largely like your home routine and enjoy the change of scene.

It’s not necessarily expensive.

I think it would be for a family of four to be honest.

I think it depends on your children. I often see people on here saying how much they are having a terrible or exhausting holiday with children.

Our three were taken on holidays from being babies a couple of times a year and were always brilliant travelling and when away, as they were used to it from a young age.

We took ours aboard from when the youngest was 6 months. His first flight was a 10 hour one. We did at least one long haul trip a year with them.

We never found it difficult, quite the opposite.

I've always enjoyed it but we go to Euope and stay with relatives or self catering.

Rome I thought was a bit too hot for DS2 (4 at the time) but he keeps asking to go back.

Well, I only have one, and DH and I would have been going anyway. Usually staying with friends, or in their houses, so just (cheap) flights and food.

We took DD to places like an all inclusive at 3-5. Was very easy. Spent days by the pool, on the beach. Didn't have to think about food.

Worked out nicely.

Now she's 6 weeks can do things like city breaks etc

Its often cheaper to go abroad.

We are going to France, accommodation travelling in le shuttle, fuels and tolls....it's still cheaper than just accommodation in the UK.

Yes, it does make a big difference if you have a place you can stay cheap or no cost and just have to pay for the flights. That being said, centre parcs is very expensive. I think it’s definitely something we’ll do next year when our children are four and six and a half (they are currently five and nearly three and although broadly speaking they are very nice apart they can be quite difficult to manage when together.)

I just got FOMO from someone’s instagram! I now really want to go to a place I’ve never really thought I wanted to go to! 🤣

It took me ages to work out weeks was a typo for we! I couldn’t work out how you’d done all that with a six week old 😂