Exciting holiday with 4 year old

[JG24]

I currently have a just turned 2 year old. We want to go on a great holiday in 2 years when she'll be 4. Is it ridiculous to consider somewhere like costa Rica?
To give you an idea before we had her we went to Cuba, central America, Asia. We'd normally go for 3 weeks and go to maybe 4/5 different places within a country.
Is something similar at all possible with a 4 year old? Also I realise this holiday is not for her benefit but for ours. Please feel free to say no that's ridiculous and I need to wait another few years

We are taking Ds to Sri Lanka soon. He will be 5.
I think it’s fine. We have planned and tailored trip to not be too full on, no super long drives or crazy hikes. And hotels and home stays all child friendly

My DD1 has taken my DGD all over, the most recent was Bali aged 5, her conclusion was basically that DGD is happiest by a pool, so baring the current trip to Asia which was already booked she is only taking her short haul going forward. If DD1 wants to be more adventurous I will look after DGD.

At that age, they won't know any better where they are. It'll all depend on the activities you have planned.

I personally would wait another 2-3 years. I hate jet lags, really feel awful for 1-3 days, so I needed DD to be old enough to understand that I wasn't feeling great and couldn't play all the time and it would have been unfair to DH to do 80% of all parenting.

If you are someone who doesn't mind it and can cope with a young child with jet lag, go for it. It is definitely more for you but you need to cater for a young child so the activities are very different.

The 4 year old won’t really care where they are as long as there’s a pool and food they like. So pick somewhere you want to go that’s also kid friendly. Honestly though they’d probably be happiest at a haven caravan park. Fancy holidays are lost on little kids. But can be fun if it’s something you want to do that isn’t too much for them so they become overwhelmed.

I wouldn’t tbh. Having just done that kind of trip with a 10 and 12 year old it was quite hard work for us all - good overall but tiring and with some challenges- and I don’t think a 4 year old would get enough from it to be worth it.

If you stay broadly in one place and do side trips it could work but I wouldn’t do a true multi location backpacking type trip. The constant packing up and moving around is definitely hard work with kids. Also - illness risk is not to be sniffed at.