Practically I don't remember what it is like to travel as a couple. For four years the family has grown, and although traveling with children is not always easy, we have not given up knowing new destinations. But, after our recent trip to Porto, I wonder, Can you travel with more than two young children?
And I don't mean some triplets that spend most of their time resting in their strollers or that are effortlessly carried in a baby carrier. Do not.
I speak of children who are no longer babies, but each one of a different age, who are in that “critical” stage in which they do not want to move in the cart but walk, or rather run away, because they are already able to run, which They have no fear or understand responsibility and can not help with luggage ... And with them only two adults (usually dad and mom) to "control" the situation.
A situation that can reach the limit in such conflicting moments as the passage through the control of the airport (probably the least pleasant and most uncomfortable situation of the trip). Or as a visit to a museum "not to touch", or the walk through some unknown streets, board a boat, the bus juggling ...
If in those situations we have eyes (and hands or arms) for one child each adult, I can't imagine a child in my care. If it is already stressful in certain places to be attentive to everything, I do not think I could get it with a child running and in continuous danger according to my perspective.
Nor is it that I am a paranoid of care, if I had to classify between calm moms or worried moms I would certainly be among the first. There are many situations and places, even unknown, where I find no danger and you can relax, that the girls are not holding hands or arm ...
But it was a scare this last trip, when the little girl, running, fell and broke her lip, to be more nervous and raise her guard again to the fullest.
Can you enjoy a trip with children?
And some of you may ask, "but can you enjoy a trip like that?" Well, yes, you can, because there are many of those moments when there is a space to run around, a park to rest, a meal at the table tasting local delicacies and recovering strength to continue discovering ...
And in the end, even if it seems a lie and you think that you will fall asleep in bed before they do, in the end they fall asleep, and we all rest thinking about how well we had a good time and what awaits us the next day.
Come on, that a trip with children consists of a mixture of tension-worry-tranquility that go up and down throughout the day mixed with many discoveries and fun. That, with two small children. Could we with one more?
Well, surely in the end we managed, although at logistic level it seems a great effort, the issue of transport is also delicate (surely we would think more about the plane and we would opt for other transport closer like the car). But above all, watching more children at all times scares me.
Without living it, I feel like I'm missing eyes or hands. In fact, when we have traveled in the company of more relatives everything has been much easier and more relaxed (why is it that lately we always propose to my parents to come with us ...).
Four adults for two girls: we have plenty of hands, everything is fixed ... or not? I could also tell you a few scares in that situation ... And it is not always the more eyes there are, the more watched the children are. Never let your guard down.
Anyway, what for two older I put my limit on two children to travel. You are already quite exhausted ... But I am also sure that with one more child I would not give up traveling. Another thing is how I would manage not to break my nerves or to invite grandparents to share the trip with us.
Photos | Eva Paris and GoodNCrazy on Flickr-CC
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