A list of 7 mindset changes that you’ll notice as soon as you start traveling with your children and go from traveler to family traveler.

Did I know I would love to family travel before trying it?

Not really…

But did I know it would be one of the most fun, crazy and challenging learning experience of my life?

(See first answer)

In reality there was no way of me knowing how impactful traveling with my children would be until I decided to try it and, today I’d love to share with you the main mindset shifts that you can expect to happen the moment you go from traveler to family traveler, and dare take your kids around the world.

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Mindset Shift # 1: You’ll find a tremendous amount of benefits in slow traveling.

Guaranteed, one of the first things you’ll notice when you start family traveling, is that you won’t be able to do as many things or visit as many places as you did pre-kids. More things to carry, more people to dress and more bathroom runs are just some of the changes you’ll experience so, the safe option to make sure you’re not overstretching yourself, will be to always plan less activities and move at a slower pace.

Before children, you may have never tried slow traveling. I mean, if someone gave me the option before, to see more places in less time, I’d say yes every time. Except, having fun is essential in my trips and you know how fun a tired baby is?? Yeah, not very fun.

Slow traveling, aside from giving you enough time to move around with your family, will let you absorb each place more deeply. You’ll learn to travel without rushing and to be more flexible with your itinerary. You’ll give yourself time to enjoy an afternoon walk in a new city, the chance to say yes to a new friend’s invitation and many opportunities to catch yourself smiling when you realize you’ve added another place to your kid’s bucket list.

Mindset Shift # 2: As a family traveler, you’ll start seeing the world from your children’s eyes.

The magic of fresh snow falling, the enchantment of walking through a forest, the happiness of sliding trough sand dunes. It’ll be like putting on your curiosity glasses back on and waking up the kid that still leaves inside of you. By becoming a family traveler, you’ll allow yourself to wander, to be surprised and to laugh at the simplest things.

You’ll also notice how approachable you become since people around the world LOVE seeing kids traveling. If you let yourself see every experience through your children’s eyes, you’ll kick prejudice and preconceived ideas out and allow yourself to welcome every new adventure and interaction with an open mind and an open heart.

Mindset Shift # 3: You’ll be more intentional with the time you have.

Ever felt like time goes faster since you had kids? It’s not an illusion and no, you’re not crazy. The main reason why you’re more aware of time passing, is because children’s growth is very evident and noticeable. Look at yourself in a photo from a year ago and you won’t see many changes, –maybe your hair?, but take a look at a photo of your kids from one year ago and no doubt you’ll see a lot of differences. You’ll probably wish yet again you could stop time.

When you travel with your children, you’ll want to treasure each moment a lot more because you’ll have the certainty of how unique it’ll be. You may return to a place in the future but your little ones will never be as little as they are right now.

Mindset Shift # 4: You’ll want to connect with other traveler families doing the same.

Because now you have something out of the ordinary in common. You’ve decided to say yes to long flights, international tantrums, carrying tons of stuff and stroll around the world together. You’ve also said yes to travel and yes to incredible worldwide family adventures; and being able to share that with other families will be very fulfilling. You’ll get to learn the best tips from each other, share crazy experiences, discuss beautiful destinations and compete on your worst and best moments ever. It’ll also be a great opportunity for your kids to connect and interact with other travel kids.

You may have so much in common that you might become friends and who knows! maybe plan new trips together in the future. Finding families who share your same goals and ideals will for sure enrich your travel life.

Mindset Shift # 5: You’ll let travel become one of the main life teachers for your kids.

Not only because of the actual things that they may learn during your trips, (about an ancient culture in Cambodia, or about sea lions in the Galápagos Islands), but also because of the emotional intelligence, social attributes and qualities that they’ll develop.

The moment you start traveling with your kids you’ll start exposing them to different skin colors, different languages, different religions, different transportation, different climates, different everything! And they’ll learn to be flexible, tolerant, thoughtful, friendly, respectful, curious, grateful. Every trip that you add into your children’s years, will give them lessons that they’ll be able to take with them for the rest of their lives.

Mindset Shift # 6: Family travel experiences will become more relevant than material gifts.

You’ll start to notice the long lasting effects and benefits of your travels, which will make you prefer spending your money in experiences over things. Don’t get me wrong, even though I don’t consider myself a materialistic mom, I know the value of sharing gifts with my children and I also know the happiness it brings them. But I’ve also learned to be very selective because I’ve seen how short lived is the enjoyment my daughter feels with new toys.

With travel is very different. Start taking family trips, and you’ll see how many memories come back with you. Memories that your kids may not register in the same way as you, but memories that I assure you, will last longer than any material gift.

Mindset Shift # 7: No destination will seem impossible enough as a family traveler.

I’m telling you. All it takes is one trip. That first trip will change everything for you. Maybe it’s a weekend trip not far from home but that trip will be enough to get you to step out of your comfort zone. And from there on, you’ll just keep stretching it. Perhaps you’ll take a 5 day trip, or dare take that very first international flight.

You may not want to see any new places without your kids, so you’ll start looking at every destination with eyes of possibility.

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When you started traveling, you probably already noticed many mindset shifts happening inside of you. We as travelers know how much travel can change and open our minds. Go from traveler to family traveler and you’ll get to experience a whole new set of mindset shifts, while feeling like the luckiest mom in the world.

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I’m Ana, a travel mom of 2 and with my kids I’ve visited more than 30 cities around the world. I fell in love with family travel in 2018, and I haven’t looked back ever since. You can read more about my family travel story here.