When you travel with kids, where do you go?
In our family, as we travel with kids, we intentionally seek out the old and the new, keeping in mind that we should maximize their learning experience.
Homeschooling in Bacolod
As part of our homeschooling in Bacolod efforts, my husband and I have always allocated time and budget for travelling with our kids, whether just a road trip around the province, a trip to another city, and now, we have started going on overseas trips.
Ever since Dindin was one year old, we brought her with us all over. Part of the reason is because we don’t have a babysitter to leave her with. And we just take every opportunity as a learning opportunity, both for her and for us. When we attend events, she also comes with us.
For example, relatives would get married either in Manila, Cebu, or in Mindanao, we bring Dindin with us and make sure that we extend our stay for a few days so that we can see places and experience things, other than just attend the wedding. It’s hitting two birds with one stone. Now that we have two daughters, travel with kids is very much our reality.
Reason for Traveling
Our reason for traveling is to open our kids’ eyes to the world around us. There is so much to discover and explore and we live with the adage that “The world is our classroom.” It also helps us to see our children in different ways, like how they cope with traveling, new environments, trying out foods, and meeting people.
Traveling also makes us learn about ourselves as parents, how we deal with our children especially in difficult situations, and how we are as a couple.
So as long as we can, the travel with kids part is always going to be a part of their growing up years.
OLD and NEW
Whenever we travel with kids, we shy away from shopping malls and factory outlets. My husband and I are not shoppers beyond our needs, as we live simply. Plus, the kids just enjoy window shopping. They do not usually ask us to buy stuff for them.
So when we travel, we like seeing old and new things. What do we mean by that?
Old refers to culture and heritage of a certain place. We try to look for a museum or a tourist spot with a historical significance and explain these to the kids, in the manner that they understand.
For example, when we were in Cebu one time, all our relatives wanted to go to S & R to shop while we went to the Taoist Temple. In Manila, while the rest of the relatives went shopping in Divisoria or 168, we went to Luneta and the Museo Pambata.
Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong Disneyland
So just recently, we just came home from a 7-day tour of Hong Kong and Macau. Of course, Hong Kong Disneyland was part of our itinerary. In fact, we got the two-day pass so that we can truly enjoy the park and finish the attractions and have photos with the characters that are available.
(Book your Hong Kong Disneyland tickets here: Hong Kong Disneyland Ticket – Klook Travel). After all, the kids are kids and they love Disney movies and characters! They even went in full costumes. Yes to travel with kids in costumes!
Ping Shan Heritage Trail
But aside from these theme parks, we hiked the long walk at the Ping Shan Heritage Trail to see the older side of Hong Kong. It’s like a walk around the heritage houses of Silay City here in Negros Occidental. We got to see old temples and houses, like the Tang Ancestral House of the Tang Family in Ping Shan. They also got to play in the park and the playgrounds.
Museums
We freed up our Wednesday because that means we’re gonna get free passes at the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of History. Yes, they are free every Wednesday only, for both locals and tourists. There we saw how extensive Chinese, specifically Hong Kong archaeology is. Too bad, we didn’t have much time to study everything.
If you have geeky kids like ours, it is best to set aside at least half a day for each museum. Three hours was not enough for the science museum, as we had to move to the history museum and spent two hours there. Still, there was one more area that we were not able to explore because of lack of time and we also had to stop and eat.
Modes of Transportation
The kids also got to try different modes of transportation. We hopped on the LRT, the MTR, the small and the double decker buses, a ferry, and also the cable car. They quickly adapted to how different life is in Hong Kong.
Oh, I think by this time, you have realized that we did not get a guided tour package. We explored Hong Kong on our own, so they also experienced getting lost and being late.
Ocean Park Hong Kong
Another stop that we usually include is the zoo when we travel with kids. If there is a zoo in the area, we will really try to sneak a visit into our schedule. The kids have learned about a lot of animals through the years but it is a different experience if you see them up close.
When we went to Ocean Park Hong Kong, the kids enjoyed the attractions and Dindin especially appreciated the marine exhibits that teach about conserving the oceans. She would tell us afterwards what she had learned after reading the information on the exhibits. Yes, we don’t just stop for pictures, we read.
The little one, meanwhile, just enjoyed being surrounded by fish, starfish, jellyfish, and other marine animals. The Panda exhibit was also another experience for them. The red panda, for example, was a featured animal in the animated movie, Barbie the Island Princess. Personally, I honestly thought it was not a real animal and was just created for the movie. So it was an educational time for both parents and children at the Ocean Park.
Balance of the Old and New
So that’s it. For every trip, we try to balance the old and the new as we travel with kids, to try different things, see new places, and appreciate how the civilization of the past worked. We try to visit at least one theme park and one museum, because that’s where you learn about the culture of the place.
That’s how we educate our children.
To travel with kids part of our homeschooling. Apart from their classroom lessons, we try to show them the world as much as we can afford it.
I would have to agree. There are a lot of things to learn outside the four walls of the classroom. Thus, I believe that traveling is one of the things that every homeschooler should consider for their children.
Where’s your next destination? Looking forward to your future posts.
Just somewhere in Asia. It really depends on how much the kids have saved for their travel plans. haha But of course, that doesn’t stop them from aiming for Australia, London, and the US.
The world is our classroom indeed. Even as an adult, it felt like I was in a social studies class during the whole trip. I got to see the culture and observe the values of the Hong Kongers. We were able to comprehend better what their government is like. Our host was a fellow Filipino who have observed the locals for 20 years. He shared to us some interesting things about the Hong Kong people…and even point out the difference between the locals and the mainlanders. Well, there is more to learn there actually. There are a lot of questions that needs answered. But these are things we never found in any social studies textbooks. The kids though do not have the skills, abilities, maturity and instincts to observe these things yet. But these also help us realize as homeschooling parents how to guide the kids with questions on our next trip.
I think travelling with kids is neat. I’ve seen some parents who basically put away their travel plans cos they think their kids won’t appreciate it as they’re still young. That said, I think kids who have been travelling from a young age learn to develop worldly skills and an appreciation for different cultures!
I agree. For me, it just depends on how inconvenient it would be to bring kids. Otherwise, we love bringing them around. I feel kind of incomplete if I am going on tour without the family. 😀
Travelling with kids must be such an amazing experience, because they make you see the world through their eyes and it’s like living a trip in the trip!
I get what you mean! haha Each family trip that we have is an amazing experience that’s so different from the previous one.
I love that you take adventures traveling and you do so with your kids. I really would love to take my daughter more. I think there are so many things you can do and learn while traveling you cannot do any other way.
I agree. The only thing hindering us is budget, of course. hahaha If not, we would be taking monthly family trips! 😀
Love this! Not only do I love that you homeschool, but I think it is so cool and so important that you make a point not to go to shopping centers and such with the kids! Also, if you go out with your kids and they don’t ask you to buy them something, I think that actually makes you Parents of the Year! 🙂 Keep doing what you’re doing!
Awww thank you Sam! 😀
Although I did not homeschool my children, we did make it a point to take them to places where there was something to be learned. My children’s favorite places to visit were and even as adults now still are museums and aquariums. ?
I just came back from Disney in Orlando, Florida in the U.S. And I agree that whenever we tour, we should definitely add an educational part to our travel plans. We just happened to stumble on a dinosaur theme restaurant and my kids loved learning about dinosaurs.
Is that Dinosaur themed restaurant also in Disneyworld? That’s awesome!
Great article! This is right in line with my thinking. We try to do the same thing balancing old and new: Our trip to Japan was similar to your Hong Kong trip in that we toured shrines and temples, and also went to Tokyo DisneySea and Studio Ghibli Museum. As you wrote, kids are always learning on a trip…about themselves, and family, but also about different architecture, art, culture, currency, language (the list could go on and on).
Oh wow! What a lovely trip to Japan! Would like to travel there someday with the kids, too. They have a kids’ book on Japan and they are trying to learn the language as well. haha These kids. <3
I think it’s so good that you want to show your children more of the world and are prepared to take them with you. The old vs new is good as well as you get to see more of the genuine place as opposed to just the tourism x
This looks like such a great adventure for families to enjoy. I think its admirable that you are showing your children much history and exciting places in this big world we live in!
Each family trip has some of the best experiences with it. Sounds you had great fun. Your kids are so adorable… little one looks like a munchkin <3
Traveling is so importat for us, for our kids and for our society! Lucky you that you have two beautiful daughters, I think traveling with a boy is a bit more complicated. They are such rascals! 🙂
hahahaha I couldn’t relate about having a son. Though our little girl is quite a handful, too. haha
It’a great to see kids travel. My kids have motion sickness all throughout their childhood so we didn’t travel a lot. But when we do, we also look for the old as well. Me and my boys don’t like shopping and crowded places. I love seeing Dindin and Shane in their travel photos.
Oh, I super love this post!❤️ Yes, children learn a lot outdoors, more than what they can study inside the classroom. It is our dream to also travel as a family and explore other places. After our recent trip to Boracay with hubby, we made plans of bringing the kids there, too.? I hope it’ll happen within this year. The kids will surely love a family trip!❤️
Seeing Dindin and Shane photos, I can clearly say that they had a great time. Kids learn a lot outdoors. Experience is the best teacher. Let them explore and discover new places. I think family trips are still the best.
Pangarap ko ito Hongkong Disney Land,masaya magtravel talaga mommy lmao na sa mga kids dahil makikita nila ang kagandahan ng paligid at nagiging relax ang kanilang isipan Lalo na nakulong sila ng ilang taon dahil s pandemic
Wow this is the best moment we surely treasure ang makasama ang mga kids to travel at have some learning experience like this na alamin ang ibat ibang culture at history ng lugar.The best quality time is family travel family bonding