BootsnAll Travel Community

As talked about in this WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1177109077401773...mod=tff_main_tff_top

I'm conflicted. I'm glad people are travelling, seeing the world, especially kids. But I don't know what to think of "Disney does the Mayan People: Now with Pizza Party!"

And it sounds like for many of these parents, it's a chance to brag and one-up the other parents instead of genuine curiosity? Does the world really seem so different if you're hopping around it in Marriotts?

That's an interesting article. I don't have kids but I have opinions!

I think it's cool that parents widen their kids' horizons by traveling overseas and to more unusual destinations. I guess my inner cynic thinks that there are enough negative or at least apathetic views on international travel in the US (and I'm from the US)that it doesn't surprise me that the article finds a bone to pick with parents who take their kids overseas. I didn't spend ages with the article but I also wonder if their definition of what constitute adventure travel is not the same as that of many on these boards.

Maybe some parents are trying to one-up others - but so are lots of travelers in general, wherever they go! Certainly it's not good to put your kids' safety at risk to be "cool", but I'm not convinced that that's the overwhelming motivation of parents who take their kids on such trips.

Is bicycling in Thailand really an "extreme experience"? Is it bad that kids are interested in visiting places outside western Europe? I suppose there's more to it than my opinion but I don't think so.

I found the article an interesting read and agree with KateL57 that many parents are motivated by more than outdoing the neighbours.

For us, it was more about expanding our horizons and our kids horizons by exposing ourselves to other cultures and sharing our love of travel with them. We want our kids to be tolerant and understand the problems the world is facing. We also want them to learn to be resourceful and live with less. We certainly haven't been doing Disney Tour packages. We've been living on a tight budget and trying to understand the way people live wherever we visit. We hope that having these experiences at such a young age will help shape their views of the world as they grow up. Kids that spend all their vacations on a beach in Florida don't gain any appreciation for what's really out there.

Yeah, I think that's why I felt disappointed in the article - they COULD have talked about the way some parents scrimp and save, and try to provide their children with a more direct experience, brushing up on language and customs. Not staying at Marriotts around the world, but in hostels, B and Bs, rentals, budget hotels. Eating street food. Trying to meet locals, volunteering, or just trying to live everyday life instead of signing up for expensive packages.

Instead, they made it sound like world travel is something for the rich and snobby. Too bad. Although, it WAS written for the WSJ, so maybe we're not the target audience.