Traveling With Kids | What the Kids Say
by Jennifer Cooper, posted on January 24th, 2013 in Traveling With Kids
Over the last 6 months I’ve had so much fun writing these travel columns. I’ve shared our travel experiences from Japan, Quebec, Holland, China and Belgium. I wrote about our night sleeping in a barn with goats in Switzerland. I also wrote about culturally preparing our kids before a trip, house swaps, travel disasters, packing for a flight and keeping traveling as affordable as possible.
But considering this column is called Traveling With Kids I thought it was time to talk to actual kids about their experiences and views on traveling. My kids to be exact. When I approached my three children and explained about the interview they were all really excited. I’ll admit it was a bit difficult at the beginning to get past the one word answers but as soon as they were comfortable and knew what it was all about some really great stories and observations came out. My son Nico sort of wandered off every now and then during the interview so he didn’t end up answering all the questions. But the ones he did make me giggle. It’s fun to hear the things they remember about a trip and how different they are than our memories. Kids are funny little being sometimes. And I’m sure you’ll be able to tell from this interview who my picky eater is.
Do you like to travel?
Nico: Oh yes! I love going on the airplane so much. You each get your own television and on our way to Japan we watched movies for 14 hours straight. Mama slept most of the time, papa read books and we didn’t even turn off our screens!
Chloe: I love to travel because we get to visit new countries and cultures. That’s fun because you get to see how people live so differently than us.
Eva: Me too, I love to travel. I love to see new places, learn new languages and try all sorts of new foods.
What’s your favourite part of traveling?
Chloe: My favourite part is visiting friends, museums, temples and parks. I love making new friends in different countries too.
Eva: The food! And seeing how people live and dress differently from us. In Japan I saw women who dressed up as dolls! I think they were called Harajuku girls.
What’s your least favourite part about traveling?
Chloe: The plane, because I sometimes feel sick and I get bored. I also don’t always like the food in other countries. In China we ate catfish and it really wasn’t delicious. Do you remember that catfish meal Mama? Even you thought it was awful!
Eva: I don’t like getting earaches in the airplane and I sometimes find it difficult when I can’t understand what people are saying or I can’t read the signs.
What is your earliest traveling memory?
Nico: I remember running through bright green rice fields in China with a slingshot that I bought from an old lady at the top of a mountain! It was raining and then we saw a pig being killed for dinner in the street.
Chloe: I remember we went and celebrated Halloween in Canada when I was really little. Nico was dressed up like a pumpkin and he was so sweet.
Eva: I have a lot of memories from looking at photos but the one I really remember is going up a mountain in Switzerland in a gondola. I think I was about 3 or 4 years old. It was so hot in that little gondola!
Where do you want to travel to in the future?
Nico: I want to go to Okinawa Island and learn karate. I’d also like to visit Africa and see all those beautiful animals. And I really want to go to Egypt so I can visit the Pyramids and the mummies.
Chloe: I want to visit New York because people, especially you Mama, say there is no other city like it on earth. I also want to visit Greece because my friend goes there and because we learn about it a lot in school. And of course a safari in Africa would be fun.
Eva: I’d like to visit Mexico because it just seems so fun and happy there. And I’d love to visit all the temples in Greece and try Greek food. I’d also like to return to China and Japan because there are still so many places we didn’t get to visit.
Do you have a favourite souvenir from one of your trips?
Nico: In China I bought a handmade slingshot and it was so nice. Then in the airport the man behind the counter took it away from me. I cried because I was so sad he took it and put it in the garbage.
Chloe: When we were in Berlin we visited the Lego Museum and bought lunchboxes that looked like big pieces of Lego. We used those for many many years. And in Japan a friend’s father gave us real kimonos. They are so beautiful and he showed us the correct way to put them on.
Eva: My favourite souvenir from a trip was when we went on vacation to France and bought blue eggs from an Araucana chicken! They were fertilized eggs and we took them home and put them in an incubator. A few weeks later our sweet chick Petunia Peep was born.
Do you have a funny travel story to tell?
Nico: In China we met a really old woman without teeth and she wanted my Papa to kiss her on the mouth! I don’t think he did though.
Chloe: When we were rafting down a river in China Eva accidentally fell in the water and that was really funny for us (not her!). And when we were sleeping in the hay in a Swiss barn it was so funny to hear all the goats snoring and sneezing all night!
Eva: I have a really funny story. In Japan, Nico went to use toilet in a pastry shop and after playing with all the buttons on the computerized toilet he got soaked. My mama went in to get him and there was water spraying in all directions from the toilet. All the ladies in the shop were giggling behind the counter when Nico came out with wet hair and clothing. I think he was quite embarrassed.
Any advice for other kids who are going to travel?
Nico: Ask your parents for souvenir money as soon as you arrive in a new place.
Chloe: Be careful of strange foods! Don’t order catfish in China!
Eva: Bring lots of books for the long train rides or times when you have to wait. It’s also a good idea to take a little dictionary to countries with a different language .And make sure you visit lots of playgrounds because they are always so different in other countries.
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Jillian in Italy Reply:
January 25th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
I’m thinking there will be a Traveling With Kids column on Nova Scotia very soon…
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