I recently took a trip to visit my family in China with my kids. Taking two young children across the world solo was quite the adventure, and the 20+ hour journey from the US to China felt like a marathon. Despite the challenges, it was incredibly rewarding for my kids to experience long travel hours, new places, and different cultures at an early age. They learned patience while standing in endless airport lines, developed empathy by seeing different ways of life, and built confidence by overcoming difficulties when things didn't go as planned.
My son, a picky eater, struggled to find food he liked during our China trip. At a remote hotel with primarily Asian cuisine, he resorted to eating chicken fingers from the same restaurant for three nights. Eventually, hunger led him to try cucumber sushi rolls for a change, which he ended up loving. Who knew desperation could be the best seasoning? This experience taught him that trying new things isn't always bad, even if he isn't a super adventurous eater yet. It showed him that new experiences can be positive, and I hope this will encourage him to try more new things in the future.
Last summer, we took a weeklong trip to the Grand Canyon and some other national parks in Arizona. It was blazing hot, and the car we picked up from the Las Vegas airport had an AC that barely worked. The kids, in their dramatic flair, repeatedly declared it "the worst day of my life." We ended up driving back to Vegas for a different car, setting us six hours behind schedule. Despite the setback, the trip turned out great. We still laugh about how swapping cars was the best decision ever as we would have melted otherwise. Now, we often reminisce about that day, reinforcing the lesson that "things happen, but everything will work out just fine."
We aim to take at least one adventurous family trip each year. It could be a 3-day camping trip in a remote place or a long overseas trip to China. It's so rewarding to hear my kids chanting nursery rhymes in Chinese after we came back and proudly sharing Chinese candies with their friends. It doesn’t matter where you go or what you do. The key is to provide opportunities for children to learn and grow through new experiences, building resilience and adaptability. And who knows, maybe they'll even try a cucumber sushi roll or two!
Claire