Swimming with Dolphins

For most of my life the idea of traveling with children never crossed my mind. It was something other people did, other people with kids. But not me.

Fast forward a few years, and all of a sudden the idea of family travel isn’t so strange. That’s mainly thanks to my 9-month son, Emmett. Now that he’s a part of my life I’ve already started planning trips we can take for the next 12 years or so, before he falls into those awkward teenage years and won’t be seen in public with his father.

As a new father, I’ve also started receiving questions about family travel from friends and colleagues who have kids of their own. So I’m creating a list of ‘Things to do with Kids’ and will add to it over the next few months. Feel free to share your suggestions, too, and I’ll make sure they get posted.

Things to do with Kids

1. One word: Disneyland. What kid doesn’t love the Magic Kingdom? Whether it’s Disneyland or Disney World or Disneyland Paris, treat your kids to the magic of Snow White, the Pirates of the Caribbean and a pair of mouse ears. If the kids want more thrills and spills, try Universal Studios or Six Flags Magic Mountain.
2. Lions, tigers, bears - oh my! Kids love animals, so why not take the kids on a zoo adventure. From the San Diego Zoo to the London Zoo to the Australia Zoo to the Singapore Zoo, your kids will be thrilled to pet a crocodile, meet a penguin and marvel at a shark.
3. Here’s another always-popular activity with kids: swimming with dolphins. This is a great adventure for young kids, especially, and something they’ll remember for a long time. Viator offers dolphin swims around the world, from Florida to Cancun, Mexico to New Zealand to the Dominican Republic to St Maarten.

4. Emmett’s first espresso, Rome

   I’ve never been to a Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. And I must admit — they sound a bit scary. Yet people assure me my dragon-fearing, knights-and-princess loving child will some day beg, plead and DEMAND to be taken to a medieval feast and joust. Ahh, the unexpected joys of parenting.

5. Don’t worry about where you go - just go! This may be the best advice of all. I did a test-run earlier this year with my son (then 6 months) and wife on a trip to Rome, Italy. Emmett probably will not remember his first trip abroad. But he’s already got a stamp in his passport, which made his travel-loving dad very proud.

Do you have a family travel idea of your own? Simply leave us a comment and we’ll post it.

-Scott McNeely

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Destinations, Family & Kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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