Beth Conway of Adventure Life is going to focus on family adventure vacations in her Q&A.
Beth recently wrote an article for this website on Traveling With Children – Five Proven Tips For Success, so I thought she would be the perfect person to discuss the topic on family adventure travel experiences.
ATM: First of all, what makes family adventure travel vacations so special for you?
Beth: There are two things in particular that I cherish about the adventures with my family: 1) the incomparable opportunities it presents to instill curiosity in my kids, encouraging them to learn more about the world around them and 2) playtime.
I’ve been blessed to visit some incredible places – starting with my own childhood travel experiences.
We didn’t have the biggest budget to burn, but that didn’t stop my parents from piling my sisters and me into the car, and toting us from Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between.
But rarely is it the details of the destination that I reflect on; it didn’t necessarily matter the places we saw. Rather, it was the way my parents showed these places to us with energy, curiosity and an ongoing pursuit of adventure.
I’ve learned that good adventure travel is not about seeing the sites – it’s about touching, tasting, talking with locals and trying something new. And it’s about having handstand contests with your tweenager on the beaches of Costa Rica. It’s about playing Mad Libs on a train to Machu Picchu. It’s bringing out a map and letting your five-year-old choose the next destination (that’s how we ended up on our road-trip to Kentucky).
I even don’t mind a disaster or two, like the 8-hour off-road trip we did outside of Zion that left us all car sick. It’s true what they say about looking back and laughing – and yes, we’ll also remember that we never want to do that again.
This is the way I remember traveling with my parents, and this is how I try to travel with my kids today. We get dirty, we get silly and we do it together.
What are some of the things your kids look for most on family adventure vacations?
My kids? Hands down, a place to swim. Pool, lake, river, ocean — no matter how murky, how chilly or how small, if there is a place where my kids can get wet, the adventure travel vacation is a hit. I have no problem shelling out a little extra for accommodations near or with swimming facilities. For my kids, it is their favorite way to end the day.
You work in the adventure travel industry. What does your experience tell you when it comes to the most popular activities for family travel adventures?
For kids of all ages, wildlife encounters seem to top the list. Some of our most popular family adventure travel trips are Costa Rica, Galapagos and the Amazon. While they are very different regions offering very different experiences, the constant in these three is the chances to view wildlife in the WILD. For older kids, zip-lines, rafting and snorkeling are always a big hit as well.
Are there any activities – or types of adventures – that you would recommend family adventure seekers avoid?
Be cautious when it comes to remote trekking trips. For many hiking trips your own-two-feet are your only mode of transportation – and the only way in, is the only way out. If you are on a ten-hour hike in and suddenly your child calls it quits, that’s at least another ten more hours of misery to endure.
A lot of outfitters have age limits of 12 to 14 for trekking trips, and this is for good reason. Even with older kids, if they are not familiar with long hikes and camping, you might want to start off easy with a few day hikes.
How do your children do with transfer time? If you know your children can barely handle that 3-hour car ride to grandma’s house, a 23-hour flight to Australia might be a complete disaster. Put if off until they are old enough to sleep soundly, and entertain themselves, on an airplane.
I’m sure people have different opinions on this, but where would you draw the line when it comes to the minimum age for children regarding family adventure travel vacations?
Unfortunately, this is almost an impossible question to answer, since there is no such thing as the cookie-cutter kid. Some kids are just more engineered than others for adventure travel. I’ve strapped my two-year-old into a carrier and scaled the Rockies while her brother, at the same age, could barely make it through a single night of camping in our urban backyard.
Typically age 6 is the recommended minimum for soft adventure travel. It has a lot to do with the child’s ability & stamina, which equates with safety. Adventure travel is essentially synonymous with active travel, and quite simply there are limitations to what a two-year-old can do verses what a six-year-old can do.
You can also reason with a six-year-old – This is going to be a pretty long train ride, but let’s take a nap, and as soon as we get there we’ll jump in the pool. They understand when you tell them – If we want to see a monkey we have to use our quiet voices. A toddler? Not so much.
If money wasn’t an issue, what would be your plan for the perfect adventure family vacation?
For my family – kids ages 2, 5, & 13 – I would spend about 10 days at an eco-lodge on the Galapagos. Here’s why:
1. Location: The chance to interact with legendary wildlife, coupled with the invaluable educational opportunities from the islands that have played such an important role in Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. There is just no comparison. Imagine describing to your kids that you are getting ready to visit a place with giants and dragons. It’s like a fairy-tale. And snorkeling with seal lions? My tweenager would eat it up! The Galapagos is definitely a place that lives up to all its hype.
2. 10-Days: For my family, when we take an adventure trip, 10 days seems to be the magic number. It allows just enough time to fit in some great adventure time and relax into a new schedule (to get into the groove of the vacation before the kids and adults start to yearn for the comforts and familiarity of home). A week is always a hair too short, especially when traveling far distances where vacation days are eaten up by transfer times. And two-weeks gets a little long for us. The young ones start longing for their familiar schedule and bed and the older ones start longing for her friends. With kids my age 10-days is our perfect fit.
3. Accommodations: Sticking to an itinerary that has a consistent home-base, and doesn’t require a lot of transferring from A to B, is always easier on the kids. When I travel with the kids, , I always look for a good place to “plant” that has access to daily awesome adventures.
Okay, what if money was an issue? What tips do you have for families on a tight budget?
Seek out those accommodations and packages that offer child discounts. There are plenty out there. Operators offer group discounts, triple-room rates and special family-departure deals. Also, keep an eye out for off-season rates, early booking discounts and last-minute steals.
How do you find these discounts? Subscribe to newsletters or look to the world of social media. Operators, hotels, airlines all LOVE to feature great discounts in their newsletters. They offer contests on their Facebook pages, and promote high-value options, so become part of their communities.
If you fall in love with a trip and don’t see the deal you want then pick up the phone and call the outfitter or the hotel and ask about family adventure travel specials or group rates. Even if there is not one available for exactly what you have in mind, they many have another option that is equally fitting. Be proactive.
Also, don’t be afraid to keep it close to home. A family adventure travel trip does not mean a passport needs to be involved. Pick up a local guide book for your state – you’ll be surprised at how many things you haven’t done and don’t know about your own backyard.
A hurdle for family trips is that travel-dates are usually dictated by school schedules, so it maybe challenging to take advantage of specific specials like off-season rates. With that said, (now I may step on a few toes here, but hear me out) I think it is okay to pull children out of school for a family trip, but with a few caveats.
For example, I traveled with my 12-year-old to Costa Rica last fall and pulled her out for a handful of days. In exchange, she created a project for her Social Studies class that included a journal of her trip and slide show of her travels. There are life-lessons and quite frankly, precious experiences, unique to family travel.
Are there any big DOs and DON’Ts for an adventure family vacation that comes to mind?
Don’t assume one size fits all.
I have three kids with three very different personalities: one with particulars, one who goes-with-the-flow, and one thrill seeker. This always makes for interesting dynamics. I have long ago learned that you DON’T have to do everything together.
When we travel as a family it is very typical for my husband and me to split up, and split up the kids. I’ve spent a handful of afternoons chilling at the beach with the younger kids, while my husband takes the older rafting, hiking, canyoneering…. and vice versa, of course.
Do keep in mind that kids and grown-ups get tired.
You might not need — or have time to — schedule in a nap during your travels, but do schedule some down time. In our family a “go, go, go” itinerary has always ended up with someone in tears (yours truly included). Which leads me to…
Do find a good place to plant.
As I mentioned earlier, choosing an itinerary that doesn’t require you to do a lot of moving from A to B night after night helps a lot with fatigue.
Do be cool.
It may rain. It may snow. Your suitcase may get lost. Your planned itinerary maybe interrupted by force majeure. The point is stuff happens. And if ever there was a time to go with the flow, a family adventure it is.
Anxiety and negativity are infectious, especially in a family. So lead by example, and when the unexpected happens, keep you cool and so will your kids.
Do plan and prepare for your adventure travel trip together.
Include the kids in the decision-making process. Show pictures, talk about what you are hoping to experience, and don’t forget to discuss some of the challenges you might encounter such as people who don’t speak their language, strange foods, long walks, unscheduled time, etc. Encourage children to read books and/or watch films before the trip. Help your children think up questions that they would like to ask while they are there.
Do bring snacks.
When it comes to mealtime, I always encourage my kids to explore something new on the menu. This is especially true when the menu is associated with the local culture. But I always come prepared with plenty of trail-mix, energy bars, or a small jar of peanut butter. Hungry equals cranky; best to be avoided.
Do double-check your documents.
If you are a solo parent traveling with a child, many governments enforce specific rules at entry/exit points that often require notarized documentary evidence of relationship and permission for a child to travel from the parent(s) or guardian not present. So come prepared. Also, remember that passports expire a lot earlier for children than they do adults. Children passports expire after five years.
Beth Conway is the Marketing Director at Adventure Life; an award-winning adventure travel operator that specializes in Latin America and expedition voyages around the world. Beth’s travels have taken her from the glaciers of Alaska to the icebergs of Antarctica,with more than a few stops in between.
Life experiences and countless travels make her a specialist in adventure travel in the Americas, while her three kids require she knows a thing or two about family travel. Next on her horizon is a sea-kayaking trip through the remote Amazon basin.
For more information you can contact Adventure Life at 1-800-344-6118 or check out www.Adventure Life .com or email them at trip.center@ adventure life .com