Travel is often framed as a luxury or a break from real life, but in this conversation we explore how it can be a powerful developmental tool for kids. Beyond sightseeing, travel becomes a classroom for empathy, adaptability, and connection. We talk about how exposure to new cultures, languages, and environments helps children grow socially and emotionally, even when trips don’t go as planned. The goal is not perfect itineraries, but meaningful experiences that stretch comfort zones and strengthen family bonds.

We also highlight how many of these lessons can happen with or without international travel. Curiosity about the world, honoring others’ needs, and learning to navigate discomfort are skills families can practice anywhere. Travel simply magnifies those opportunities, giving kids real-time chances to build resilience, perspective, and compassion.

What we discussed:

• Using travel as an opportunity for education and growth

• Building curiosity about other cultures and people

• Exposure to diversity through real-life experiences

• Learning empathy through cultural connection

• Creating global awareness even from home

• Turning curiosity into advocacy and compassion

• Practicing flexibility when plans fall apart

• Modeling calm problem-solving during stress

• Kids learning adaptability from unexpected setbacks

• Honoring individual needs within a group

• Taking turns and negotiating shared experiences

• Respecting parents’ and siblings’ preferences

• Practicing patience and compromise

• Learning to feel comfortable being different

• Building empathy for newcomers and outsiders

• Growing confidence in unfamiliar environments

• Prioritizing family connection over perfection

• Choosing time together as a core value

• Managing resources like time and energy intentionally

• Strengthening family identity through shared experiences

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00;00;00;03 – 00;00;21;01

Dr. Mona

Hey, it’s Doctor Mona and welcome to the follow up. Where we revisit a favorite parenting conversation on the PedsDocTalk podcast. In less time than it takes to plan a vacation itinerary for your family and second guess if it’s worth it. Today’s clip is all about traveling with kids and why those trips, big or small, they do not need to be extravagant.

 

00;00;21;03 – 00;00;44;13

Dr. Mona

Can shape how children see the world. Connect as a family and grow in ways that can go far beyond the destination. In this episode, I’m joined by Pretty Harbor Mama six, traveler and creator of local Passport Family. As we talk about what children really learn through travel, from flexibility to cultural awareness to family connection. I’m releasing this well because spring break is approaching, and maybe you’re planning that trip.

 

00;00;44;16 – 00;01;04;28

Dr. Mona

And to offer that perspective on what kids can learn from travel. If this conversation resonates with you, download the full episode. Subscribe to the show. Please don’t forget to do that. Share it with a friend who travels with kids and tag at the Pizza Talk podcast and at local Passport family so we can hear what travel has taught your family too.

 

00;01;05;05 – 00;01;11;13

Dr. Mona

Let’s get into it.

 

00;01;11;15 – 00;01;25;24

Dr. Mona

I’m talking about the developmental and emotional aspect of traveling, which I also love, which is skills that our kids can learn. So tell us more about where to start there and what are your tips and why you feel like traveling is so beneficial to children?

 

00;01;25;27 – 00;01;44;21

Preethi Harbuck

Absolutely. So something that is always been really important to me and something my husband and I have discussed from the very beginning as we started traveling with our children, is using travel as an opportunity for growth and education. Of course, we love seeing beautiful places around the world. We’d love exploring beaches and mountains and cities and, you know, all those fun things.

 

00;01;44;27 – 00;02;04;07

Preethi Harbuck

But at the end of the day, we want travel to be an opportunity for learning, for our family, for connection, for growth, and to push us into advocacy for others as well. So the first skill that we really hope that our children, and I hope your children as well learn from travel is openness and curiosity to other peoples and cultures.

 

00;02;04;14 – 00;02;22;12

Preethi Harbuck

We’d love taking your children around the globe because it helps them connect on an individual level with different peoples and places and cultures. You know they get to talk with others and learn from them and be in their homes and their cities. I feel like travel just makes it real in a way that can’t necessarily be when you’re learning from home.

 

00;02;22;12 – 00;02;42;04

Preethi Harbuck

I love when we have opportunities to learn from people and to connect with people from home as well. We do a lot of traveling through books, through other educational resources, through videos. I run a global children’s book club for families. It’s a virtual book club where we study different countries each month and read books about them. And I love doing things like that.

 

00;02;42;11 – 00;02;59;26

Preethi Harbuck

But being there in person, when you’re traveling is just such a unique experience, and it makes it so real and alive, especially for little ones. So I love that opportunity to foster that curiosity, to encourage them to think about how things are similar and different and why why it is that way.

 

00;02;59;28 – 00;03;14;17

Dr. Mona

And I love what you’re mentioning about exposure to culture. I know different families may have different abilities means, you know, you don’t have to go every month or anything like that, but even just saying, hey, look like once a year, this is going to be something really important for us to go somewhere new. And there’s so much benefit.

 

00;03;14;18 – 00;03;33;25

Dr. Mona

Like even myself and my husband, like what we learn, I think about Japan a lot, like Japan was one of the most culturally amazing countries that we visited. And we talk about how all the time that we just can’t wait to take our son back to Japan like the people, the food. You don’t always learn that from books and from TV shows and movies, and you learn some degree.

 

00;03;33;25 – 00;03;46;26

Dr. Mona

But when you’re with them and getting to talk to the locals and saying what are the struggles that you all are dealing with? Like, we’re really big on that. My husband and I, I know my children probably won’t do that, but it’s like, what are you all dealing with here? Like, what are the things that make you happy about living in Japan?

 

00;03;46;26 – 00;04;03;06

Dr. Mona

Rather things that are not like you just feel like you learn so much about how other peoples live and tolerance and acceptance for everyone you know. And it’s such a beautiful thing, and I’m so happy that your children do that. And I do believe that our children learn more about cultures and acceptance and diversity through that process.

 

00;04;03;07 – 00;04;24;13

Preethi Harbuck

That’s great. Absolutely. And that’s said that’s why I really try as much as I can to provide those opportunities. Even when people aren’t able to travel, it feels like an enormous privilege to have that opportunity. And so, as much as I can, I try to share, you know, click along videos or share about commendations and other opportunities to explore the globe right from home, because we can get so many of those opportunities.

 

00;04;24;13 – 00;04;48;12

Preethi Harbuck

And that’s a wonderful thing. With an internet connected world, we can even connect with people from across the globe right from our homes. And that’s such an incredible opportunity. And I hope that more than anything, we can take those insights, those opportunities to learn and convert them into advocacy. You know, we want to be loving and compassionate and inclusive, but at the end of the day, we need to take action based off of those things as well.

 

00;04;48;12 – 00;04;55;16

Preethi Harbuck

We need to convert that into actual advocacy to create more equitable situations. Communities, homes for everyone.

 

00;04;55;18 – 00;04;59;23

Dr. Mona

Yeah, I love it. That’s a great number one. What would be the other skill now?

 

00;04;59;26 – 00;05;20;15

Preethi Harbuck

Absolutely. So the second one is flexibility to change as travel just almost never goes as planned. You know, there’s always going to be some sort of wrench that gets thrown at either with flight schedules with, you know, our accommodations. When we were in our on our recent trip, we were in Tonga, we landed on the main island and we showed up and we thought we had our hotel booked.

 

00;05;20;15 – 00;05;38;15

Preethi Harbuck

They had confirmed multiple times, and we had two rooms there because we have a large family. We showed up. They had no reservation for us, so we’ll deal. We’ll just drive around to, you know, one of the other seven hotels on this island and try to find another hotel room. No big deal. So and we found a fair amount of practice with, you know, being flexible with things like that.

 

00;05;38;22 – 00;05;57;25

Preethi Harbuck

But then we drove around to the other seven hotels that all had zero availability. So we’re starting to think, like, are we going to have to sleep in our van tonight? We weren’t really sure what was going to happen. So we went back, talked to the first hotel. They had one room and were so kind to let us bring in, you know, an extra crib in there, bring in extra mattresses.

 

00;05;57;25 – 00;06;19;28

Preethi Harbuck

So we all squeezed in there and it wasn’t, you know, the ideal sleeping situation, but it was totally fun and great. And our kids were wonderful with it. And, you know, often I feel like our kids are more adaptable than we give them credit for. And travel allows all of us to flex those muscles. Maybe me especially, I tend to not be a very spontaneous person, so it’s good for me as well to practice having those opportunities to be flexible.

 

00;06;20;00 – 00;06;40;27

Dr. Mona

Same with me, I love it. My husband is way more flexible, one of the two of us, and so I feel like maybe that’s an important balance in marriage is our relationship, because one person we both can’t be like me or we both can’t be like him. For sure. Yeah, I love that. I love that your children made the most of it, and I’m sure it was a stressful moment or experience, but making the most of it is what parenting is really all about too.

 

00;06;40;27 – 00;06;51;26

Dr. Mona

Like saying it’s kind of sucks right now. We may not have somewhere to stay, but what are we going to do? Are we going to just be upset about it forever? Or are we just going to make the most of it like we do an outside of travel? You know, I love that.

 

00;06;51;28 – 00;07;06;12

Preethi Harbuck

Yeah. And I feel like it develops as problem solving skills as well. Like, you know, okay, are we just going to stay on the side of the road and sleep in the van overnight when it’s really hot and you have an outside and we can’t open the windows at night because, you know, we might get dengue fever or something.

 

00;07;06;14 – 00;07;15;08

Preethi Harbuck

Yeah. Or are we going to go back and try to figure out a solution? You know, I feel like witnessing those opportunities for problem solving can be really helpful as well.

 

00;07;15;08 – 00;07;20;07

Dr. Mona

Yeah. I mean, that modeling that they’re getting from you and your partner are so great. Like they’re seeing all of that happen in real time.

 

00;07;20;07 – 00;07;26;08

Preethi Harbuck

They’re remembering more of the modeling for like, problem solving and not just being really frustrated because.

 

00;07;26;10 – 00;07;34;02

Dr. Mona

Then they see how you deal with frustration. You’re like, that was annoying, but we’re going to do this is all human. Human, emotions. And in real time I love it.

 

00;07;34;02 – 00;07;54;06

Preethi Harbuck

That’s a great one. Awesome. So the third one that I was thinking of is honoring others needs as well as your own, you know, because obviously at home we try to create wonderful, safe circumstances for all of our children. We look at individual needs, you know, providing opportunities for sports and activities and good sleeping situations and all of that.

 

00;07;54;06 – 00;08;28;00

Preethi Harbuck

Yeah, and we try to do that while we’re traveling as well. But sometimes we need to again, be a little bit more flexible with honoring everybody’s needs. Sometimes some needs take precedence over others. You know, we might need to be, again, a little bit more flexible with the exact sleeping situation with knowing that, you know, my younger sibling cannot go on this big zip line, so we might need to take turns with mom and Dad instead of everyone going out together as a family, we might need to be a little bit adaptable in terms of who is staying and which hotel room, and who is sitting in which airplane seat, who gets a window seat.

 

00;08;28;01 – 00;08;51;15

Preethi Harbuck

You know, it provides a lot of opportunities to honor others needs as well, including parents. You know, we might be visiting a museum for a couple of hours, an art museum where it’s not my kid’s first preference, but it might be my first preference. And we all get to learn to enjoy things that other people enjoy. You know, even if it’s not our first pick, it allows us to look at other people’s interests and participate in that and be excited about that as well.

 

00;08;51;18 – 00;09;08;03

Dr. Mona

Yeah. So important. So great. So far. I love this, openness to culture, flexible to changes, honoring others needs. Such important, like you said, the whole conversation life skill so we can learn so much from just each other and also just the experience of traveling by all of this. What would be the fourth one?

 

00;09;08;05 – 00;09;27;15

Preethi Harbuck

So the fourth one is getting practice, feeling different. You know, a lot of times our kids are in comfortable situations and their schools where they speak the language in their homes, where, you know, they have their own space, they have their toys. You know, we try to help them feel like they are leaders in their own lives. They have ownership over their own lives.

 

00;09;27;18 – 00;09;56;01

Preethi Harbuck

Travel often feels different. You know, they’re in a new culture with new foods and often a new language. And I love that they get that opportunity to practice feeling different, to practice not feeling like everything is normal or familiar to them. You know, I hope that it helps build a little bit of empathy for so many people who move into different situations, who maybe move into our community with either fewer resources or who move in without comfort with language, who are experiencing new foods.

 

00;09;56;07 – 00;10;09;05

Preethi Harbuck

I hope that it helps them feel more confident and comfortable reaching out to others in their schools and our community to welcome them in, to help them feel comfortable, to help them know that they are included and meaningful and valued as well.

 

00;10;09;07 – 00;10;12;26

Dr. Mona

I love it. And one more to go, which will be the final one?

 

00;10;12;28 – 00;10;43;19

Preethi Harbuck

Absolutely. The final one is just prioritizing family and having, you know, there’s so many wonderful learning, educational growth opportunities in travel, but part of it is just having fun and connecting together as a family. And I hope our children learn that prioritizing family is something that is part of our family culture. That is something that’s important to us and we will put aside other purchases, put aside other activities and experiences, and favor, prioritizing our family and the growth that comes from connecting with each other.

 

00;10;43;19 – 00;11;06;21

Preethi Harbuck

And I hope they learned the skill of putting our family first and putting other people first. You know, putting humans first over staff over other things, you know, obviously, like and this is not to say that boys are bad or anything like that, you know, toys can be wonderful experiences and they can craft experiences, but more so to be choosy with what we prioritize in terms of our time and our resources.

 

00;11;06;27 – 00;11;35;26

Preethi Harbuck

I want them to learn the skill of considering their own personal resources, whether it’s time or money or, you know, mental capacity to support and determining where to apply that, whether it’s to family or to friends or to other activities, you know, learning how to manage those resources that we have, I feel like is such a valuable skill, and learning how to prioritize them for the maximum benefit.

 

00;11;35;29 – 00;11;57;07

Dr. Mona

And that’s your follow up. Just a small dose of the real, relatable and eye opening conversations we love to have here. If you smiled, nodded, or had an moment, go ahead and download, follow and share this episode with a friend. Let’s grow this village together for more everyday parenting wins and real talk. Hang out with us on Instagram at the PedsDocTalk podcast.

 

00;11;57;14 – 00;12;12;28

Dr. Mona

Want more? Dive into the full episode and more at PedsDocTalk.com. Because parenting is better with support. And remember, consistency is key. Humor is medicine and follow ups are everything. I’m Doctor Mona. See you next time for your next dose.