How travel can broaden a child’s horizons

The importance of introducing new places to your children.

“One travels to change. Not place, but ideas.” This well-known French saying condenses, in just a few words, the essence of travel. Through travelling people learn how to think differently, how to keep their horizons open, how to feel free. This is perhaps why it’s so important for children to be exposed to the magic of travelling from an early age. And in fact, the earlier, the better, given that a person's character is already formed in the first years of life.

 

How can travelling affect a child and what can they learn from it?

To accept/respect what is different

When young people visit other countries they soon begin realize how big and diverse the world is, as they have the opportunity to get to know other peoples, cultures, living conditions and customs and eventually become familiar with the concept of diversity.

To see for themselves that the finest things in life are not things

Nowadays children often associate happiness with material goods, such as toys, video games, clothes, mobile phones, etc., neglecting the fact that happiness is hidden in moments, such as the first trip by ship or plane, visiting the places where their parents grew up, contact with nature, songs or games in the car, etc. These are the moments they’ll always remember, no matter how many years go by, and the ones which will shape the people they’ll become.

How to expand your children’s horizons during a trip

To expand their imagination

Travel can "unlock" a child's imagination and creativity through the new images and conditions they're exposed to. The new limits that they’ll discover will certainly expand the limits of their imagination.

To adapt easily

A trip, may not always be pleasant; it can also be tiring or bear surprises. It is through these kinds of experiences and the way they are handled that the child can learn how to adapt to various conditions, whatever they may be, a skill that will be especially useful in their adult life, when they may have to face challenges or emergencies in unfamiliar environments.

 

The host of novel stimuli children are exposed to while travelling are sure to shape their thoughts and personality. Travelling helps them think differently broadening their horizons and, thus, helping them "build" their personality.

So, if you’re a parent, grab any opportunity that comes your way for short getaways from everyday life, keeping in mind that in this way you’re shaping characters and the people of tomorrow. 

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