Family Travel Prep Tips

Family Travel Prep

Besides buying plane tickets, what do you need to do to prepare your kids for their first trip overseas? In this post, I discuss ways to

• get them excited about the trip
• prepare for culture shock
• catch a sneak preview of your destination

Get excited

Are you excited about the trip? Talk it up with your kids. They can tell if you’re dreading it. If you approach this adventure with the same enthusiasm that you have for a root canal, they will sense it. If that’s your perspective, it’s better not to go. On the other hand, if you’re excited, talk about it. When do you talk about it? Anytime. In the car. At dinner. Shopping for clothes. The key is to weave it into the conversation with open-ended questions. If you’re at dinner, ask, “What do you think we’ll eat when we go to . . .?”

Ask what they’re looking forward to about the trip. Ask what they are concerned about. Find out the answers to their questions. Even better, help them to find the answers themselves.

Culture shock

Culture shock is the disconnect between what you expect and what you experience when entering another culture. We all bring pre-conceived notions into situations. These pre-conceived notions serve as mental shortcuts to help us navigate social interactions and other experiences.

When dealing with another culture, these shortcuts don’t work. It can be as simple as having to look right instead of left before crossing the street because the country has left hand traffic. It can be more complex, like signs and menus in an alphabet that you can’t read. Your brain stares at the sign, expecting it to make sense but it doesn’t. Then frustration sets in.

Culture shock is going to happen. The important thing to realize and to share with your kids is that this is normal. With older kids and teenagers, this can start with a discussion of culture shock like the one above. With younger kids, you’ll have to simplify it a lot.

The gut reaction of a lot of people when they encounter these difficulties is, “why can’t they just do it like we do it at home?” If this comes up, it’s good to remind your family that you are visitors in the foreign country. They do things this way because it works for them. It’s not that one way or the other is correct – they’re just different.

Catch a sneak preview

Want to give everyone a sneak preview of your destination? Most travel guides have suggestions for books to read before your trip for adults. Some have recommendations for kids as well. Incorporate those books into their normal reading so it doesn’t seem like extra work.

Watch a movie about the destination, or a TV show about the place or the local food. There are even a few shows that chronicle family travel adventures, such as Big Crazy Family Adventure. These shows give a sense of the place and usually give a sense of some of the culture shock issues that you’ll encounter as well. This won’t eliminate the disorientation, but it will help set expectations and it will reinforce that it is a normal reaction.

Visit an Ethnic Enclave

In sociology, an ethnic enclave is an area with a high concentration of a particular ethnicity. You’re probably more familiar with the terms Little Italy, Chinatown, or Little India. If you have one of these neighborhoods nearby, take time to visit on a weekend and roam around. You’ll get a small exposure to the sights, sounds, and smells that you’ll encounter on your journey. Depending on the size of the neighborhood, it might be a large exposure. There’s a non-comprehensive list of ethnic enclaves in North American cities on Wikipedia.

Do you have a tip for family travel prep? Share it in the comments below.