03 Aug 6 Reasons Why Slow Travel IS Education!

We are the lucky parents of three beautiful and healthy kids. By pure observation it is beautiful to discover that every kid is different and have a different type of personality.  Metaphorically speaking, we are gardeners and  our goal is to find the proper medium for every flower to flourish unconstrained by the environment. We also focus on what is the best form of development for every flower to became self conscience of itself. After long, stressed years of research we‘ve found the recipe:  Love, Support and Travel!!!!  Don’t skip our top 6 reasons on why slow travel is education!

1. Traveling with kids as a way of living gives them the opportunity to become multilingual

After more than six months into a place you will start to understand that language and you will not forget it.  Kids develop naturally, the ability to understand and speak different languages. It is cool to understand words in Quechua,  to be able to say Hallo and Goodbye in Greek, to speak Portuguese, Spanish, English and Romanian at the age of 9! This is also possible being educated in  the traditional schools through traditional-linear inputed knowledge, but it will force the kid, don’t you think? Imagine, after at least 4 hours in school, your kid has to join English classes, Spanish classes, Portuguese classes, ballet, hip-hop, horse-riding, football or karate!!! Let’s go further with imagination, and hope that your family has one kid, but with 2, 3 or more, life becomes unbearable and you realize that your kids don’t have time to just…. play!!!

2.  Traveling with kids offers an immersion into other cultures and  into the history of the place

We expose our children to different ethnic groups around the world and this opens up their perspective about life. They start to appreciate the cultural diversity, the customs, the language, religion, and the local cuisine of every country. They also learn how to comfortably interact with other people and to develop their curiosity and ability to question things. If you want to understand what another culture is you have to experience it first-hand with open heart and nonjudgemental perspective! Most often, what we learn about history through text books is deviated from reality…..that’s why you have to explore the cities, visit museums, archaeological sites, galleries. This way the entire nation’s history comes out right in front of you!

3. Traveling with kids will challenge you to be present all the time

Education isn’t just about knowledge and facts. Being in a new place with different surroundings and out of your  daily routine takes you out from your comfort zone! This forces you to adapt to different situations! You can get lost, or have difficulty in communicate with other people, you can miss flights or you have to cook with minimum cooking ustensils!! No professor, no textbook, no exam  and no school can educate you on personal details about yourself. Actually, just one single school could do this: School of Life and this happens just on the road!!!

4. Traveling with kids strengthen our family bounding

Sharing time together creates memories for a lifetime!
I remember,  all our dinners in the caravan while we were traveling through Europe. In that tiny space, at the light of the candles we shared our dreams or funny memories of the trips we’ve done. With the time we cried less and we laughed more!  Family trips, anywhere in the world, will show you the meaning of love. Spending time with parents and siblings overpowers anything else and creates strong emotional bounds.
“Family” becomes a state of mind!

5. Traveling with kids expand the way you perceive life

Traveling makes kids realize that in spite of all the differences, we are all the same deep down in our hearts!
Slow traveling with kids helps them making friends worldwide and approach friendship from another perspective. All the prejudices based on race, color and nationality will subside. Visiting the Andean high communities helped us feel grateful and appreciate  the circumstances we live in. You can not imagine how harsh conditions young children face everyday. With time, you became more humble and more human in understanding the problems of the world. By comparison, your problems it will not seem so big, after all!!

6. Traveling with kids makes them curious about their own culture

“ Mom, do we have  Carnavalessco  ( Carnaval  held in February in Pisac, Peru) in our country?” or ”Dad, our Romanian traditional clothes are as much colorful as Peruvian’s clothes? Do Romanians still wear them?”, “ Mom, is this a cemetery? Why the graves don’t look like the graves in Romania?“ All these questions requires very informed answers! We searched the internet and what we remembered from school (almost nothing) and we learn with the kids about beautiful places and customs in Romania, about Merry Cemetery, Sapanta Village, Maramures, Dobrogea or Black Sea and its secret places . We  became so appreciative, respectful and in love with our country that we promise to ourselves, one day, we’ll visit all this incredible places!

Education is not equal with school. Everyday, everyplace, every experience gives us a lesson. We learn math by counting how much we have to save for an incredible hand made, unique piece of art in a Store in Cusco, or by making  conversion currency in Sweden, or simply playing with legos, or making business plans with and for Aris’s first eco eggs business in Peru!
Education is not about knowledge, education is the individual way to discover life and the art of living!

Read also our story about visiting Venice with kids!

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