3. Health issues are much more serious with children. Trying to get younger ones to wash up, stay clean, watch what they put in their mouths and where they put bare feet is a constant worry. Also, when they get sick, the need to jump to medical attention comes sooner. A five-year-old in one of the Canadian families got diarrhea and became dehydrated very quickly. They got him to the local English-speaking hospital in Chang Mai, which our friends reported was very efficient and cheap. The hospital gave him oral pedialyte (an electrolyte solution for children) for a day. His recovery was sufficient to avoid an IV drip, much to his and his parents' relief. Dehydration can be a huge problem during travel, so it is very important to monitor fluid intake and always have a supply of ORS (oral rehydration salts).
And then of course, there is the conflicting medical advice, particularly when it comes to Malaria. "Don't take Larium whatever you do the side effects are far worse and more common than the disease (including long-term psychosis and hair loss)." "Take Larium, it's far better than getting the disease (in spite of the side effects), and there isn't anything else that works for the malaria in this area." It's Russian Roulette and every traveler plays it. To make the "wrong" decision for yourself is one thing, but for your kids. . . .? Sometimes there are local alternatives that are not yet available in one's home country, particularly for diseases like malaria, that are not common at home. Stay alert and open to the possibilities.
4. Alone time. Adult time. Teenage time. Kid time. Alone time of any sort. There pretty much isn't any.
We were lucky enough to find accommodation that was safe, and sometimes slipped to the downstairs restaurant for a beer while the children were tucked in. One guest house had a common room with a TV/VCR setup and we felt comfortable reversing the use of the room, leaving the children watching a VCR movie and sipping soda at 14 we felt Sam was old enough to be alert, and we aren't too far away. Sometimes we had side-by-side but separate rooms because our family was too big to fit in one room. But that isn't much and it wasn't often.
5. Growth. It's astounding. Our children breezed through the most amazing situations with an enviable openness and curiosity. An adult might be nearly paralyzed with worry (as I often was), and they' re doubled over in laughtermaking them perfect traveling companions. Of course this isn't always the case, especially with younger ones who seem to pick up on parental worries.
Our girls became more self-sufficient and delighted in finding new friends and developing new skills with which to negotiate the world. They can recount stories of their most glorious adventures to perfect strangers, negotiate in bazaars and hotels, wend their way through hair-raising traffic and learn greetings and songs in every language they encounter.
6. Closeness. These situations, adventures, new friends and arrivals and departures gave our family unit a new historyand a new cohesiveness. We admire each other's strengths, and recognize and tease about each other's weaknesses. The crucible of travel defines us as individuals and as families.
For children going through growth phases on extended travel (and their families), the experience can be trying. Children push to find limits, and the limits during travel are much tighter than they would be in the safe haven of home. Still, parents need to weigh each situation and pick the battles that are worth fightingthey are different from the ones one might pick on familiar and unchanging turf. We found that at the girls proved their good judgement, and there were actually fewer battles (e.g. When Samantha had been particularly astute and decisive, we gave her permission to get the tattoo she had been angling for, so long as she found a safe place to do it. She declined.)
7. Security. A constant worry. Is this really a reputable bus company, or the one that will take your luggage and dump you in a field in the middle of nowhere? Are you on the right train? Are those "Hey baby!" greetings to your young teenage daughter really harmless? Are the pats on the head of your young golden child harmless admiration? Do we need to stand
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