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Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris (Scarborough photo)

Let's all huddle together and admit the ugly truth....even if we personally love to travel, we may find that family travel is sometimes a raging pain in the neck. 

When I travel alone or with a like-minded adult, we may run into problems and crises, but we only have to worry about our self-reliant selves.  Children have demands and requirements that change the whole travel ballgame.  Diapers. Sippy cups. Strollers. Being small. Being a teenager. Not understanding that there's no peanut butter in Botswana, and the English like broiled tomatoes at breakfast.

For the enjoyment of travel with kids to outweigh the aggravation, you must thrill to the demands of teaching and the delights of discovery.  You must be willing to make up your own lesson plans and be able to appreciate having the entire planet as a classroom. Finally, you have to enjoy being a teacher even when your student doesn't grasp the lesson immediately, or even that day/month/year.

While in Paris, I took the family to magnificent Notre Dame cathedral.  My young son chased French pigeons, oblivious to the grandeur, and my daughter said, "Awww, do we hafta go to another dumb cathedral?"  I gritted my teeth and pressed on with our visit.  A few years later, the same daughter opens her middle school geography textbook, sees a picture of Notre Dame, and says, "Wow, cool, I've been there!"

I only had to wait 2-3 years for her to admit that Notre Dame was cool. Sigh.

Patience has never been one of my virtues, but through my travels with two very different children, I have learned that things sink in when you would least expect, and that's why you must gently persist, sometimes even in the face of intractable opposition. 

Kids learn that there is no substitute for actually being there.  There's nothing more magical than being able to say, "I've stood on that spot and met those people and eaten their food and learned about their history."  Every continent becomes your children's neighborhood. 

With enough travel and exploration, they are at home in the world.  For me as a parent, that is the finest reward.