One Parent's Case for Taking Small Kids on Big, Questionable Trips

Some family trips sound like bad ideas before you even book them. One parent has a long history of taking them anyway-starting with a five-week-old's first interstate trip for ice fishing, then a 23-day journey through Oman, Tanzania, and the UAE at 20 months, just mother and son.

A year later came 88 days across 14 countries and six continents. India, which alarmed relatives, turned out to be a favorite: in the sensory overload of Varanasi and Delhi, a loud toddler barely registered.

The Indy 500 at age three brought a diaper blowout of epic proportions. With no replacement clothes to be found, an $80 size-XL track Christmas sweater became a makeshift dress, sleeves rolled five times. The race was underway by the time they returned to the stands, and the grin on that kid's face made it family lore.

Mardi Gras with a preschooler sounded reckless, but most of it proved family-friendly; the real hazard was beads to the face, not the drinking. At four, during an Alaska winter trip timed to the Iditarod's ceremonial start and Fur Rondy, Fairbanks hit -38°F, a cough sidelined a day, and a blizzard stranded them 48 extra hours. Still, a snow machine ride and a helicopter flight over the Matanuska Glacier-ending with a chunk of ice loaded aboard-made it worthwhile.

A tantrum abroad is still a tantrum; a sick day is still a sick day. A hard trip, this parent argues, is not the same as a bad one.