Traveling Families; how many kids?

[Dallas_Lady]

I don't just mean going to Disney, but those of you who like to travel all over. It's always been a goal of mine to be able to travel extensively (it's one of the reasons I am a teacher). DH and I are considering how many children we want to have and I feel like it we have more than 2, it will seriously hinder our desire to be able to take our family all over the world.

So, those of you who travel a lot, how big is your family? How do you make it work (both financially and logistically)?

 

[Darcy03231]

We have four. Its takes a little more planning for family trips, but is doable. I start researching well in advance and book early. We've taken our children on three cruises, to WDW, Universal, and all-inclusives in the carribean. This summer we're going to Florida for two weeks. I booked a 5 bdrm/3.5 bath house for $550/wk, including taxes last October when the owner was running a special. I booked our airfare at $69/each way when Southwest released their dates. We have a minivan reserved and I keep checking new discount codes as the come out. When I first reserved the van it was over $1000 for 2 weeks, now its at $600 and I'm hoping to get it lower. When we cruise we book the least expensive rooms we can. Same with going to an all-inclusive. I'm on lots of travel lists and get sale information daily. It can be done!

 

[jodifla]

You are wise to think ahead! So many families of 5 come on the boards lamenting how expensive it is to travel.....the cost of lodging can double once you move past 4 family members...and you'll have to allot more resources for transportation. LOTS of cars won't seat three car seats.....

We have one child, which fits our goal of traveling. If the fates would have allowed, we probably would have tried to have two children, but that ship has sailed!

Good luck to you on your decision!

 

[dougsmom98]

My DH and I are both teachers. We have four children. We go to Disney once a year and spend a week at the Maine coast once a year. It is doable with advanced planning. If we wanted to go to more worldly places, it would be hard. We keep going back to Florida because it is one of the few places we feel like we can afford to fly to. If we wanted to go someplace other than Florida, the summer trip would probably have to go. My DH works in the summer and I stay home with the kids in the summer. His summer paycheck goes towards our travel fund. Other than that, I keep watch on the Budget Board forum and try to be frugal when I can. The cool thing about kids is being able to share new experiences with them. I love to travel, but traveling with my children makes it 100 times better. I wouldn't make my decision about the number of children up front necessarily. Until you have kids, you don't know what it is like or how much you can handle. I had lots of dreams before kids but my dreams evolved and changed after kids. I used to want to travel the world, but for now Disney is just fine with me.

 

[scorpad99]

We have 2 (one boy and one girl - 9 and soon to be 12) When they were little we only did the seashore vacations , a week on the beach and the boardwalk. Starting from 6 and 7 1/2 we had our first Disney family vacation, and havent stopped yet! We go about every 5 months to either an island or a cruise, I research online and get really great deals. (I have neighbors who have 4 and a cousin also 4 kids, who have never gone on a family vacation, b/c of the costs) And these people are not poor by far, they just say its too much trying to budget..............with 2 kids we get away with one room, the
3rd child I think puts you in a totally different catagory. JMO

 

[luvmy3jewels]

We have three kids in our family (2,4, 6). Due to their young ages, we haven't really traveled all that extensively, but I think we will be traveling a lot more the older they get.

Without question, it costs more with each child you have. Food, clothing, park tickets, school costs, etc. I can definitely say that having three children makes me pay more attention to my budget (and forces me to search for bargains). For example, when I was planning our trip to Disney World in May, I originally was planning on staying on-site. But after researching our options, we decided that staying off site at Windsor Hills.

I think the ages of your children affect your ability to travel just as much as the number of children you have. But what it all boils down to is prioritys and deciding what is most important to you and your family.

BTW...my third child was an unexpected blessing and well worth any sacrifice that we make financially or otherwise. She is such a wonderful child, I can't imagine our lives without her. I'm even considering now, whether we should have one more. Large families can be a lot of fun!!

 

[HelenePA]

We have 3 I'm ready for another... dh isn't too keen with that idea (yet) We still do have a car, yes a car. all three sit in the back in the carseats. I dont have a need for more room yet. The stroller fits fine in the back, we can grocery shop with all of them and still fit all the food in the trunk with the stroller, (okay those huge things of paper towels are a challange when we have them all.) Our youngest doesn't count again our room count yet at disney so we all do fit into a value resort. I dont really know when we'll go back to disney so I can't say I've really thought about what will happen when he does count. I'd NEVER give up any of my children just so I could travel more cheaply. Next year we are planning a beach vacation. We are looking into renting a beach house. That should solve our problems. Might actually be cheaper than going to a hotel as well. If you want something bad enough you can usually find a way to do it... with 1 kid or 3.

 

[jiminy]

We have two boys (4yo and 6yo). We LOVE to travel and that is one reason why we limited ourselves to two children. We live in Charleston, SC and have already taken our boys to San Francisco, Chicago, 2 cruises to the caribbean (one Disney, one Royal Caribbean), Disneyworld (of course) Tennessee and North Carolina. We are going to Disneyworld again in a week, and this summer we're taking them back to Chicago. We are planning to try some overseas trips (to Europe) probably in a couple of years, as soon as we feel they would survive the long plane flight.

We started our kids out really young, our oldest was 9 months old when we flew to San Francisco, so they would be used to plane flights and long car rides. So far we really haven't had any major problems at all, and our boys are finally at the age where they get excited about going to different states and different places.

 

[Reese]

I have six. It doubles the cost of a vacation but we plan for that fact. It does take more work to book (phoning ahead for connecting rooms ect.). Because we have smaller children still we haven't done a lot of far travelling but plan to do so in the future. I found that a lot of TA's cannot help me with planning so I end up doing it on my own. When I book a cruise it goes directly through the cruise line so I can get connecting rooms. I contact the hotels directly when we travel to ensure that we also have connecting rooms.

 

[aaronandterri]

hi We have 4 (9 8 4 and 18 months)

and we travel alot, were in the uk and come to the states alot, also take a lot of mini breaks away as well, the older ones are helpful with the younger ones, And we have a lot of fun.mine have already done lots of flying and were taking them all to florida again thisy year and thats with a long haul flight, they all manage very well.

I think it depends on what your like as a person, i agree with the people who say once you go over two it changes, but anymore than that and numbers dont seem to matter with room sizes etc. be it 3 or 4 kids.
My youngest is entilited to a free seat but we still buy him one .

It def takes more planning, and i also tend to book things myself as its easier and often cheaper.I also agree that if you want something you make it happen .

good luck with your family planning, sometimes things like that cannot be planned

 

[Twingle]

Good luck planning - but just remember that babies have a way of sneaking up on you! My DH INSISTED we only have two children, and low and behold, our second pregnancy resulted in twins. No drugs, no history of multiples, we were shocked out of our minds.

That being said, we travel a bit, mainly to Disney and Colorado because we have family there. One of the reasons we bought into DVC is because of the size of our family - in almost any hotel we've looked into, we either need two rooms or a suite, because of five travelers.

Financially and logistically, we have to plan a bit more in advance then when we just had our son, but it's still totally doable.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Thank you for your input (and by all means keep it coming). Part of me wants to have a big family, but another part wonders if I can do all the things I want with a lot of kids. That does not just include traveling, I also want to be able to pay for college, weddings, etc. So all of that factors in to when and how many children we will have. Of course you can't plan everything, but I want to take all factors into account and reading your experiences helps. Another factor for us is my DH's age. I am 27, and he is 40, and we have a 6 month old DD.

 

[solgent]

We have 3, twins and a younger daughter. It is certainly much more difficult/expensive to travel with a family of 5. I did not realize this until several years after having the third child. The thought of travelling honestly never crossed my mind when having those children. I did think about it when contemplating whether or not to have a fourth child. We decided against but not purely or even mostly for that reason!

I love travelling and have been to Africa, Israel, many places in Europe and the U.S. But most of my foreign travel I did before or without children (I went on two trips with my best friend who is single & has no kids). My thinking is that, say if I'm in Europe, I like to see everything & walk everywhere & go nonstop. The kids (and DH, to be honest) are not up for that. So it's better for me to go without them than to drag them along or to go but do less and nobody's happy. They have the rest of their lives to travel and explore; they don't have to do it all before becoming teenagers-- I didn't.

Still we travel quite a bit:

Overnight trips we took with twins before #3 was born (we lived in Philadelphia and then Miami): Ireland, Boston/New England, MD, Philadelphia, CA, WDW (6 times on the FL resident annual pass), NYC

Overnight trips with all 3 (we live in VT): England (twice), WDW, CA (4 times), Montreal (twice), Boston (numerous), NYC (6 times), MD(numerous), Maine (twice), New York State (twice)

One thing we've done that we've really enjoyed is to trade houses through Intervac. You can look for other families with the same number of kids. You have more room and it's way cheaper than hotels. But you are basically in one spot; you aren't roaming all over the country or continent.

We also camp, stay with friends or family, and look for hotel deals-- I've never paid more than $120 per night except at WDW. A couple of times work has paid for my flight and the hotel room.

 

[kileybeth]

I find it hard to believe if I would have been able to choose how many to have, I would have had the wisdom to know which ones to have and how many etc. . .

that said. if I would have chosen myself, I would have had one, possibly two children. Done. Finished. Have said that many times in my life.

My "blessings" now number 6. 1-2-3-4-5-6 ages 1-25! yup, 1 Dad.

Do not know what my life may have held otherwise so I understand your question about wanting to travel (always a dream of mine).

We are very middle class, middle income folks. I do not "work" outside our home.

We have been visiting Disney since 1985, at least 10 times, I think more?

We have been to nearly every state in the Union (yes, car trips are more economical most of time) and seen some things that my kids will never forget!

We've been to Canada.

Either my DH and/or myself have been to Caymen Islands, England, Ireland, and Germany.

Our kids stayed home happily with Grandparents for many of these trips. Just because you want to travel does not mean your kids must go with you. It is something they have a whole lifetime to experience and you waited your whole life to get to do!

Hoping to get to some Islands soon (DH and I) and would love to do a resort in Mexico as well.

Oh! Our college Jr has been to Russia 4x and is currently in Cambodia for next 1.5 years. He will visit India, Singapore, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, etc. while he is there!

Guess the travel thing was instilled in him early on.

 

[pigget74]

We have four. Its takes a little more planning for family trips, but is doable. I start researching well in advance and book early. We've taken our children on three cruises, to WDW, Universal, and all-inclusives in the carribean. This summer we're going to Florida for two weeks. I booked a 5 bdrm/3.5 bath house for $550/wk, including taxes last October when the owner was running a special. I booked our airfare at $69/each way when Southwest released their dates. We have a minivan reserved and I keep checking new discount codes as the come out. When I first reserved the van it was over $1000 for 2 weeks, now its at $600 and I'm hoping to get it lower. When we cruise we book the least expensive rooms we can. Same with going to an all-inclusive. I'm on lots of travel lists and get sale information daily. It can be done!

Which all inclusive places have you looked at and where did you stay. We are having our 4th in October so this information hit home for me.

 

[lemondog]

I think going from 2 to 3+ kids makes a HUGE difference in many things -- not just travel. Our plan was 2 kids. Well, child #2 was twins, so we were blessed with 3.

Let's just consider Disney trips first. Gone are the values, most of the mods and some of the deluxes. If you want to stay in 1 room, it's the POR (they have some rooms in the AB section that sleep 5), or you pay thru the teeth for GF, Poly or CR.

When I had my twins, our life changed dramatically.

-We had to buy a new house -- 2 bedrooms would not cut it!
-We had to buy a new car. Ever tried to fit 3 carseats in a row in a sedan?
-I had to quit my job. Daycare for 3 kids was more than my salary
-I now work PT at my twins' preschool. They go for free and it gives us some extra $$. We need it with 3 girls to feed/clothe.

Our kids are still young - ages 5 and under - so we don't travel much. In fact, since the twins were born the only thing we have done was drive to Gatlinburg for a few days. We used to fly to Boston twice a year to visit DH's family. THAT'S a thing of the past! We can't afford 5 plane tix.

Also, we have chosen to send our kids to private school (for educational and religious reasons). Paying tuition for 1 is bad enough -- I am scared about when the twins start Kindergarten!

All that said, I would not trade my kids for the WORLD!!! Yes, it makes travel more difficult, especially when you are on a budget. We are not one of those families that can go to Disney every year -- maybe every few years if we're lucky.

I say go with your heart when deciding how many kids you want, and don't base it around how difficult it would be to travel. My DH was one of 6 and his parents never traveled until all the kids left home. Now they go everywhere -- Ireland, Aruba, Florida, etc. Even if you have to wait a few years, you will still be able to fulfill your travel dreams!

 

[Grendalynn]

Hi! - we are a FRESH family of 5! Our boys are: almost 8, a fresh 4 and soon to be 6 months. All very manageable ages! We have not yet traveled far with all of us yet, but will be testing it out in a week! We are heading to Florida to visit the inlaws, we will be going to Cypress Gardens and Splash Island - a theme park similar to Bush Gardens but not as large, So it will be kind of a crash course of how things will be for us at Disney next year!

And 3 (or 5) is a small number! I am 4th of 5 girls and we traveled the globe when I was a child. Here are just some of the places we went (from NH): Traveled Eastern US with family Motorhome, Florida, California, Hawaii, Mexico many times, Bahamas many times, Curacao, St. Martin, Grand Caymens, Bermuda, Jamaica, Prety much all over the Easter and Wester Carribean - where ever there was any sort of Scuba Diving! My mom spent a lot of time researching places and making sure they were kid friendly. We offen traveled in the "Off" season to make it more affordable. My mom is a teacher so missing school wasn't an issue. We got all the assignmments and then some and made sure they were more than well done. Dad always tried to tie in some sort of educational experiences while on vacation - such as the Mayan ruins in Mexico and the Salt mines in St. Martin and the Pirate Caves and such in the Caymens. And so on and so forth. Not to mention the US History we covered. We didn't eat over every night and we offen brought many of our own snacks and food items to help with the costs. Rarely did we eat lunch or breakfast out, but someone was always having a nap and made the trip go better not getting to far off routine. I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!

Our boys are spaced far enough that DS#1 is a great extra set of hands and helps out so much bith the 2 brothers! 2 out of diapers and on in and with a bottle.

We knew what we were getting iunto when we decided for #3. Yes it will be a little more expensive but so worth every penny! We wanted a family not affordable vacations! And vacations can be as affordable as you make them. Yes, you will/may sepnd more on airfair and things like that but we wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[rt2dz]

Right now I can only give you the short answer. We are a family of 5, 3 kids (trying for a fourth). I grew up with 3 siblings and us girls (due to age gaps) were always allowed to bring a friend. Yup, to different countries. So we traveled as a family of 9. I find what we do easy.

You pick where you want to go. Do a bit of research, figure out how to cut costs, and then work towards it. Budget Travel magazine is a good source. Not much different all in all from what those of here do for Disney. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Base how many kids you have not on travel, but on what makes your family complete--1, 2, 3, 4, or 14.

 

[SnowWitch]

We had planned on being a family of 4, we had 2 great sons who were 15 and 12.5, life was good. The DH and I were starting to plan those "us" only vacations we had talked about. Then one night we had a few drinks, then a few more.....8 months later our princess arrived. Can we all give a big "OOPS". After much discussion we decided why not one more, we now have another princess who will be four months old in a few short weeks. So our family breakdown is 17, 14.5, 22 months and almost 4 months. We haven't traveled since the birth of #4 but we have a 2 week Disney trip planned for this summer. I cannot express how happy I am we bought into DVC in 1999, I cannot imagine the cost of 2 deluxe rooms every trip.

 

[deejohn]

We are a family of 6 and it is tough getting everything together. I agree with the postings about planning. I start my WDW planning about 12-16 months ahead.

The nice thing is that as the kids get older, they start to pack for themselves. They all have their own suitecases and overnight bags.

Don't let the number of kids stop you from travelling..I found it harder to find places that take dogs, every hotel takes kids!!!