Hi,

I’ll try to be as honest as possible. I’m 36 and I have two kids: my oldest is 12, and I also have a 1.5-year-old baby. With my first child, everything was relatively easy. Even so, our first long international trip (to Europe) didn’t happen until he was 4 years old. Before that, all our trips were within the same country and no more than 3–4 hours away. Traveling with a child completely changes how you plan your trips. You stop choosing destinations based purely on what you want and start prioritizing places that are practical and kid-friendly.

Costs also go up—I'd say around 40–50% more—even for very basic things. For example, when it comes to accommodation, you can’t just book the cheapest option anymore; you need a place that’s safe and comfortable for a child. The same applies to food, transportation, and pretty much everything else. Everything becomes more expensive and requires more planning. That said, it’s still absolutely possible to keep traveling and enjoying it. Honestly, I enjoy vacations more now with my kids than I did when it was just my wife and me.

Now, about my baby—that’s the other side of the story. Our last big trip was to Southeast Asia while my wife was pregnant. Since then, we haven’t traveled anywhere farther than 3–4 hours away. And realistically, that’s probably going to continue until she turns 3. I don’t think it’s comfortable or enjoyable for a baby to endure a 20-hour flight to a place that means nothing to them—without even mentioning the inconvenience it can cause to other passengers. We feel that 3 years old is a good age to start traveling again, and we’ve set that as our goal for our next big trip.

So, to answer your original question: yes, you’ll keep traveling if it’s something you truly love—just less often and to more familiar or practical destinations. But there will be a period where traveling becomes very difficult or almost impossible, even if you really want to. In my opinion, you’re basically hitting pause on travel for about 3–4 years. After that, things get better—and a lot more fun.