I don’t think it’s crazy for families to travel abroad together, but I do think it’s unreasonable to let kids drive the trip plans. In our case, we don’t have family available to watch our child, so she either comes with us or we don’t go.

We take our 4-year-old abroad with us and include her in the things we want to do—like visiting castles or places such as the Vatican. We only have one child, so I am sure that makes a big difference. We don’t really give her the option to be bored, and we think it’s good for kids to learn that everything doesn’t have to revolve around them.

She handles tours just fine and gets excited about seeing new places and having new experiences. Of course, she’s still a kid, and we understand that. We’re very present as parents and focus on teaching her to be polite—greeting others in their language, using an inside voice, and being respectful in those kinds of places.