By Margery Wilson

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.    ~~Mark Twain

Back in the days when I was a single mom with little money I was bitten by the travel bug. I learned every way I could find to afford travel on the cheap. Train travel, bus travel, hostels, inexpensive hotels, off season travel: I called myself the Queen of Shoesting Travel.

When my youngest daughter was small a then almost unknown young man named Rick Steves  published a book on budget travel to Europe. Though I had traveled around North America, I had never been able to visualize going abroad until I met Rick. Soon, with Rick’s book as encouragement, I started flying across the pond on a regular basis.

Thus it was that my youngest daughter was a seasoned world traveler before she left elementary school.  Before she entered kindergarten she knew her way around the streets of Paris near our lodgings, and could answer a store clerk’s “Bonjour!” with her own. She knew the word for “egg” in several languages, because she had (has) a passion for Kinder Eggs, a chocolate egg that has a toy inside.  (The eggs are not sold in the US, as they are considered a chocking hazard.)

We had spent time in York, England where we had rented a flat overlooking the river Ouse. (By the way, renting a flat can be a very inexpensive way to visit a location, but that is another article.) In the town of York there is a motte – an artificial mound atop which sits Clifford’s Tower, the keep of York Castle.  We attended the Jorvik Festival, where participants, dressed in Viking garb, recreate battles and military training.  With the image of Vikings battling in the shadow of the motte, my daughter was struck when her kindergarten class sang the ditty,

The mighty Duke of York, he had 10,000 men, he marched them up to the top of the hill, then he marched them down again.

She came home from school to tell me that she had shared her knowledge of the hill in York with the class, but the other kids scoffed, saying they knew it was about New York. And none of them were familiar with England, let alone York, England. Or Vikings.

A few years later she and I were on a commuter train at morning rush hour in Vienna, Austria.  We were staying in a campground in the suburbs and commuting in for a day of sightseeing. Around us were people of all ages on their way to work and school. Some were reading the morning papers, or a book, others had headphones on and were listening to their radios or cassette players. Everyone was speaking German.  After a few minutes my daughter looked at me and said,

“These people are just like us.”

This remains a golden memory of  my life as a mom.  At that moment I realized my child had become a citizen of the world, and she was forever changed.  No longer was the world divided into “us (Americans), and them.” She had discovered an important truth: we are all people, living our lives in pretty much the same rhythms, with the same basic concerns.  Now she is an adult, and I can see clearly the difference travel has made in her life. Unlike many of her peers, news set in distant cities is not “foreign.” If there is an event in Paris, Vienna, Munich, Venice, Lauterbrunnen or York she connects it to a memory, to a place.  The world at large has a significance that is lost on people for who “over there” is just a vague concept.

But, let’s be honest: geography can be dry and boring.  “Being there” makes it interesting, but not all of us can afford to visit the world at large with our children.  Enter “Little Passports: A Global Adventure.”

Winner of the Parent’s Choice Award in 2009,* Little Passports is a wonderful gift idea for children age 6 – 10.  It is a subscription service that provides a child with a new packet of adventure each month. Sofia and Sam, the main characters in the program, travel to a new country on their magical scooter and share their experiences.  Each mailing includes an adventure letter, fun souvenirs, activities and access to the online Boarding Zone full of games and activities.

As a mom who has traveled the world with my own kids, I think this program would be ideal for on-the-road activity as well. But, even if you cannot travel beyond your mailbox for now, this is a great way for you and your children to explore the world. And, to hear the wonderful words: “These people are just like us.” Which, let me add, is one of the cornerstones of achieving Jetiquette.

Related posts:

1. Tips, Tricks and Treats for Flying with Kids There have been a couple of times in my...
2. Kids becoming restless? Why not read them a story The Latest iPhone Application That Reads to your Kids!...