Pauline Frommer Offers Family Travel Tips

Last weekend, I attended the Travel and Adventure Show at the Washington Convention Center and was lucky enough to interview Pauline Frommer. As the daughter of travel writer Arthur Frommer, Ms. Frommer is an expert in family travel, having traveled with her parents since she was four months old. She continues to travel extensively with her husband and two daughters, ages 12 and eight. She writes a series of guidebooks focused on “spending less and seeing more.” Here, she gives advice on traveling with children of different ages.

Vero: What advice would you give to a family travelling with young children?

Pauline: I think when you have children under the age of six, you do not do “family travel” with them because your kids are going to be happy wherever you go. You do not have to take them to Disney World.  Wait until they’re older and they’ll really enjoy it. You can take them to museums, you can take them to cultural destinations. You just have to make sure that you schedule in time every day for them to run around and scream. So take them to New York City and you spend an hour at the Metropolitan Museum and an hour at Central Park. Take them to Italy and you just give them time in the Piazza to run around. 

I think too many people as soon as they become parents think that the adult pleasures of travel are over. They don’t have to be. Also, when your children are under two, that’s when you want to take your long plane trips. I know that sounds counter-intuitive because people are terrified of doing it, but you’re going to have to pay for your children when they’re older and you may not be able to afford  to take them somewhere very far away. 

The prices of airfare now are so high that if you want to go somewhere exotic, do it with your kids before they’re two and it will open so many doors. I took my older one to Japan when she was eight months old. The Japanese can be a little bit reserved. They do not normally go up to strangers. But with a baby, people were coming up and talking to us, strangers invited us to their houses for dinner, we were in markets and people were giving little treats for the baby. It was like I’d found the key. In Italy, we had waiters saying, “Let me play with the baby while you guys eat.” Children under two do not have to be a shackle around your leg.  They can be your entrée to places you wouldn’t get into normally.

Vero: For slightly older children, are there any specific places or types of travel that you could recommend?

Pauline: I think for older children you have to involve them in the planning process so that they have a stake in the vacation, so that they feel like they’re engaged with it. I still think you can take them anywhere but you do have to give them a little power, otherwise they really make your life hell, especially tweens.

You give them a stake in the vacation. You may give them tasks. Let them be in charge of the maps. Let them be the family photographer for the vacation.  When you give them specific things to do, you keep the peace better, especially when you have more than one kid. You can do that for cultural destinations. One of the things I do with my kids in museums is we go immediately to the gift shop and we buy postcards and then it becomes a scavenger hunt to find the art.

Vero: Do you have any advice about planning a family travel budget?

Pauline: Transportation has gotten very expensive lately. So you may have to go down a level in terms of lodging to pay for your transportation. The cheapest type of vacation that are actually the best for families are our national parks. Camping out doesn’t have to be a downer anymore. Tents are really high-tech now. You can have a very comfortable camping experience. So if budget is a concern, go to a park. I have to say, I’ve taken my kids to Disneyland and to Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. They still talk about Yellowstone and Grand Canyon.  I don’t hear anything about Disneyland. That’s what they remember. They had a good time at Disneyland but what really made the memories were the national parks.

Pauline Frommer’s books offer great ideas on ways to “spend less and see more” and are available via Frommer's website or on Amazon.com.