Independent

Practicalities Types of Holiday Independent 

Travelling on your own with children is not difficult if you are an experienced traveller and/or a reasonably relaxed parent. And while you might choose to organise a holiday through experts because of the doors they can open to you, and the experiences they can make available, you might also find it invigorating to travel without that kind of back-up. Seredipity can take you to all sorts of corners you might not otherwise find.

What Kind of Traveller Are You?

Before you set out alone, know your strengths - and limitations.

Experienced backpackers should have no problems travelling with children because part of that experience involves thinking on your feet on a regular basis. Even those used to going out and about with a child nearer home shouldn't have any significant problems doing so somewhere just a bit different.

This is especially true if you start with somewhere familiar. However, for some parents, exploring somewhere new with your child can be useful in preventing you from feeling hemmed in by parenthood.

Starting early will build confidence towards more ambitious expeditions. Given how fast children grow these needn't be too far off.

While some parents would consider it the equivalent of scaling Anapurna without oxygen, it is possible to pack the car and set off, stopping wherever takes your fancy. There are families who do this to b&bs in Britain or even round places like Sicily or Greece. In a sense the second may prove easier because of the more positive attitudes to children, but it would certainly be safer to do so out of season when you don't run the risk of finding yourself without somewhere to sleep.

If you don't want to feel you are on holiday alongside lots of other Brits, but this is all sounding like too much effort, consider a good specialist tour operator who can lay on exactly what you want, when you want to the destination of your choice. See our Thinking it through section.

What Will the Children Make of It?

Parents who are good travellers appear to produce children who are good travellers - though that isn't an absolute rule. It might simply be because the children were started early - though in some cases this can result in a reaction against the process. Some children seem more in need than others of the reassurance of the familiar and for success you need to take that into account.

Children's comfort may be simply a matter of quite how much unfamiliarity they are being asked to tolerate. You may be able to fly long-haul for example, or arrange a holiday which involves lots of changes of accommodation, but not combine the two which involves both jetlag and a constant change of environment.

As a very rough rule of thumb, the younger the child, the more you should consider making forays from one or two fixed points rather than touring. That way the child builds up a sense of familiarity, at least with the place that they are sleeping.

If you have a very regular home routine this kind of travel may not be for you. If you are tempted to try it, aim for a half-way house first, say a two-centre self-catering holiday first, before going for anything more ambitious.