How Travel Changes a Child’s Brain

Fair warning, I am about to nerd out BIG time. You have been warned.

Something you might not know about me is that in college I got a degree in psychology. I was really into child psych so that is what I focused on, child development. During college I worked as a nanny/babysitter, and after college I went on to work at a school before I switched over to the luxury travel industry. Loving on kids and providing services for them is at the core of my heart.

That is why I am a huge advocate of traveling with kids.

I know mamas, I know. Reading that sentence and thinking about that possibility probably stressed you out! But hear me out.

It may seem cliché, but it is so true: the brain is like a muscle. What do you do if you want your muscles to grow? You begin to lift weights right? That is exactly how the brain works.

In order for your brain to function at its best you have to give it what it needs. You have to hydrate yourself, eat healthy foods, and you have to learn new things. Learning new things keeps your brain young.

Your brain functions by sending and receiving chemical and electrical messages all the time. Learning something new strengthens the brain and keeps it healthy because as you learn your brain creates new connections AND strengthens the ones that are already there. Learning is like a workout for the brain.

My highschool psych teacher explained it to us like this: neurons are all flying around in your brain and they are constantly communicating. A synapse is a gap between brain cells that allows the communication to happen, messages go from one synapse to another. Neurotransmitters are like the little boats that carry the messages. The more communication synapses have, the stronger the connection. The less communication they have, the weaker they become. That is why being a life long learner is so important, but that is a rant for another time.

In the case of children, their brains have more synapses than adult brains. Do not be fooled, babies have the most powerful brains! They come with trillions upon trillions of synapses. Why? Because the brain does not know what kind of skills this baby is going to need in order to survive in the environment that it is being born in. So it “overpacks” and as the baby grows it prunes out what is needed and what is not.

That pruning occurs at different developmental stages. But while those synapses are there, we have to take advantage of them and strengthen them.

So what does this have to do with traveling?

Well, when your kids travel you have a huge chance to teach them new things. In turn, this will strengthen the connections in their brain. Neuroscientists now know that synapses play an integral role in cognitive processes, so fueling those connections is going to be good for your kids in the long run, it is going to make them better learners and possibly even give them a foundation for having a better memory!

When children are exposed to new things, you tell the brain that it needs to go to work. They need to know how to tell which flight they should get on, for example. Or what are some key words they could use in different languages. Or that they need more space to store all the cool animals facts they just learned during a safari with you. Or how they can orient themselves while hiking, and what to do in a hiking emergency. The possibilities are endless! The more they learn, and the more they repeat what they are learning, the stronger those synaptic connections become. Like I said, just like a muscle.

Their brains are so powerful. Taking advantage of all that potential on a regular basis is going to give them long term benefits, and travel is one of the best ways to do so simply because different settings come with tons of new potential.

So next time you are planning a getaway, consider bringing your kids along! There are tons of cool ways to involve kiddos in your travels. Their brains will thank you!

Side note: Parents there is no shame here. I grew up in a family that could not afford to travel the world, so I get it! The point of the post is to point out the benefits of travel, but that does not mean that that is the only way to nourish a child’s brain! You are doing your best for your child with what you have, and that is all that matters! :)