My life situation is about to change for better or for worse, and I don't want to give up my ego-centric traveling lifestyle even with a young family. So I want to know what others in a similar situation have done. I want to hear from you if you've ever travelled with a young child (under 2) and your family, either overlanding, cycling but especially if you've done it with a motorbike/sidecar.

My long term goal would be to travel through Sth America and around Australia but most probably in different trips.

What are the main concerns? Vaccinations, comfort, extra gear for the littl'un or just the stress it causes?

What would you do again and which countries are family friendly. :confused1:

Have you ever ridden long distance with a child on the back of your bike? If so would you do it again?

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Three families, two sidecar outfits both with trailers, heaven knows how many tents. 1954.





My mum is just inside the tent, our trailer to the left with lid open.
Grandparents to the right of photo.

Back of my dad's sidecar is to the right. My uncle's trailer, just arrived, is beyond (outfit out of sight).

My dad took the photo.
My brother is holding the binoculars.
Don't know where I am - probably inspecting an engine......

Dad's bike is a Panther 100 (600cc). Uncle's bike - don't remember but something similar.

Trailers and tents and camping gear all army-surplus.

Not really much help with your question but illustrates I think, anything is possible.

I think the UK is the least child-friendly country of any I have ever visited, but I still seem to be here at the moment!

London-Paris with daughter on back of an Aprilia RSV Mille - never again!

London-Kiev-Moscow-St Pete with daughter on back of a Ducati 900SS - would do it again any time!
Chose the right bike for you.

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

Thanks McCrankpin!! That is gold!

It certainly got my spirits up about having a family and a motorcycle. It's all too common for the bike to go when the baby arrives, but I'm hoping with sensible goals and logical reasoning, the bike and baby will stay (oh and the missus as well ).

I'm sure that where there is a will there is a way.

Anyone else got any annecdotes about traveling/riding with a family??

__________________
TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Can't really answer your questions... But I guess I'm in a kinda similar situation right now (my first one, a boy, was born 10 months ago). Yeah, life has changed in many ways, and it will be much harder to just pack up & go. On the other hand, I became 40 years old just now, and I've been living this "free and wild" travelling life since I was about 20. So I don't have nearly as big of an urge to go everywhere, like I used to. It's not the end of travelling for me (and I hope the kid has got some of that urge as well, and if so, I'm willing to take him with me, so he gets to see the world, too, and then hopefully do it on his own one day)... but for now, for a few years at least, travelling will be different.

The really big change is that up until now, I've lived first and foremost for myself (well ok the missus has been there for several years as well!)... but now there's a cute little kid, that needs a father. From now on, he will always be first. Sure it's a huge change for me, but I think I'm much more ready for it, than I would've been 20 years ago.

But I've still got 2 bikes and will be keeping them

Congrats, Pascal! And great fun with the future family trips. Beer pending, btw.


We are expecting our 1st kid for Christmas time. Some time ago I told my wife that when the kids had a reasonable age I would ask them "what do you prefer, yacht or truck?" Don't have any of those licences, but I hope the day to learn and get one will come and we'll leave for a good trip. I'm sure it has to be great fun with kids.


Btw, Frenchmen are the kings of travelling with kids, apart from their very own attitude to this, probably also because they have a great system of "distance education" for kids (Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance: Formation tout au long de la vie - Cned)

Something like this? The Africa Overland Network The Africa Overland Network When I saw it I thought: is there any better gift you can give to your son than that?

I also hope our son/daughter will have the travel/motorcycle bug and me/us the health and good mood so we could set off together on bikes. Dates indicate that he/she was conceived in South Africa during a motorcycle trip there, so I'm quite optimistic!

Esteban

Hi,

Here are some links to the blogs of some cool familys who where traveling through africa with kids:

Sixenroute, Un tour du monde en famille en camping-car - Accueil

09 Kenya - Les Sanagustin autour du monde

Have fun, Tobi

We didn't start riding with our son until he was 4 mainly due to proper riding gear availability. At 5 he fit into a BMW Stoke riding suit and the rest is history.

Adventure Trio.com ~ Don’t Ask Why, Ask Why Not : Adventure Trio

We travel more now with the kid then we did before he was born.


-Terry

Did you guys bring the Guitar with you or did you get that from a local to show off?

My wife and i are currently planning a trip with our kids.. We have done several overland trips in the past but now the kids are a little older it's time to get them inspired

We've been travelling (though shorter trips, and on 4 wheels) since our two kids were born (we're US expats living abroad, and the kids were born abroad). Younger daughter's first trip was to Moscow at 2 weeks for a friend's wedding ...

Even though kids don't directly remember the earliest travel years, I'm convinced they bring back experiential memories that are lasting - when you're back at "home" and reading about a desert, or an ocean, or a cloud forest, it just makes more sense if you've experienced one.

And the pictures ... have a great one of our daughter at 18 months holding court with the local village kids in a remote town in Madagascar. Fabulous. Or the memories of having the other daughter, at around 5, ask in all seriousness whether our destination was a "sit toilet or squat toilet" country... or, at 7 (when we were having to do monthly visa runs, usually to Seoul), complain that "Seoul is boring, can't we go to India for the weekend?"

But to your question - there are a few things I'd recommend to keep in mind with really young kids, just based on our experience ...
- make sure to bring rehydration solution of some kind. Kids can dehydrate very quickly, whether from an upset stomach caused by new foods, or just from heat
- fair-skinned kids burn very easily, and sunscreen is hard to find in many places (esp. africa). Bring your own supply, and a hat for the baby.
- ditto diapers, if you're using disposables.
- ignore the pediatrician when they say that grinding up malarone (pediatric antimalarial) into applesauce will work - our kids wound up refusing to eat applesauce for 6 months in retaliation. Burying the pill in soft candy or grinding it into maple syrup or something else really sweet works better.
- exposure to new germs is a good thing, and will give the kid a better immune system later in life. But there are limits ...
- kids will go through at least twice as many clothes in a day as you would expect an adult to
- kids can be interested in all kinds of things - sometimes just looking at the butterflies in a field can be much more fun than the $30 zoo and its crowds

And the most important thing - just have fun! Kids pick up on moods, and if you're having fun it's more likely that they will too.

Good travels!

Just realized that the original post is really old, so the above is irrelevant!