Traveling with World on Bicycle with Children

Do you spend your days dreaming of taking off with your children to explore the world? You'll ride camels around the Egyptian pyramids and gaze in wonder at the graceful domes of the Taj Majal - with your children by your side. You'll take buses from town to town, fly from country to country, and explore back streets by donkey cart. But travel on bicycles? With children?

My husband and I have cycled over 21,000 miles through 12 different countries with our 12 year old twin boys and have discovered that traveling on bicycles with children is the best way to travel.

The bike allows you - indeed, it forces you - to get off the beaten track and see the tiny villages of the world. When one is traveling with a motor of whatever kind, you will skip over the small towns in order to reach the cities. But it's the small villages in a country that can teach you about life in that country. Cities - for all their differences - are mostly the same. In today's face-paced world, cities are becoming increasingly generic; it's the villages that still retain the character of the country, and the bikes allow us to get to know them.

Motorized vehicles encase you in steel and glass and isolate you from Mother Nature. Traveling on bicycle without the protective layer of your vehicle around you, you'll be more in touch with nature. You'll feel the wind in your hair and rain on your cheeks. You'll grind up hills using muscle power only, so will truly understand what those hills are. You'll feel the effect of altitude on temperature as you climb into the mountains.

But more than that, by touring on bicycles, children learn important life lessons that will carry them through life. They learn to persevere through hardships - knowing they will come out victorious on the other side. They learn there are times when only through teamwork can you achieve your goal. They learn that sometimes, the only thing you can do is put one foot in front of the other, set your sights on making it through the next 60 seconds, and forge ahead.

It is true that kids can learn all these lessons in other ways, but traveling on the bike is more fun!

Nancy Sathre-Vogel has been bicycling with children since her kids were big enough to reach the pedals. She is now cycling from Alaska to Argentina with her sons as they attempt to become the youngest people in the world to pedal the entire Pan American Highway.. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

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