Paging to the departures desk all #globetoddlers to intrepid tweens. Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau presents a brand-new series that’s all about the munchkins: T+L Kids. Hear travel stories from the mouths of babes, see the world through children’s eyes, get inspired by their adventuresome spirits, and seriously succumb to the cuteness. For parents, we’ve also got loads of expert tips on how to make the most of family trips. Buckle up, and follow #TLKids on IG and FB so you don’t miss anything adorable.
I DON’T THINK I GOT on my first plane until I was 12. Luckily, it was to go somewhere amazing. I spent the summer after eighth grade in France, first for a few weeks in Annonay, in Ardeche, with a wonderfully warm family, the Montagnons – mom, dad, brother, sister – who lived a bit outside town because they owned a vineyard. The daughter and I had hot chocolate with buttered bread for breakfast and swam in the pool terraced into the hillside in the afternoons, and at night, when my jetlag and homesickness kicked in, Mme. Montagnon watched parts of Gone With the Wind with me because it was the only American film they had on VHS and she was trying her hardest.
When we’d reconvene with the rest of my classmates and their host sisters and brothers, we’d all, French and American tweens, go mountain-biking in the country hills, have language exchanges, do potluck lunch parties, and in general run around the small town filled with buildings likely to be older than anything in the United States, considering Annonay dates to 400 A.D.
It was here that I first saw a swastika spray-painted on a wall. It terrified me – we had plenty of Jewish friends and classmates, and I myself was a little brown girl… the hair on the back of my neck stood up, which was saying a lot considering how dangerous Washington, D.C., where we were from, in 1990 was. But you ask questions, perhaps keep your guard up without losing trust, add experiences to your overall memory bank and see where the balance nets out at the end.
See, it was also here in Annonay that I had my first kiss (merci, cher Vincent) and first rode in a hot-air balloon, two magical achievements that, when I think about it now, defined the romanticism of travel for me.
On my last night in Annonay, my host mom asked what I wanted for my parting dinner. Her Sunday roast was out of this world, but she always called it simply, “viande,” which is French for “meat,” so I said, “Viande, s’il vous plait.” She smiled and nodded, made her whole ridiculously tasty Sunday spread, and I devoured a brimming plate with joy and sadness at having to say goodbye. Towards the end of the meal the Montagnons sheepishly informed me that the viande was “cheval,” i.e., horse, and they hadn’t wanted to tell me because they were afraid that as an American I’d refuse to eat it. I shook my head, laughed and thanked them for their kindness – I wasn’t sure if I wouldn’t have eaten it before, but I was so grateful that I had.
I have been grateful ever since. For how this one family widened my perspective on food, one of my enduring joys, especially while travelling, and how the trip overall opened my eyes to how much of the world there was to see out there. After Annonay, my class went to Paris for a few days and saw all the sights, and I returned there to study abroad in college, and many times since – but I am pretty sure it was those weeks immersed in rhythms of that little town in the south of France that are why I love travel and how I like to do it best.
The kids I know today have been flying since basically immediately after they were born. But that doesn’t lessen their recognition and appreciation of cultural differences, the sense of wonder they palpably feel when encountering something new and beautiful, the sense of awe we feel as adults exploring the world through their eyes.
And so, allow me to present T+L Kids, a brand-new series from Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau of travel stories told by and about the littlest – and let’s face it, cutest – adventurers, from toddlers to tweens. From drinks with the general manager at W Melbourne to archery in Bhutan, ziplining in the Maldives to suite-hopping across Manila, the kids in this series are globetrotters to the most enviable degree. And their takes on their travels will make you laugh, probably learn a few things, and definitely rethink how you evaluate hotels!
A new T+L Kids video drops every day, so be sure to bookmark us online and follow #TLKids on Instagram and Facebook to get more adorableness than you can probably handle in two weeks. (Plus: add #TLKids and #globetoddlers to your own posts of your children’s travels for the chance to get featured.)
First up, my four-year-old nieces, Umbria and Harper, who put together their own little #bathrobemafia x #TLKids collab at Capella Bangkok. Watch their review here – and go ahead and try not be tempted to order cheese fries afterwards.
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