The Brain on the Road: Why Travel Boosts Emotional Intelligence in Kids
The other day, my son and I talked about how he had been learning German on Duolingo. Then he asked me what languages I had been learning. I told him French and Spanish.
We talked about similarities in different languages.
We talked about how in different parts of the world, the same language can be so incredibly different.
This led to a conversation about my grandmother speaking “Cajun French,” and then quickly turned into a mini history lesson about how cajuns in Louisiana were forced out of Canada and immigrated here. A moment of pure emotional‑intelligence gold.
Even though this conversation happened in my backyard, talking about language made me think about how much travel affects our emotional intelligence.
There’s just something about being in a new place—somewhere your usual routines don’t exist, where the grocery stores smell different and the light hits the sidewalk in a way you’ve never noticed before—that gently (or sometimes not so gently) nudges you out of your comfort zone.
And for kids (and/or) teenagers? It’s like giving their brains a big, beautiful wake-up call.
Kids pick up on these moments more than we realize. When they see someone ordering food differently, or hear a language they don’t understand, or even try a dish that smells nothing like chicken fingers and mac & cheese, they’re stretching emotionally. They’re learning how to observe, how to be patient, how to ask questions, and how to listen—not just with their ears, but with their hearts.
And let’s not forget the little travel hiccups (oh my gosh,the hiccups!). A missed bus. A lost toy. That one time I somehow locked my keys inside my minivan while we were in the Sandia mountains, and had NO cell reception.
We thought for sure we were stranded, but THEN someone happened to drive by and see us struggling to try and get the window open, and pulled over to help.
With the help of my sons (and my nephew), I kid you not, the guy took a piece of metal from an old abandoned car that was just sitting there (truly abandoned I promise. I don’t think there was even an engine in it anymore), and pried my window open.
In that very moment, we had our faith in humanity restored, and that kind stranger taught my kids to be resourceful and use creative problem solving!
Ultimately, through the whole thing we also had to keep a sense of humor, and use our patience.
That’s the secret travel holds. It hands our kids tools without them even realizing it. Emotional intelligence doesn’t come from a worksheet or a list of feelings taped to a classroom wall. It comes from real life. From the excitement of navigating a subway system for the first time in NYC. From the realization of where languages come from and what makes each language so unique. From watching how other people live and realizing, “Hey… we’re different, but we’re kind of the same too.”
It’s in the new tastes of cultural meals, and the sometimes awkward questions you have to ask strangers, and the belly laughs and the oops moments. All of it. The whole, messy, magical package.
So no, you don’t have to fly across the ocean for your kids to grow emotionally. But when you do get the chance to step outside of your backyard, even for a day trip or a weekend getaway, those experiences can become tiny seeds of understanding and compassion that grow with them.
And honestly? That’s the kind of souvenir I want my children collecting.
Always.
Happy travels,
Kelly Airhart
