You need to be an adrenalin junkie when you travel with kids.

In the words of Graeme Le Saux, once a warrior of the football field and later a traveler upon life’s winding paths, comes this playful yet profound truth: “You need to be an adrenalin junkie when you travel with kids.” At first, his words may draw a smile, for they speak of the chaos of children, of their boundless energy, of their unpredictable spirits. Yet within this jest lies a timeless wisdom: to journey with children is to embrace unpredictability, to summon courage, and to carry the heart of an adventurer into the ordinary trials of family life.

For what is an adrenalin junkie but one who thrives on the rush of uncertainty, on the challenge of danger, on the thrill of the unknown? And what is travel with kids if not exactly this? Flights missed because of sudden tears, bags dropped while chasing a little one, the endless questions that rise like arrows from curious mouths. The parent who journeys with children walks a path of constant alertness, where patience is tested and resilience demanded. Yet, like the hero of old who laughed at peril and pressed on, the wise parent learns to embrace the adventure, not to fear it.

The ancients, too, knew this spirit. Recall Odysseus, whose voyage was no simple passage but a tapestry of chaos—storms, monsters, detours unplanned. Yet what drove him onward was not despair but endurance, the spirit of one who would not be defeated by uncertainty. Though his companions fell, though his path was riddled with trials, he embraced each obstacle as part of the greater journey home. So too must the parent-traveler, who knows that traveling with children will not follow a straight path of calm, but rather a winding odyssey of surprises.

There is also great beauty hidden in this truth. For while the parent sees the stress, the child sees only the wonder—the airplane that seems like a giant bird, the new city alive with strange colors, the road itself as an adventure. To become an adrenalin junkie is not only to endure the chaos but to share in the thrill, to let the child’s perspective open the weary adult heart. In the unpredictability lies joy, in the madness lies memory. Many years later, parents look back not on the perfect itineraries but on the wild stories—the missed train that became a family picnic, the storm that turned into laughter under a broken umbrella.

One might think of Theodore Roosevelt, who, though a statesman, was also a father who traveled and explored with his children. He believed in the strenuous life, not only for himself but for those he loved. His journeys with his family were filled with risk and challenge, yet it was within these adventures that bonds were forged and spirits strengthened. In his example, we see that to embrace the wildness of travel with children is to give them not comfort, but courage, not predictability, but resilience.

Thus, the lesson of Le Saux’s words is clear: do not fear the chaos of journeys with children, but lean into it. Accept that your pulse will quicken, that your patience will be tested, that your plans will often be undone. But also know that within this whirlwind is the very heart of adventure, the very essence of memory-making. The child will remember not the perfection of your schedule but the energy of your spirit, the way you faced mishaps with laughter rather than despair.

Practically, this means preparing not only with bags and tickets but with mindset. Carry snacks, yes, but also carry humor. Expect delays, yes, but also expect joy in unexpected places. Train yourself, as the ancients did, to see obstacles not as failures but as trials that build character. In doing so, you will not only survive travel with children—you will thrive in it, and so will they.

So let these words endure: “You need to be an adrenalin junkie when you travel with kids.” For in them lies both truth and encouragement. To travel with children is to live as the heroes lived—not in calm and certainty, but in trial and triumph, in chaos and in joy. Embrace the rush, laugh at the storm, and know that the journey, though wild, is the very stuff of life itself.