A mom who’s been traveling with her kids for 19 years shares the biggest mistakes she’s made since they were babies

Don’t forget to consider your kids’ personalities at any age.

From selecting destinations to activities, Cannon said it’s not just about taking her kids’ interests into account but also their personality traits.

For example, she said that while her son loves hiking, he’s not comfortable in all natural environments.

“Unlike the rest of us in the family, Lucas has zero interest in ever visiting a tropical forest or jungle again,” Cannon told BI. “I can trace this back to a guided Cloud Forest hike in Ecuador in 2017.”

Cannon said that Lucas grew up watching nature documentaries, so he is acutely aware of how dangerous certain types of wildlife can be.

“During the hike, the guide encouraged us to touch the top of a leaf. Lucas, however, decided to also touch the underside and narrowly avoided a poisonous caterpillar,” she said. “From that moment, he made it clear that he didn’t consider these environments ‘safe,’ though we assumed he’d eventually get over it.”

After the tour in Ecuador, the family of four took trips to the Peruvian Amazon and the Costa Rican rainforest.

In these destinations, “he carefully avoided swarms of army ants on forest floors and bullet ants on handrails,” she said. “His feelings never changed.”

These days, Lucas doesn’t accompany the family on jungle or rainforest excursions.

“Lucas still travels a lot, but to places with fewer creatures that can harm you,” she said. “Ella, by contrast, can’t get enough of the jungle!”