Traveling abroad with your children provides a fantastic opportunity for them to get a first-hand look at many of the cultural and historical subjects they’re learning about in school. While a parent’s first instinct at seeing a child playing on an electronic device during an expensive foreign vacation may be to snatch it away, electronic devices can play a constructive role in the trip.
Electronics can be used to document the vacation and to access more information about sites you may visit. Your child’s devices can only provide these valuable services if they’re kept charged, and charging American devices overseas can be a challenge.
Most foreign nations use different electrical outlets and voltage than their U.S. counterparts. If you’re traveling abroad and taking your electronic gear with you, purchasing a reliable step down converter can help ensure that you are able to safely charge smartphones and other devices.
Why Travel with Kids?
Taking your children or grandchildren abroad with you isn’t just about giving them a fun vacation – foreign travel is an eye-opening experience that can stoke curiosity and interest. The opportunity to travel abroad also creates amazing bonding opportunities and memories for families.
Some benefits of vacations abroad for children include:
- Picking up foreign language skills – Studies have shown that it’s much easier for children to pick up foreign language skills than adults. By exposing children to an immersive language experience by taking them abroad, you give them an opportunity to put language skills they’ve learned in school to practical use or provide them with the chance to develop an interest in another language.
As most schools and universities have foreign language requirements, this can be an important head start for your children.
- Developing appreciation for other cultures – People who travel abroad develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures, and the various differences and similarities between nations. Having the opportunity to try foreign foods and learning how people live and work outside of the United States can help make your children better world citizens and prepare them to interact in a globalized economy.
- Hands-on learning – It’s one thing to read about Roman history in a book; it’s something completely different to see the Colosseum with your own eyes. Having the opportunity to see and interact with many of the things your children learn about in school provides a fantastic learning opportunity for them.
- Family bonding – The excitement of traveling abroad, and the opportunities to make plans and solve problems together can provide a critical bonding experience for families. Today’s busy families often don’t get a lot of time to spend together. Traveling abroad can provide parents, grandparents, and children with true quality time.
The sad fact is that 64 percent of Americans have never left the U.S. to travel abroad. If you have the opportunity to take your children abroad, do not hesitate to give them this life-changing opportunity.
Electronics Are a Must
Electronics can greatly enhance your children’s foreign travel experience. Today’s modern devices are much more than game-playing machines; they also provide access to nearly all the world’s knowledge via the Internet, and also provide their owners with the ability to record what they see via photos and videos.
Rather than discourage your children’s use of electronic devices on your overseas vacation, you should encourage them to productively use these remarkable devices.
Some smart uses for electronic devices on overseas trips include:
- Going deeper – While tour guides and brochures can provide a great amount of detail concerning the places you’ll be visiting, there’s a wealth of supplemental information your kids can access online. After visiting a site, encourage your children to seek out more information concerning the area or historical figures who may have been there. This adds further relevance and meaning to the visit.
- Documenting – Encourage your children to use smartphones and tablets to take videos and pictures of the places they visit. This will help them retain the information they’ve learned and also make the trip more interactive for them. Also, taking pictures and videos will provide them with valuable memories for years to come.
- Entertainment – If you’re traveling overseas, chances are that you’re going to be stuck on trains and airplanes for a long time. Entertainment options available on electronic devices will help keep the peace during lengthy and often boring layovers, delays, and travel time.
Electronics even provide children with the opportunity to learn about the electrical infrastructure of other nations. Commercial electricity developed differently in the U.S. than most of the rest of the world. As a result, the U.S. is one of just a handful of countries that primarily use 110 volt current, while much of the rest of the world uses 220 volt current.
Because of the difference, when Americans travel abroad, they need to bring step down converters to allow them to safely charge their devices. Trying to charge a 110 volt device with 220 volt current will destroy the device and could also cause electrocution or a fire.
Even if you’re visiting a country that uses 110 volt current, the physical configuration of sockets and plugs may be different there, requiring you to use an adapter. Before traveling overseas with your devices, get online and learn about the electrical situation in the nations you’ll be visiting.
Electrical Safety Tips for Kid
To ensure that your children avoid injury to themselves and damage to their electronic devices, it’s important for parents to cover a few safety basics with their children regarding the proper charging of their devices. The following are a few tips for kids’ electronics safety:
- Avoid overloading outlets – Children should be taught to avoid plugging too many devices into a single outlet, even if that outlet has multiple sockets available. Overloading an outlet can result in electrical outages and damage to equipment.
- Tuck away cords – Exposed electrical cords and charging cables can present falling hazards, as they are easy to trip over. Also, devices attached to these cords are often damaged when someone trips over the cords. Teach your children to safely place charging cables and cords out of the way.
- Don’t yank on cords – Teach your children to gently pull charging cables and cords from outlets. They should never yank on a cord to pull it loose, as this may cause the cord to rebound and strike them or someone else. It can also damage the cord or the device it is attached to.
- Keep water away from outlets – Getting electrical outlets and devices wet can cause damage to the devices and may even cause injury to people who come in contact with them. Be sure to keep electrical devices away from wet areas, or water glasses or liquid containers.
- Explain foreign outlets – Many an electronic device has been ruined by a child trying to plug an American device into an overseas outlet. Before traveling abroad, explain to your children the difference between U.S. electrical infrastructure and those found overseas. Make sure that they understand that if they try to plug an American device into a foreign outlet without using a step down converter, it’s highly likely that they will fry the device and possibly harm themselves. It’s best not to allow younger children to charge devices on their own, and to only let older children charge devices if they thoroughly understand the need for appropriate converters.
For travelers seeking dependable 110 to 220 volt converters to keep their children’s devices charged while traveling overseas, 110220Volts provides quality charging products made by trusted manufacturers. 110220Volts’ converters and transformers can provide you with the gear you need to keep computers, smartphones, tablets, and other important U.S. electronic devices safely charged while you’re enjoying a great travel experience with your children.
For travelers seeking dependable 110 to 220 volt converters to keep their children’s devices charged while traveling overseas, 110220Volts provides quality charging products made by trusted manufacturers.