As a family on bicycles, shopping in local markets, eating local foods and traveling at a pace that matches that of the country you are in, you will be treated to a genuine hospitality that differs greatly from the normal relationship between tourist and local inhabitant. In Morocco, during our two-month bicycle trip when our twins, Tristan and Colin, were nine, we camped for a few days in a small mountain village where local Berber children soon befriended us. As the village was also the site of a famous waterfall, a number of tourists were bused in daily and quickly targeted by the children as a source of money. When we asked the children why they didn't treat us in the same way, they assured us that we were their friends. The presence of our children and simple traveling life-style made them identify with us in a way they couldn't with the other tourists.
Bicycle touring with children is a surprisingly untapped source of travel.
Despite the fact that nearly all children love to bicycle, few parents realize the potential to channel this enthusiasm into a family bicycle trip. Long-term travel with children is almost always done in a car or camper. On a bicycle children are too busy, too active and too visually stimulated to become bored or irritable. As constant participants rather than observers in the trip, their interest is continually aroused. Any child big enough to ride a ten-speed can go touring and carry full children's bicycle gear.