Christine Rousseau learned the hard way that pharmacies in Paris do not always sell diapers. She had run out while on vacation, and her 2-year-old son desperately needed to be put down for a nap. So in the rain, wearing heels, the clock ticking toward a messy and imminent deadline, she hopped on an electric rental scooter that she did not know how to ride. Every place she tried seemed to have fancy face creams but no diapers. She didn’t know the French word to ask for them. This situation was not très chic—but then, family trips don’t tend to be.

Some would argue that the point of a vacation is to subtract, not add, stress. But like many parents of young kids, Rousseau is committed to traveling with her family—not only for her and her husband’s sake, but also for the sake of her children, now 7 and 3. She loves seeing them learn, and traveling provides abundant opportunity …

As more and more Millennials have started families, many of them are determined to pass down those globe-trotting values—to share the joy of journeying but also to shape their kids into adaptable, savvy people. Sometimes they’re spending money they don’t have; frequently, they’re sacrificing tranquility they may already be short on. In the era of intensive parenting, vacation has turned into something that many parents need a vacation from.