However, the appeal of "traveling with children" is that it is all the more enjoyable when it is realized. Making memories as a family that also serve as a record of your children's growth will become invaluable as you grow older.
One family who enjoys such "traveling with children" is the Tobishima family who live in Hayama Town, Miura District, Kanagawa Prefecture. The Tobishimas love the outdoors and every year they take their only son, Usei, on camping trips and trips to hot springs.
So this time, we asked Mr. and Mrs. Tobishima for some tips on traveling with children, and we also had them try out "popIn Aladdin," the world's first ceiling light with a projector that is equipped with a "Photo Memories" function to help create memories on your trip, and asked them how they make use of it.
Text: Mika Abe Photo: Kazuto Tanaka Edited by Kohei Sasaki (CINRA. inc,)
If it's a place that adults want to go to, is it recommended to go by around 18 months old?
OnTrip JAL Editorial Department (hereinafter referred to as JAL): It seems that you and your wife, Yuma and Naoko Tobishima, often travel as a family even after your child was born. Where do you often go?
Tobishima Yuma (hereinafter, Yuma): We usually go on family trips to hot springs. My husband and I love hot springs, so the closest one is Atami. My parents' home is in Kyushu, so we've also gone to Yufuin Onsen on a trip back home.

From left, Yuma Tobishima, Amaharashi, and Naoko
Naoko Tobishima (hereinafter, Naoko): For some reason, my son has loved hot springs ever since he was about one year old. Maybe he thinks they're swimming pools (laughs).
I also like miscellaneous goods and crafts, so I go to the pottery market in Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture every year. I used to go there just the two of us, but since our son was born, we sometimes go as a family of three.
Yuma: Every summer, I enjoy camping with friends. The members have changed since I was single, but I still go out in the car with friends who have children around the same age.

At Lake Saiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, when Amahara was 1 year and 9 months old
JAL: Your child is 3 years old now, but how old were you when you started going to camp with him?
Naoko: You made your debut just before you turned one year old, when you had just started walking.
JAL: That's surprisingly early. By the way, did your travel destinations change before and after your child started walking?
Yuma: Yes. It definitely makes a difference. When a child can't walk yet, they tend to be quiet in the stroller and often fall asleep, so the couple can go to their favorite places. For example, a museum.
Naoko: Even on the plane and train, he sat quietly, so we were able to move at an adult's pace.
However, once your child starts walking, it's not so easy... (laughs bitterly). You can't go to quiet places with your child as you might disturb others around you, or places that your child doesn't find interesting.

Amahara-kun, 1 year old, at the beach in Enoshima
JAL: If you're planning a trip to wherever you want to go, it's actually recommended to start with a child up to about 18 months old (laughs).
Naoko: That's true (laughs).

Various miscellaneous items purchased during the trip (from the left, a child's western hat purchased in Rocky Mountain National Park in the US, a shell ginger basket bag purchased at a folk craft store on Taketomi Island, and a mulberry leaf fan)
Have fun to the fullest at destinations that are within 2 hours of travel so your kids won't get bored!
Yuma: We are very fortunate in that respect. But when we go on a trip as a family of three, having a place for the kids to play is still a priority.
In that sense, I highly recommend camping. Especially since I have boys, we often go to campsites that have activities where adults and children can play together.
JAL: Where is your favorite camping spot?
Yuma: I often go to campsites that are by lakes or rivers, such as Camp Village Norm (Saiko, Yamanashi), Tsubakiso Auto Campsite (Doushi Village, Yamanashi), and Bosco Auto Camp Base (Tanzawa, Kanagawa).
The time it takes for children to travel without getting bored is about 2 hours at most. I recommend a campsite that is within 2 hours by car or public transportation and has lots of activities. My son loves kayaking and looks forward to it every year.

At Lake Saiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, when Amahara was 1 year and 9 months old
JAL: One of the things I enjoy about camping is the food we eat in nature, like barbecues.
Naoko: No, we don't have barbecues when we have small children with us.
JAL: Is that so? I thought that was just a part of camping.
Naoko: It's different when it's just adults or when the children are older, but when you have a barbecue, someone always has to keep an eye on the fire and check the doneness, so there's no one to look after the kids.
Using a lot of fire can be dangerous for children, so we're thinking about safety and creating meals that don't require adults' hands to be occupied.

At Lake Saiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, Amaharashi-kun was 1 year and 9 months old (photographed with a film camera)
JAL: So, what are the Tobishima family's specialty camping dishes?
Naoko: I recommend noodles for lunch. You can eat quickly by boiling udon or pasta and preparing sauces and dressings. You can make it all at once for a large group, and kids love noodles too.
For dinner, we often have paella or acqua pazza, which can be made all at once in a pot. We cut up the ingredients at home in advance, store them in Tupperware or Ziploc bags, and bring them with us. All we have to do is put them in the Dutch oven.
Camping with children can be a lot of work, as there are a lot of things to do once you arrive, like setting up the tent while taking care of the kids, but when I tried to spend less time cooking, I was able to spend more time playing with my kids, which made it much more comfortable.
As your children get older, they can help with cooking at camp, and shopping together at the local supermarket and eating local ingredients will be a fond memory for them too.
Yuma: If you're going camping with your kids, it's fun to have a smoker. My kids love sausages and cheese, so we enjoy making smoked food together.
Are the rear seats the best when traveling with children?
JAL: Earlier we talked about travel, but what do you pay attention to when traveling by plane with children?
Yuma: I currently travel by plane about once or twice a year. I try to get a seat in the last row so that I can walk around a bit and not be a nuisance to my noisy children.
And, if possible, I manage nap times so that they can sleep on the plane (laughs). And as a last resort, I download my favorite videos onto a tablet and carry it around with me so that they don't get bored during the journey.

Naoko: My son likes vehicles, so he looks like he'll be having fun when the plane takes off. He'll also be happy to get toys from the flight attendants as souvenirs. In fact, this early summer, the three of us are planning our first trip abroad, to Northern Europe for about 10 days...
Up until now, the furthest flight we've taken has been to Kyushu, so I'm a bit worried about a long flight. I want to make sure I'm well prepared and think about how to make sure my child is comfortable on the plane.
Yuma: I'm not sure yet whether I'll be able to take on the challenge this time, but I would like to enjoy camping overseas, so I'm slowly gathering the equipment.
How to enjoy the digital photos you take while traveling
JAL: How does Mr. Tobishima and his family preserve their travel memories?
Yuma: We take a lot of photos and videos. I use an old film camera, and my wife takes digital photos and videos with her smartphone.
Naoko: The film camera my husband uses was once used by my grandfather.

Various items useful for travel and the outdoors (back: stainless steel thermal tumbler, center front: picture book theater, right front: film camera)
JAL: It's rare to find someone using a film camera these days.
Yuma: I like the texture of film, but with film you can take each shot with care. I want to cherish that feeling.
It's nice to have a paper copy to keep, and nowadays printing services also offer the convenience of digitizing the print as well.
On the other hand, digital photos taken with a smartphone have the advantage of being able to capture children's expressions more easily and keep many of them. I want to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Amehara-kun, 18 months old, on the beach at Enoshima (taken with a film camera)
JAL: How do you enjoy the many travel photos you have saved?
Yuma: I sometimes organize my prints into albums, but with digital photos I just leave them there, so I've been thinking that I need to organize them better. Recently, I've been thinking that it might be nice to view them as slideshows.
In our living room, we have a projector on the wall, so we can enjoy Hikari TV and video apps, and the screen is large, so the impact and excitement can be felt even more. Children love it when they see photos on it.

Play a slideshow with popIn Aladdin
JAL: Have you been using projectors for a long time?
Yuma: Yes. It's been several years now, and the current "popIn Aladdin" is the third generation. I felt that having a TV in the living room was intimidating and ruined the open feeling of the room.
In that regard, recent projectors produce images that are just as clear as televisions, and if you have enough space on the wall, you can enjoy a screen that is larger than a large television.
Naoko: With a projector, the cords don't pile up on the floor, so you don't have to worry about kids messing with it or it falling over. And best of all, it's easy to clean.
Yuma: Also, I love movies, but being used to movie screens, I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable with the high resolution of modern TVs.
The projector gives you the feeling of watching it on a movie theater screen, so you can really immerse yourself in the work. I also love watching soccer and other sports programs from overseas, so I like being able to watch them on a big, impressive screen.
"popIn Aladdin" is a projector that works well with children
JAL: The popIn Aladdin currently installed is the third generation projector. How does it compare to other projectors?

popIn Aladdin
Yuma: What makes it different from other projectors is that it is integrated with the ceiling light in the room. You just insert it into the socket and the installation is complete. I was surprised that there was no need for wiring at all.
With previous projectors, I had to mount them on the ceiling and manage the wiring all by myself.
It also has built-in speakers made by Harman Kardon, my personal favorite audio manufacturer, and the sound quality is better than I expected.
Until now, projectors and AV equipment have output sound and video via amplifiers, so being able to simply connect via Bluetooth or Air Play is very helpful.

Can usually be used as room lighting
JAL: What about the video?
Yuma: Since popIn Aladdin is also designed for use in bedrooms, it seems that the brightness of the projector has been deliberately reduced.
However, it is brighter than the handheld projector I used as my second projector, and is much easier to see.
Handheld projectors use a fixed focal length lens, so even the slightest distortion on the wall would cause the entire image to become significantly distorted, but this is no longer the case, which is great.
Being able to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi and enjoy a variety of apps and content is very easy and convenient. I was surprised at how versatile it was.

JAL: popIn Aladdin not only allows you to watch movies, TV shows, and online videos like in a home theater using the app, but it also has content for kids. Are there any contents or apps that you use frequently?
Yuma: popIn We have a contract with Hikari TV, and we were able to start watching right away using the popIn Aladdin TV app "DiXim Play."
Of course, the major video apps like YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix are supported, but I was happy to see that it also supports DAZN. I'm a heavy DAZN user, so I watch overseas soccer broadcasts with my kids.

Watching DAZN's soccer broadcasts on a large screen feels incredibly realistic
Naoko: My son's favorites are the "World Picture Books" and "Life-size Animal Encyclopedia" content for kids. The "World Picture Books" section contains rare picture books from overseas, so it seems fresh to him. He is engrossed in reading them because they are read aloud.

The World Picture Books collection contains 60 rare works, with more to be added over time.
Naoko: The "Life-size Animal Encyclopedia" is interesting because it allows children to see life-size images of their favorite animals, such as lions and elephants. You can also watch them move in videos and hear their cries, so I think it's content that piques children's curiosity.

"Life-size Animal Time"
Yuma: Speaking of things for children, the "learning posters" that teach the alphabet and hiragana are also good. When I showed them to my son once, he got really excited and started pointing at all the different things (laughs). My son is 3 years old, so I think they'll be useful to him in the future.

A learning poster that can be displayed on the wall in a large size, such as "aiueo" or "alphabet"
If the hotel you're staying in has a projector, you can do things like this
JAL: What did you think of "Photo Memories," where you can upload photos of your travel memories and view them on the big screen?
Yuma: When the photos are displayed randomly in large and small bubble style, even familiar photos look fresh and exciting, and children seem to enjoy looking at them.

In Photo Memories, bubble-shaped photos appear randomly one after the other from below.
Naoko: Kids really love looking at their own photos (laughs). It's fun to look back on our travel memories as a family, but I also thought it would be a good way to prepare for our upcoming trip to Scandinavia with my kids.
If I said, "I'm going to Finland next time," they probably wouldn't understand, and it's still nerve-wracking to go to an unfamiliar country.
However, if you show your son videos and photos of the scenery at your travel destination, as well as trains and cars that interest him, he will surely look forward to the trip itself.

JAL: As someone who loves both traveling and projectors, is there anything you would like to be able to use a projector in?
Yuma: Speaking of travel, it would be extremely convenient to have popIn Aladdin in your hotel or lodge room when you're traveling. The product was originally designed to be used in bedrooms, and you can immediately view the photos and videos you take on a large screen.
Naoko: It would be nice to have them in hotel rooms! I also want to see more "World Picture Books" in the collection. You can never have too many picture books, and you can't take too many with you on a trip, so I think both parents and children would be happy.
Yuma Tobishima, Naoko, and Amehara
Yuma is a designer at the design office Ampersands. Naoko is the product director for the life and culture community "She is." They moved to Zushi with their family of three from the city a year and a half ago, and then moved to Hayama three months ago.
http://ampsds.jp/
https://sheishere.jp/
information

World's first ceiling light with projector "popIn Aladdin" official website
popIn Aladdin is the world's first ceiling light with a projector, sound system, ceiling light, and a variety of content all in one. It will transform your bedroom, which was previously just a place to sleep, into a rich and comfortable space, brightening up your life even more.
The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.