Its not pre-internet travel, rather backpacking. I do it to this very day, by far the best and most rewarding way to travel, the further and more exotic the better.

It has a downside - I'll never do these pre-arranged trips where one is in complete luxury bubble, interactions with locals are the best part of experiences. What a waste of potential.

And yes its mostly compatible with kids, it depends more on specific location than mode of travel (ie avoiding malaria/dengue/etc. regions)