Ten Tips To Help You Survive Traveling With Children
Going on vacation with kids can be rewarding and a bit frustrating
. Luckily, with the assistance of some tried and true advice, you can keep difficult moments to an absolute minimum and sail smooth waters of family travel.Peruse these ten tips for kid friendly travel and let the voyage begin.
1. Don't overpack. There's nothing more miserable than dragging around ten tons of luggage, with or without the company of kids. Keep the items you pack to a minimum. This will allow a more available pair of arms to catch a kid in flight, without having to worry that your 14 favorite outfits will be left behind at the airport, emergency restroom stop, or roadside curb.
2. New toys/gadgets. If the children are younger, think fresh sets of LEGO bricks, stuffed animals, and coloring books to be brought out at times on the trip. If the kids are too old for toys, electronics are key. Spending money on that portable DVD player or Nintendo DS will avoid many a "are we there yet"-induced headaches.
3. "Books." Why the quotes, you ask? Traditional print literature is great if your kids are interested and willing. However in this technological age, for better or worse, the mini-bookworm is a rarer and rarer find. Thus, why not introduce the offspring to the classics via a seemingly-forgotten medium: books on tape. Load them straight to the iPod for a fun and educational activity that takes up no room in the suitcase.
4. Medicine. You never realize just how hard it can be to track down that special kind of children's headache medicine in a foreign country, nature preserve, or roadside pit-stop until you are tying to find that specific formula of children's headache medicine in a foreign country, nature preserve, or roadside pit-stop. Save yourself some stress and dollar bills and depart on your trip totally prepared in the meds department.
5. Don't over-plan. Yes, I realize this could be your family's only trip to France in next decade (or ever), but to drag the kids to Centre Pompidou, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre in a two day span is just mean. Let the kids relax and enjoy the ambience of the culture with a little active downtime. If they're older, this might mean spending time in a cafe, people-watching. If they're more rambunctious, this might mean finding a park and letting the kids to run outside of a security guard's strict glare.
6. A combination stroller/car seat. This one obviously applies to the younger set (although no judgment here, if not). If the kid can fit in a stroller, bring it. Museum/airport/park-trekking fatigue is going to set in and this is the true remedy, unless you'd like to carry two backpacks, of course. The car seat option is huge if a rental car is in the plan.
7. Fly non-stop. I realize this isn't always possible, but if you have to jump through a few hoops to make this happen, get to jumping. Bored-kid-on-layover-syndrome is not a pleasant sight to see.
8. Pack their bags. If the kid is strong enough to carry their own backpack, pack it on. Not only will this hold their activities in a common, easily accessible location, but that's extra carry-on space you're surrendering otherwise.
9. Stash snacks. Like medicine, you can never really predict the future accessibility of healthy munchies. Hungry children = irritable children = you potentially at your wit's end in a public setting. Just pack the munchies.
10. Let them decide. In planning your travel agenda, take the little ones' input into consideration. This will provide them ownership over the activities and thus promote interest, compliance and attention.
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