One thing a lot of people can't understand, is how we travel across the world with two little kids. So I figured, why not give you guys some tips and tricks to make travel possible and easier as a family. Our daughter is currently 6 and our son is currently 3, however we started traveling with them when they were both infants. Here are 10 tips for traveling with Littles.
Tip #1 and some of my best advice is to start traveling with them while they are young and as they grow they will get used to it and learn quickly to love it. We started them off on 2 hour flights, then moved to 4-5 hour flights, then moved to 8-9 hour flights.
Tip #2 is to bring a variety of activities, snacks, and goodies onto the plane to help entertain them throughout the flight. Some ideas of what we bring for our kids are small blankets and a small squish mallow pillow, puffer sticker books, water "coloring" books, the no mess coloring books, a few small toys of their choosing (my son usually picks some of his cars/trucks and my daughter usually chooses some LOL Dolls or a couple Barbies), ipads (with downloaded shows. they also love to use the ipads to color in the notes app), and headphones. We also always pack plenty of snacks (including goldfish, cheese its, pretzels, z bars, gummies, etc.), candies and suckers for rewards, reusable water bottles, and when they were younger we brought the sound machine out on the plane to help them sleep on overnight flights. Also, pro tip when flying with babies is to give them a bottle at take off; it will help with their ears popping and it always knocked my son out for the first two hours of a flight!
Tip #3 is to choose airbnb's over hotels, if that is a possibility. While your kids are young this is a nicer option because it will be so much more relaxing than shoving into a hotel room with a couple of littles. In an airbnb, we can make sure they have their own room(s) and we have our own room so that when it's time for them to go to bed, we don't have to go to bed as well. In other countries, we have especially loved airbnb's because you can get your own pool and you can find ones that have kids games, toys, swing sets, trampolines, etc for entertainment for your children. You also don't have to worry if your kids are a little louder than you like or if their feet are a little heavier than you want (if your children are anything like mine, then they are tiny, but sound like an elephant stampede)! Also, we have found that airbnb's overseas have actually been cheaper than most hotels in the United States are when we travel! Especially if we have another family (like one of our parents) with us to split the cost.
Tip #4 is to let your kids help in the planning process. If they get to help plan it then it helps add to their excitement about the trip, which makes it easier to travel with them. Right now, our daughters main "requirements" for our airbnb's on our trips are to have bunk beds and be near a beach or have a pool.
Tip #5 is to always find a good balance on adult geared activities and children geared activities.
When we went to France and Spain, we had a lot of museums, castles, and historical sites we wanted to see. Our compromise with our children was that if they could keep quiet and be on their best behavior at the Louvre, then once we were done there, we would take them to the park/playground next door. If they were able to stay quiet while we visited Sacre Coeur then we would go ride the carousel next door afterwards. France was full of parks and carousels so it was easy to bribe them! In Spain we balanced our busy days with slower days by the pool or the beach.
Tip #6 is to baby/toddler wear and skip the strollers if possible.
We brought umbrella strollers to France, but we found out quickly that Europe is not super stroller friendly. The next year, when we traveled to Spain, we skipped the strollers. Our 6 year old walked and our 3 year old took turns in a toddler carrier on my back and my husbands back when he got too tired of walking. It was a lot less stressful without the strollers. If you're thinking about bringing strollers, just do your research first as to how stroller friendly the trip will be and always choose a super light weight umbrella stroller if you do bring one.
Tip #7 is to take advantage of all the moments big and small. Are you walking along the beach after dinner and the kids want to get in, but you don't have bathing suits? DO IT! The joy I saw in my children's eyes as I told them they could get in the ocean in their clothes was priceless. Are you at dinner and other little kids are playing on the playground or running around in the plaza and your kids want to join in? DO IT! So many times we found that we could sit and eat and our kids could play steps from us while we watched them and enjoyed a meal and some conversation. Are you by the pool and you suddenly hear a herd of goats with bells coming up the cliffside, so you wonder if you should run to the end of the driveway to see them pass? DO IT! These are the memories you will ALWAYS remember, even if your children are too young to remember themselves.
Tip #8 is to bring grandparents or some other friends or family along for the ride! The more hands the merrier when traveling with littles, and the more memories that get to be made with those closest to you. We love to travel with my husbands parents and my parents and we are so fortunate that they are such a huge help with our children when we are on vacations.
Tip #9 is to invest in the Ridesafer vest for travel. They are a safe, legal, and convenient travel car seat. They are also super portable and so much easier to pack than a normal booster or high back car seat. We started using these with our children when they were about 3 years old and we felt that they were big enough to fit in it and sit in it properly. It has been Crash Tested and Safety Certified. RideSafer meets or exceeds Federal standards in FMVSS 21 and is a great option for when traveling. When they were under 3, we always traveled with the super light weight Cosco car seat from Walmart.
Tip #10 is to pack smarter, not harder. When traveling with little kids, there is always so much more that you have to take with when traveling. If space is limited, then skip packing more diapers/pull-ups than you will need for the travel day and just buy more when you arrive at your destination. This will save you a ton of space! If you stay in an airbnb, always make sure it has a washer/dryer so that you can do laundry while traveling, then you don't have to pack as many clothes for each person. This is especially nice when traveling for two or more weeks. It is also super helpful to roll your clothes because I promise it will help you save space and be able to pack more. My husband was never a believer until he tried it for our Spain trip! Wear your bulkiest pair of shoes and your sweatshirt or jacket on the plane to help save space in your luggage. Also, just remember if you decide to check a bag, there is always a chance it doesn't make it with you to your destination (this happened on our way home from France due to a system failure at the airport in Paris). If you can, I recommend packing it all in carry on bags to prevent this from happening, but remember the weight limits for your airline when packing carry ons. They have amazing backpack carry on bags at Target that have a TON of space, so if you have little kids who can't roll their own bag, you can have one on your back and one you roll to make your life easier. When traveling, we do 4 carry ons, my daughter does a small backpack with the toys, and we do a regular backpack with the snacks and other necessities for the plane ride. The kids then each carry their small squish mallow pillows.
This is a picture of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris the day of our flight home, when the technology malfunctioned. Our bags were somewhere in there! Luckily our bags were returned to us 17 days later, but we were unsure if we were ever going to get them back...
Hopefully you find these tips helpful and you are able to utilize them on your next (or first) trip with your little ones! It is definitely harder to travel with kids, but it is so rewarding and amazing to see the world through their little eyes, so go ahead and take the chance! What are you waiting for?
Thanks for stopping by my first blog post, I can't wait to provide many more, so I hope you come back and continue to follow along as we explore this amazing world and help make travel easier for all of you!
Sincerely,
The Traveling WordSmith
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