Before kids, planning to take a trip basically consists of making travel plans, packing your bag, and then going on the trip. That’s it.

Once you have kids, travel planning is a bit more complicated…that is, if you want it to be stress free 😊

We have traveled short distances and long distances with our kids, both by car and by plane. Traveling with kids is fun and a great way to make memories. Make family vacations a priority. Vacations don’t have to be big and extravagant. But, since vacations consist of valuable time where your kids get to see you stress-free and not worrying about work emails or deadlines, vacations together as a family are important. Head out for a long weekend to a city close by or plan an extended time away at a fun spot.  As long as your kids get to hang out with a non-distracted you, they won’t care the location!

When our kids were 6, 5, 4, and 4 months, we drove from Colorado to Florida. 32 hours one way. Believe it or not, we actually had a good time! It did require some trial and error, but we figured out solutions that made the traveling enjoyable.

I’ve included some traveling tips that we’ve discovered for both car trips and plane trips.

Car Ride Travel Tips

1)      Plan out your stops along the way.  Are there any fun parks or interesting places you will pass that will help break up the trip? Also, I think it’s helpful to know of clean rest stops along the way if you are traveling a long, rural road because sometimes you just can’t make it to the planned stopping location. Here’s an app and a site that can help you: http://restareas.appspot.com/ and http://www.interstaterestareas.com/

2)      Give each kid their own bag of snacks and water bottle.  This gives you a break from having to constantly hand back snacks to your kids and it also helps them learn how to ration out their snacks. Because Kenzie is 2, I usually have one of her brothers help by giving her snacks each time they eat a snack.

3)      Have activities for them to do. My friend Geri shared this great idea with me. For car trips, she gives each child their own sheet pan (you can get them cheap at the dollar store). Then, she puts magnets on the back of a note book, work book, and coloring case. Because these items will stick to the pan due to the magnet, you aren’t searching for missing crayons on your stops.

 

 

For kids that can read, pack word searches, maps that plan the course of the trip, books, stickers, travel games, and pens.

4)      Portable DVD players. When we decided to drive to Florida, we bought a double screen portable DVD player for the van for $60 at Walmart. Then, we borrowed DVD’s from our friends and bought the boys their own ear phones. Best investment ever!! We put the DVD player in the back seat and two boys watched a movie while the other boy was in the middle seat doing activities. At each stop we made, everyone rotated their seats so everyone got equal time at each seat. Now that Kenzie is older, we have a tablet that we download a few cartoons to it from Netflix and this allows her to have some screen time too since she can’t switch seats yet.

5)      Give the backseat its own trash bag. Letting kids be in charge of throwing their own trash away helps to not distract the driver and helps to keep the van clean (or somewhat clean anyways!).

6)      Pack necessities in an opened bag or laundry basket for easy access. When I drive by myself, I keep a bag next to me with wipes, water, diapers, chargers, extra clothes, etc. This helps me to be able to grab things quickly and not have to search the packed bags in the back of the van if a kid has an accident or spill.

7)      Foldable scooters. These are the best! Our boys got scooters for Christmas and I decided to take them with us when I drove to Texas during Spring Break to visit my family. They don’t take up much room and they are an easy way to get out energy on some of your stops.

 

 

Air Travel Tips

1)      Give each child their own carry-on with snacks and entertainment. Have each carry-on include a child’s portion of snacks and a water bottle. Depending on age of the child, you may have to keep the bottle empty until you pass through security and then buy a drink to pour in it.

2)      If you have younger kids, use a stroller. Even if the child ends up walking to the gate, having an extra place to put bags and jackets helps you to be less loaded down. Plus, strollers are a free item at the gate.

3)      Restroom breaks before boarding.  The less restroom visits on the plane, the better.

4)      Family boarding. Depending on which airline you are flying, they almost always do family boarding before general boarding. Take advantage of this. You will have extra time to get settled before everyone else boards and you can make sure any items that have to be stored up above in the overhead compartments are close to you for easy access during the flight.

5)      Talk to the flight attendants. There have been several times when the seats we had weren’t together or in the most convenient spots for little kids. Once we talked it over with the flight attendant, they tried their best to make arrangements to help us. You can also discuss this with the ticket agent when you check in.

6)      Take Off and Landing – Pack gum for kids to chew to help with ears popping during these times. For babies, have pacifiers or a bottle on hand during these times.

7)      For babies, always pack more than you think you need for the travel time. I always tried to pack more formula and bottles than I would actually need just in case. I also packed extra clothes and socks along with a set of PJs and extra diapers. I would have lots of different snack options, a few books, and some favorite toys in my bag as well for the flight.

 

Hopefully you will find some of these tips useful as you plan for your next trip!

 

And, if the thought of traveling feels overwhelming to you because you hate planning, check out my friend Sarah’s blog that offers tips on planning your next trip – https://sarahsolano.com/2018/04/19/how-i-choose-where-to-stay