Traveling with Children

I am going to give you some thoughts on traveling with children or grandchildren (depending on your stage in life). Travel can be fun with children. Even places you have been before. They bring a different perspective and can change how you normally travel. In fact, this topic is what started the idea of a blog. For years, people had been asking me how we traveled with our daughters to so many places. The quick answer? Budget, budget, budget. Both at home and on the trips!

I knew that I was not going to be able to give up traveling when we had children. Does that mean I whisked them away at 6 months old? Well, with the first one yes and it was a nightmare, start to finish. She got an ear infection on first flight and cried continuously until I moved my flight up and we touched down at home.

It did dim my travel bug temporarily. When we had twins in 2000, Andy knew I needed to get away. We convinced the grandmas to work together from our house with the girls and set out to California. We booked a multi-city ticket and flew into San Francisco. We rented a car and went to Sonoma and then traveled down the A1 camping along the way. We went down to San Diego and then back to LA to fly home. It is perfectly fine to find someone to watch your children or travel with them!

We had other small trips, a weekend her or there but nothing major. I knew, however, that having my kids with me would enable me to enjoy the trips more and allow me to stay somewhere longer (I was not a fan of leaving them). During this time I was a stay at home mom so our travel budgets were tight. Andy and I were long time campers so we introduced the girls to tent camping. Luckily they took to it, because this became how we were able to afford travel while they were young. People would tell us we were crazy, but travel was that important to me. Tip: Please do not let people talk you out of something you want to do!

Travel can be scary, but it is always worth it. If there is somewhere you want to go, do not be deterred! And if budget is a consideration, get creative. We had a hard and fast rule when the girls were young. We only ate out once a week (sometimes this rule was broken, but not often) and we ran by each other purchases over $100. We asked grandparents for passports for the girls for Christmas to help with expenses. Tip: Children get plenty of presents so it is perfectly acceptable to ask for things that will help expand their experiences.

We have had some long flights for the girls. Luckily some are at night, so you can attempt a bedtime routine at 32,000 feet. When I see kids on a plane it makes me think how lucky it is to be small. They have no problem finding a comfortable position to sleep! My kids plane routines were usually eat dinner and get them in their jammies. I would let them watch a little inflight entertainment and then it was lights out. They went right to sleep and were ready to go when we landed, unlike me.

Kids are very resilient, so they make great travel companions! The key is to model the wonder and excitement…and make sure they are well rested and fed. Tip: Do not over-plan or you will pay. It is a running joke in our family that we have eaten some form of American fast food in almost every country we’ve been to because at some point in the trip because I have planned too much for the day and we all get hangry. Don’t be a Yvette. Tip: If the kids are old enough, let them join in the planning. This will make it more exciting for them and something they look forward to doing.

Tip: It also doesn’t hurt to make sure that they have a comfort item from home. That could be stuffed animal or blanket or whatever makes them happy. However, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS AT ALL TIMES NO MATTER WHAT. My oldest lost her baby blanket on a flight to Hawaii at 5 because she had gotten sick and in the commotion of getting off the plane (she had the decency to wait until we were landing) the blanket got left behind. Tip: If it is something that is super important to your child have a back up and bring it with you. You’ve got this!