i don’t have kids, but i have done enough traveling as a child and have seen enough families struggling through check-in, security and long-haul flights that i feel like i can give you some decent advice on how to travel with kids. i’ve written a few articles on this topic, and my mother is always happy to give her two cents on what she did with us when we headed off to europe to meet my dad.
since my mom is more qualified to talk about traveling with kids, i’ve asked for her advice to add to this post. obviously, some things were outdated – there were no ipads, no cell phones, when she traveled with us (3 children under 10) – so we’ve modified this a bit to be relevant to this day and age, but some things will stay the same.
before you go:
talk with your kids about where you are going. one thing that stuck with me was that my parents discussed where we were traveling, especially as i grew older, so that i could learn about the country. i knew when we went to germany that it was part of europe, and that we could drive to other places, like france (which we did.) teaching your kids even a little bit about where you are going will make a big impression on them, and hopefully set a foundation on which they can research more of our amazing world.
if you have the time, enroll them in a language course, or teach them yourself. a lot of community colleges offer a six week language class that is super basic: hello, thank you, please, goodbye, etc. my mom enrolled us in one for german, and that was the basis on which i took five years of german later in life. a cute kid that say “merci” with a smile is the kid that can make even the snottiest parisian train station attendant smile.
if you’re taking your kids out of school to do a trip (which isn’t common now, but wasn’t frowned upon when i was a kid,) find educational aspects of the trip: cultural visits (villages, museums,) history tours (castles,) nature reserves, etc. they’ll probably have homework as well, but giving them a little bit of local relevance will definitely stay with them. i know about maori culture and german castles because i visited them as a child. i keep learning about them because they interested me when i was a child.
also: ASK your child what THEY want to see. include them. don’t just assume that, because you and you spouse want to see every cathedral between paris and prague, your children do. in this day and age where kids grow up with the internet at their fingertips (literally,) ask them to research a couple of the cities that you are going to, and to find something they would be interested in visiting, even if it’s shopping, or the local beach/waterpark. if you’re taking your kids on a european/african/asian adventure, make sure that it’s not just them tagging along with the adults.
ask your kids to keep a journal. alright, if you’re going to disneyworld, this may not apply. but if you’re going on a three-week road trip across western europe, or going to visit distant family in croatia/russia/pick your ancestry here, instruct your kids to write it down. and write – don’t have them make little notes in their phone. buy them a new journal/notebook and a set of fun pens or crayons (depending on age) and ask them to write down things they saw, or what you did, through the trip. in addition to writing, have them collect ticket stubs, menus, whatever they want. i kept a journal through new zealand, and it helped me to talk about the trip when i got back. it also has the two types of wool that a woman spinning wool at the auckland war museum gave me. those pieces of wool are 20 years old, and they still being back memories.
while traveling:
have your kids carry their own backpack. this might seem obvious, but i have seen so many frazzled parents in the airports trying to carry their bags (multiple) and their kids backpacks. if you make sure that the kids’ bags aren’t too heavy (pack a book, an ipad, some snacks, their journal and a pen or two,) they can easily carry that bag through the connections. (and if they whine that its too heavy, just do what my mom did and offer to throw it in the nearest trash can. you will be amazed at what a kid can do then.) on this note: make sure there is a luggage tag attached to the backpack with your or your spouse’s cell phone number on it! if your kid wanders off, they’ll have the backpack and someone will be able to contact you directly.
check the big bags. it’s different now that you generally pay for checked baggage, but if you can condense your checked bags to one or two instead of one per person (and kids clothes take up less space, so…) then you can alleviate your carry-on luggage to one per person and maybe one with clothes for the family, in case of lost luggage. i’m so serious. i’ve seen families of four with eight bags because they didn’t want to check them, but two of the family were five year old kids who couldn’t handle two pieces of luggage. you will save your sanity if you just bite that $25 or $50 dollars in exchange for ease of movement around terminals.
surprise them with a few goodies. my mom swears by this one, and i’ve seen it in a few other posts. young kids are notorious for not caring about something once they’ve seen it twice. stash a colouring book, new video game, new book, whatever your kids like, in your bag, and once you get on the plane and get settled, give it to them. the same goes for snacks. they love a certain snack but you hardly ever buy it? treat them. it’ll be a nice surprise.
with babies and kids in diapers: if you have a favourite diaper/lotion/wipe, bring enough for your entire trip. it’s not worth finding out that you can’t find x brand at the local shop and now your kid has a rash from y brand. same goes for medications and baby shampoos.
at your destination:
it’s a crazy world out there, and things happen. on the flip side of making sure your information is attached to your kids, make sure that your kids have your information AND the information of your hotel. pick up a business card – it’s that easy. especially if you are in a foreign country where your kids might not speak the language, having a card that they can easily show to a taxi driver or bus driver will get them back where they belong.
when using public transportation, make sure your kids know what stop to get off at. if you’re changing trains, make sure they know that they’ll need to get back onto a train, and tell them what signs to look for. older kids will remember this, for younger kids, maybe write it down.
kids will gravitate towards other kids. it’s a fact. let them. don’t be a helicopter parent, watching their every move and not letting them run across the square to say hi to the kid that they met earlier that day. let them play football in the square, or splash in the fountain, or play dolls with the italian girl on her beach towel a few feet away. it’s not going to harm anyone, and you might even make a friend with the parents.
in that same vein, let them connect on facebook/exchange phone numbers or email addresses. it’s a totally different world out there, and kids connect with others in a way that would be foreign to their great-grandparents, but in the end, they could make a lifelong friend with the little french girl.
do you travel with your kids? what are your tips? did you travel as a kid? what would you add? get in touch!