Travelling with Kids

Travelling with kids. It’s hard to pinpoint the first word that comes to mind: hectic, crazy, busy!

 It’s not for the faint hearted; one must be ready to deal with children who are tired, cranky and constantly hungry (what is it about travel that turns their stomachs into a bottomless pit?!). However, it is entirely worth it. We have created lots of memories with our children, and they learn and gain so much from the experience. 

Having said that, the no. 1 key to ensuring that you don’t end up killing your family is planning! We aren’t experts, however over the last few years we have learnt a few things that work well, here’s hoping some of these tips might be helpful to you.

• Leave at a time where your children might have a slight chance of sleeping. 

This one is a no brainer, but I couldn’t not mention it. A peaceful and quiet car is a happy car. It will ensure you might be a chance of listening to that podcast or engaging in an adult conversation. We are early morning leavers generally (talking 4am early), however it’s best to travel when you feel most competent and alert.

• Online order your food/nappies/supplies for the trip

Before I leave for holidays, I will do an online grocery shop for food and staples which we will pick up from our holiday destination. It means that we don’t have to drag the kids through the shops and gives us more time to holiday. It also encourages us to eat at the place we are staying, rather than eating out. And this brings me to my next point:

• Try and eat in when possible

Obviously you’re on holidays, so you’ll want to go out for meals. My suggestion would be to carefully plan and think about the times that you want to do that. Not only is eating out super expensive, but it can become all too much for little people. We aim for one meal out a day, and the rest at ‘home’ or packed in an esky. 

• Consider hiring your baby gear

If you are travelling with babies or toddlers, consider hiring some items. In the past, we have hired a number of baby items to save us from packing and unpacking it. This is especially true for us if flying, as we get nervous about the damage that could occur to our pram. It’s oh so convenient and frees up our hands to wrangle little humans. Items we have hired in the past include: pram, high chair and car seats.

• Remember to pack plastic bowls etc

We will often stay in AirBnbs, and there have been a couple of times where we have arrived, realising that we have nothing unbreakable to feed the clumsy toddlers with. Now we pack a bowl, spoon, cup and plate for the kids. This ensures us that we won’t be up for replacing smashed crockery. 

• Upon your return, make a photo book

This is one of my favourite things to do, and I love the fact that I don’t have to spend forever putting individual photos into an album. It’s super easy to do as well, as many photo book companies have apps that you can work from simply and quickly. I will often make a book and then wait for the company to have a sale before ordering, so it’s pretty cost effective as well. 

• Don’t forget the downtime

Holidays are great for exploring and doing lots of things. From experience though, you don’t want to do too much. This will leave everyone overwhelmed, overstimulated and cranky. I find that one activity that concludes by about lunchtime is perfect. We then fill our afternoons with books, drawings, a walk and other easy going activities. When possible, we try to keep our evening home routine of dinner, bath, quiet play, book and bed the same, as it leaves our children feeling refreshed and ready for the following day’s adventure. 

• Consider forgetting the screen time

Yep, you read that right. Go on a long drive without the iPad or in car DVD player. At the start, it’s difficult as you’re the new entertainment. I should know, we have a car DVD player sitting in our garage that I used to pack into the car before any of our bags. However now, we leave it at home and travelling without it is easier in many ways. It’s made a massive difference to my son’s behaviour, and it’s absence has welcomed plenty of conversations that never would have taken place if he had been watching Octonauts for the fifty millionth time. Our children are also more likely to sleep for longer periods of time as they don’t have the screen to stimulate them.

• Go with the flow as best you can

Inevitably, things will go pear-shaped at some point. My advice here is to just relax and not stress, it’s nothing a glass of wine can’t fix at the end of the day when your little humans are tucked up in bed! The catastrophes always make for the best stories and memories anyway!