On Traveling with Kids
My top tips and how excited I am to travel *without* them for the first time.
“It’s so good that you’ve done so much traveling before you had kids. Once you have kids, you’ll never travel again.”
This was the chorus that followed me through my entire dating life and well into our first few years of marriage.
I never understood it. And when I had kids, I understood it even less when people would say, “Traveling with kids is just parenting somewhere else.”
Well, that’s one way to look at it.
You could also say that traveling is just being somewhere else…but isn’t that the whole point?
Our flight home from London this past April was my older daughter’s 50th flight. She’s 5.
We’ve made traveling with our girls a priority from the start. Both girls took their first flights at 2 months old and both had passports before they turned 6 months.
I’ve talked about how hard the transition from 1 to 2 kids has been but traveling still isn’t something I’m willing to give up. And with so many articles circulating like, “Is it worth it to take a toddler to Disney World” and “How not to hate traveling with your kids,” no wonder so many parents are daunted by the prospect of bringing their kids anywhere. Here are my tips for making it worthwhile*:
Let go of any expectations - positive or negative. Don’t assume the flight will be hell or that your kids will have the best time ever. Just go with the flow.
If kids live there, they can go there. “Is it kid-friendly” is a question that comes up a lot. Honestly, the US might be the least kid-friendly place out of anywhere I’ve traveled.
Don’t give your kids too much information in advance. Let them discover things and get excited, and stave off any potential meltdowns from disappointment. (Cue us going to see the polar bears at the zoo only to find that the polar bears had permanently left the zoo).
Don’t cater the entire trip to their interests but make time for things that they’ll appreciate. In London, we took the girls to Hamley’s Toy Store and spent hours there. We didn’t do anything else that was just for them. They still had a great time.
That thing you’re agonizing over whether to bring or not? Just bring it. If it’s taking up that much brain space for you, you’re better off just bringing it. Even if you don’t use it, you’re better off having something you don’t use than regretting not having it.
Fly airlines that guarantee seating families together. You can find a list here. And just because you booked seats together doesn’t mean you’ll be seated together unless you’re flying one of these airlines.
Overpack snacks, underpack toys. I continue to be amazed at how much entertainment a plastic cup and the emergency card in the seatback pocket provide.
Do NOT bring Legos, puzzles, or anything that has multiple pieces on a plane. Unless you want to spend the entire flight picking up little pieces.
Airport lounges are worth every penny. Especially the ones that have kids’ spaces. Not only do they have free food but they’re blissfully quiet and provide a wonderful respite from the overstimulating chaos of the boarding gate.
It doesn’t matter if they won’t remember it, you will.
I have the most wonderful memories of traveling with my kids. And of those 50 flights I’ve been on as a mom, I can tell you that only two of them have been really bad. I love that my 5-year-old’s favorite thing is going on vacation. I love that she has a list of places she wants to visit (Hawaii and Japan are at the top), and I can’t wait to start planning trips with her, now that she’s a bit older.
That said, later this month, my husband and I are taking our first vacation together without our kids and I’m so excited to have that time just for us. It has been a long time coming. And once we’re back, we’ll start planning our next family vacation!