Traveling Next Week? Here’s 13 Must-Read Family Travel Tips
Whether you’re traveling to see family or taking advantage of the long holiday school break to go on vacation, some pre-planning is necessary for any kind of family travel.
Family trips have the potential to be something that your children will hold dear for their whole lives or they can also be disasters that make you never want to get on a plane or do a road trip again.
Before you venture out next week, here’s 13 must-read family travel tips so help you have more successes than epic-fails.
1. Don’t Pre-book Everything
It can be super tempting to pre-book all your activities and attractions, thinking it will save you time while on a family vacation. But, unfortunately, it creates considerable unnecessary stress and a schedule you’re now bound to stick to.
You want freedom and flexibility when you have kids and are in a new place. When you pass a play park, you want the choice to stay and play and not to say, “No, we have to be across town in five minutes!”
2. Buy Items There; Don’t Pack the Kitchen Sink
It’s so tempting to pack everything you think you might need before a big trip. However, carrying so much stuff is not only a physical challenge but keeping track of it all is a stress you don’t need while on holiday.
There’s an alternative you can use to lighten those suitcases – buy it there. Do you know how much toothpaste costs where you’re going? Most likely cheaper than at home. So why are you carrying a tube of it halfway around the world?
When my son was a toddler, we were sick of traveling with a stroller, so we left it back home. On our first day in Xiamen, we saw a cheap stroller in a local supermarket, it cost us $8, and we gave it away to a young couple when we left.
Make your trip easier by leaving these things at home and buying them at your destination:
- Toiletries
- Diapers
- Clothes
- Bathing suits
3. Ensure Your Visas and Passports Are Valid
When traveling outside the country, it’s easy to forget that you must have valid passports and visas for many places abroad.
Even if your passport is valid, many countries will only issue a visa if it has at least six months until it expires. So if you’re preparing for a trip with your whole family, it is up to you to ensure that each of them has the required time left on their passports and visas.
It may take a few months to renew their passports, so if you need to make an emergency trip into your local passport office time is of the essence.
4. Take It Slow
The last thing you want to do is arrive home without seeing all the sights you want. But trying to fit too much into a family holiday is a recipe for disaster.
While you might be able to visit three tourist sites in a day when you solo travel, your kids will get tired after just one, especially if they’re dealing with jetlag too.
Travel planning is essential, but it’s so easy to go overboard and try to fit more than you can do into your travel plans. Organize your plans in Obsidian or your favorite notes app on your phone.
How should you plan your itinerary?
- Make a list of places you want to visit on your family trip and things you want to do.
- Split the list into must-dos and want-to-dos.
- Put one must-do on each day of your itinerary.
- Add one or two want-to-dos each day. (Try to choose the ones close to your must-do for that day.)
5. Find Kid-Friendly Restaurants
When you travel with children, choose where to stay by how close to kid-friendly restaurants you are.
After a long day at national parks or museums, you get back to the hotel tired. So, naturally, the last thing you want to do is go out searching for somewhere appropriate for your kids to have dinner.
You might want to try that Michelin star restaurant or local street food. But finding somewhere to accommodate children, with activities for them or a small play area, will make a much more enjoyable evening when you travel.
6. Don’t Ask Locals; Ask Ex-pats
It might seem counter-intuitive, but the best people to ask about places to visit and tourist attractions are not the locals but the ex-pats.
Ask a Beijinger what to see in Beijing, and they’ll all say the same three places:
- The Great Wall
- Tiananmen Square
- The Forbidden City
They are good suggestions, but anyone who’s actually flown all the way to Beijing knows to see the Great Wall and the Palace! If you push them for somewhere not so touristy, they might tell me to go to San Li Tun or the Summer Palace, which are also typical tourist attractions.
If you ask ex-pats who have lived in Beijing for a while, however, they will give you completely different answers.
- Tan Zhe Temple – A temple that predates Beijing
- Tianjin’s concession area – Find original Italian villas and British streets that look like London
- Chang Ping Great Wall Section – You’ll see few tourists in this not yet restored section of the Great Wall
7. Schedule Flights Based on Your Family’s Routines
Most people fall into the trap of looking for the cheapest flight online but paying an extra twenty bucks to fly at the right time will be worth it, trust me.
Instead of a long plane flight with moaning kids wanting to be entertained or arguing with each other, put them to bed. By choosing a late-night flight, you could have peace and quiet and arrive at your destination refreshed and raring to go.
A quiet night flight also gives you some time to do some last-minute planning or writing in a journal about your trip.
But you know your kids best. Some will never sleep on the plane on the start of your vacation could be a total disaster. Pick the flight that’s best aligned to your own family’s patterns and routines.
8. Book One-Way Flights
If you’re going to Oahu in prime time this tip won’t apply to you. But if your trip is more flexible or you are going to multiple places, booking one-way flights is a fantastic way to have the vacation you want and pay less.
Booking each ticket with different airlines will provide you with more choices of flight times. We regularly take one airline somewhere and another one back to get the best times for our family.
9. Don’t Buy Phone Cards or SIMs at the Airport
You arrive in some foreign land, and your phone won’t work and at the airport’s exit is a store selling SIMs and phone cards. It seems so convenient. But, these are designed specifically for tourists and cost much more than if you wait till you get into town. So buy one at the local store instead so you can be in touch with your partner or older kids when you all split up doing separate activities.
10. Get Accommodations With a Kitchen
Whether it is an Airbnb, or hotel-condo combo like Hampton Inn, renting a timeshare, having you own kitchen when traveling makes trips so much easier. Being able to make your kids breakfast right as the wake up, or make just the exact kind of chicken nuggets or pizza they will eat goes a long way to an enjoyable vacation for everyone.
11. Be Last on the Plane
One of the only good things about taking kids on a plane is that you get priority boarding, especially when your children are young. But you should think twice about taking the airline up on that offer of early boarding.
The longer you and your children are sitting in a confined space without air conditioning and entertainment, the more likely there will be a meltdown.
- “I want to get up.”
- “I’m hot!”
- “Are we there yet?”
Avoid this whole episode by getting on the plane as late as possible.
Now you might say that by getting on last, you won’t find suitcase space on board which is a hassle you don’t need when you’re corralling children onto a plane. If you’re traveling with a partner, have them board first with your carry-on luggage and any older kids. You can then board just before departure. Just walk on and sit down. Easy!
12. Carry on Luggage Tips
Two tips will save you if this is your first time taking children on a flight. What you bring and what you don’t. Let’s start with the things to avoid:
- Small toys – It might be their favorite, but you don’t want to search for it when it rolls a few rows back—Lego, marbles, action figures with detachable parts, etc.
- Anything sticky – Slime is fun at home, but it’s trouble waiting to happen on a flight.
- Anything that looks like a weapon – Enough said.
- Anything that makes a mess – paint, glitter, playdough, etc.
Lastly, here is a list of carry-on luggage you should consider when traveling with young children.
- Snacks
- IPad
- Wet wipes
- Ziploc bags
- Car seat
- Coloring book and markers
- Earplugs
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Books
- Soft toy
- A small first-aid kit
13. Wet Wipes Are Your Best Friend
Wet wipes are the most important thing you can pack when traveling with toddlers. If you’re taking a trip to London or Disney’s Magic Kingdom you can buy items in a local store. But if you’re traveling further afield and are not sure how easy they will be to buy, take them with you.
Packing wet wipes is great for on the plane when the kids get sticky fingers; you don’t want to be getting up to wash them in the bathrooms.
In many countries, you won’t find soap in bathrooms, even in restaurant bathrooms, so having wet wipes means you can always eat with clean hands.
These Tips Might Save Your Sanity Next Vacation
As a lifelong digital slomad (a slow-travel digital nomad), I’ve traveled the world with my family and made every mistake in the book. So learn from my mistakes, and with these tips on family travel, you’ll have the best family holiday ever.
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