Travel Tips for Family Adventures

Does the thought of traveling with children fill you with joyful anticipation or overwhelming dread? Vacation time with kids can be a bit of both! With travel plans for spring break underway, now is the time to start planning.

Explorer Amelia Earhart said, “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” Exploring God’s creation is amazing. Really, the wonder on young faces seeing new places, meeting new people, and tasting new foods can be satisfying for parents and downright fun. It’s an opportunity for social studies, language, geography, math, and reading all rolled into a fabulous learning experience. When we travel, we expose children to a whole new world: people, cultures, foods, languages, and more.

To prepare for a memorable vacation, get the whole family on board with the travel arrangements. Even little ones can help choose activities. The Internet is a great resource. So are the library and bookstore. While you’re there, pick up a few fiction books about travel to whet everyone’s appetite for adventure. Use maps to plan the trek. Tuck a few highlighters in to mark the travel routes both in the planning stages and while on the move. The following travel tips will help for a smooth family vacation.

Ten Travel Tips for Families

• Pack non-perishable snacks everyone enjoys. Kids are less crabby if they aren’t hungry. (Mom and Dad too!)
• Stow the essentials in your carry-on luggage or an easily accessible bag in the car. (First aid kit, snacks, jackets, hats, camera, phone charger, etc.)
• Include bandages, antibacterial wipes, antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone, Tylenol, Calamine lotion, cough syrup, Sudafed, Tums, Pepto-Bismol tablets, thermometer, tweezers, scissors, and sunscreen in the first aid kit.
• Have a few Ziploc plastic bags in various sizes handy for wet clothing and garbage.
• Pack a pacifier for the baby and gum or hard candy for older kids and adults for ascent and descent on an airplane.
• Engage the children in conversation and games while traveling. Skip the videos! It’s time to see a new part of the world and talk about it.
• Once you arrive, take time to get the “lay of the land” so everyone feels comfortable. Choose a central meeting spot incase the group gets separated. It’s also helpful to have children memorize the parent/guardians cell phone number.
• Have your camera ready!
• If possible, maintain a routine. Try to stick to the regular bedtimes and naptimes. Be willing to forgo plans if the children are tired or not feeling well.
• Take a journal along to record the daily happenings. Each family member can add to the journal by writing or drawing pictures of the day’s highlights.

When you arrive home, put together a photo book either online with downloaded photos or a scrapbook of the family adventure. Include ticket stubs, pictures, maps, postcards, and other small souvenirs. The family vacation books are really fun to look back on when children are older. The learning aspect of travel is great. The family togetherness is priceless.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

© 2018 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.

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