So you’re traveling with kids …

This is so exciting!!! You have a vacation planned for your family! Nothing is more exciting or fun for me than planning a trip for my entire family. Now that my kids are adults, it is definitely more difficult to plan a group trip, but easier to execute due to their maturity.  We started traveling with the kids, however, when they were – quite literally – in the womb! Let’s talk a bit today about some tips, tricks and suggestions when you are traveling with kids at any age.

Quick tips For Traveling With Kids

I’m a planner (can you tell???). Ok, I’m an OBSESSIVE planner. I don’t need to overplan or control EVERYONE, but I definitely need to know how things are going to go for my peace of mind. So…

#1: Have a Plan!

Loose or completely scheduled, have some type of plan of attack. Think through the details of the journey so you can anticipate, and diffuse, potentially problematic situations.

#2: Think Through The Potholes

You can predict a number of things that could potentially go wrong with the trip, and you should. I’m not saying to panic…I’m just saying to try to consider every possibility. Predict your kids’ mood swings, consider their hunger, what if Uber is really expensive? The list goes on.

#3: Involve The Stakeholders

Really, even when we were traveling with little kids, we involved them in the planning of the trip. For toddlers, that inclusion looks like them choosing their favorite toys and snacks. For my grown kids, they are involved in some aspects of the planning, and every aspect of the execution. What level of involvement are your kids capable of?

#4: Make Your Life Easier

Travel in the off season. You will face less possible calamities and problems if you travel when nobody else is traveling. Whether it’s avoiding traffic or having spare seats on the airline, it’s worth it to travel when fewer people are doing the same thing.

You can travel holiday weekends (here are some tips for that), but the off season would be much easier.

Traveling With Little Kids, Babies, and toddlers

We’ve done it. Often. We moved across the country when my middle child was 3 weeks old, so, yeah, we’ve traveled with children at this age!! Once, in a moment of sheer delusion, I traveled from Nevada to Florida with all three of my kids. Aged 4 and under. Alone. It can totally be done!

The most important thing for traveling at this age is comfort and routine for the child, so pack accordingly! If they need a certain stuffy for soothing purposes, by all means don’t forget it. Only eat organic Goldfish crackers? Bring extra!

Another very important consideration for the reliability of babies and toddlers is naptime. If they normally nap from noon to 2 pm don’t schedule a 1 pm flight!!! If they are hard to get to sleep at night, don’t subject the entire plane to screaming well past midnight when they can’t settle down. 

One last thing. Don’t be like me. Travel with another adult if at all possible, so you have extra hands. That trip when the kids were all under 4 stands out in my memory…and not in a good way!!!

Traveling With School-Aged Kids

This is a fairly easy age to travel, in my experience.

In addition to keeping the comfort items—and especially the favorite snacks—handy, there are ways to involve your child in the journey at this age. At this age, you can discuss the travel plans with the kids, even pulling out maps to show them where they are starting and where they are going. We have even informed kids about a “mystery trip”, and had them fill a backpack without knowing where they were going—that was a fun one. 

Whether you are going planes, trains, or automobiles, one of the best things I did during this age group was pack some new, fun surprises to pull out in times of need. Find the “travel games” aisle in Target, and buy a few of those. We’ve used travel Yahtzee and Connect Four several times, and Sweet Husband is fabulous about bringing a deck of cards on every trip. He still does as a matter of fact!

This is a great time for a small toy they have been wanting, or something completely new to try. I would hold onto my “surprises” until the time was right (translation: meltdown approaching!!!) and then pull something out of the bag. It was a lifesaver. 

Traveling with Angsty pre-teens

By far the toughest travel audience in my experience. By FAR.

The best piece of advice I can give you for this age is NOT to have any surprises. This group needs to know, well in advance, what exactly is about to happen to them. The more details you can give them, the better. The more things they can control the better your outcome.

While I always had favorite snacks at the ready, and a few suggestions for activities in the plane or car, they rarely worked. The only thing that came even close to making the angsty teen happy was whatever they packed in their all black backpack, purchased from Hot Topic. 

Did I mention this was the toughest age for travel? Well, it was.

Did I leave them home? Nope. 

Thought about it? Maybe a smidge!!!!

Traveling With Too-cool high schoolers

I’m a high school teacher, so maybe that’s why I found this an amazing age to travel with the kids. They are old enough to participate in everything from the idea stage through the execution of the trip. They are old enough to pack their own suitcases and backpacks, and can be relied upon to be ready at an assigned time!

The problem is the “Cool Card.” You know, that identification card teens seem to get around the age of 15 that makes them too-cool for anything?

It can be a battle to get them to relax and let loose in certain situations, but the benefits are worth it. I still remember my oldest freaking out when Peter Pan walked by, and my middle kid’s eyes getting huge when he was chosen for the Wand Experience in Harry Potter land (Universal Orlando). My point is, if you make those moments happen, you can get through that tough exterior they need to survive high school, and let them just be kids again. For a little while longer. 

Try little surprises to make them smile. Whip out the former favorite snacks for a treat, or schedule a fun, kitschy meal in Colonial Williamsburg (we did this and it was a huge hit!!!) and you might just break through. And when you break through that “too cool for the room” exterior, you’ll find that sweet little kid you cuddled with years ago. And it will all be worth it. 

Traveling With Adult kids

This is my current stage, and we are really enjoying it. It is much harder to schedule now, with careers and jobs and adult relationships, but it is just as rewarding.

Where once we scheduled the Princess Breakfast at Disney World, now we are doing fine dining in Hawaii following a day of surfing. When they were younger we controlled the schedule, so a week-long cruise, or a three-week visit in the summer to Granma and Pop, were completely in our control. Now we are scheduling, at least partially, around their lives. Spring Break’s cruise this year, for example, is a short one, because that was all one kid could afford to take off.

So my advice to those of you in my position with adult kids—read the room! All three of my kids voted yes to Disney World this year. I never would have expected that, so we booked it IMMEDIATELY to capitalize on that excitement. Despite numerous beach vacations as children, that didn’t seem to be a priority (at least this year), so that is a vacation for Sweet Husband and I to enjoy alone. 

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR

Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out some other travel strategies, here, where we talk about planning a Disney trip in 1 week! Or, check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!

Please leave a COMMENT about any tips you may have!! Or comment what your favorite tip of mine was! Where to YOU plan on traveling next? Let me know.

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