It can be a hassle when you take children along on a trip. Your little companions don’t exactly have the skills to plan a trip themselves, which means it’s up to you to make sure you get it all right. Planning a trip with someone else’s or your children involves basically just means getting the right balance between patience and attention. So, here are some useful tips to travel with kids:
Consider Seating Positions in the Aircraft
Where to sit with children in the aircraft depends on the plane’s design. Instead of sitting at the front with children, some aircraft have floor space in the middle for play. Also, airline management could provide baby cradles as part of flight services. Usually, children visit the toilet more than adults when they embark on long hours of flight. You might want to sit close to the toilet and avoid disturbing co-passengers. Choosing these seats when flying with children might bring some discomforts, the key is to find a balance between their comfort and yours.
Get a Child Locator
Nobody wants to experience the feeling of a sudden rise in blood pressure when they can’t find their children at the airport. Especially when in you’re in transit and the connecting flight is a few minutes away. Get a child locator to keep track of your kid’s movement as they navigate through busy locations, train stations, or airports. Usually, locators for children are placed in wrist straps, belts or shoes with built-in transmitters. They work by allowing the controller to trigger the alarm while tracking the sound to find the little wearer.
Choosing Accommodations
When it comes to accommodation, there’s a difference between apartment rentals and family hotels. The former doesn’t come with room service or assistance, but hotels have special features. Children get bored easily while staying in the hotel, and might prefer an elevator over some flights of stairs. A family hotel in a kid-friendly location should have favourite attractions like a park, pool, beach, cinema, and food outlets. Before you book a room with double beds for you and the children, ask for the best family deals with discounted rates. Say you’re travelling in Australia – if you’re after a more high-end option in Hobart, you could look at luxury hotels for comfort. Just make sure they allow children, as most of them don’t. A hot tip for a great view is to look at waterfront accommodation in Hobart – and who likes beautiful views more than kids?
Don’t Forget the First-Aid Kit
Before embarking on a trip, you should pack your first-aid kit with a thermometer, antiseptic wipes, bandages, plasters, and over-the-counter medicines. Usually, jet-lag and mid-flight stress could cause depression or illness. So, you should prepare to offer first aid when necessary, and consider other alternatives if symptoms persist. The airline or train might have first aid kits but you might need one after disembarking on a trip with the kids. Just in case!
Create a Travel Budget
Limiting your expenses during travels could save you both time and money during your trip. To have a cost-effective trip, a budget that includes the cost for a few unexpected activities will help. Children could be unpredictable, and you might be tempted to indulge in some activities (to create lifelong memories!) during the trip. Keep a modest plan, and don’t overspend after planning your family travel budget. So, be prepared for what you can afford, and avoid ending up in debt.
Kids Should Use Travel Journals
When you travel with children of school age, you have a real opportunity to engage with them. Travelling is fun, and it comes with opportunities to learn new things. Why not encourage the kids to learn, draw, and write their experiences in a travel journal? They can form a library of memories and collect postcards from everywhere they visit. Also, after the trip, they might be eager to share every detail in their travel journals with schoolmates and family friends.