One thing which I keep hearing from parents is that traveling with kids is hard. Of course, it’s difficult, kids are an added responsibility on vacation when what we actually want to do is rejuvenate and have a stress-free time.

Last year we traveled a lot with our toddler. To be precise, we visited 8 new destinations in 12 months. It included almost all types of travel, road trip, weekend getaway, adventure trip, train travel, long flights, beaches, hill stations, plains almost everything except international travel.

Some of the trips were 7-10 days long and were quite hectic. But thanks to our love for traveling and superb planning skills (not exaggerating), we made the best out of all those travels. So, today I will be sharing some of our tried and tested tips to make family travel with kids stress-free and a lot more fun.

You may want to read – Top 5 Travel Essentials when Traveling with a Toddler!

5 Tips to make traveling with kids a fun family affair

1- Clear out the misconceptions

The biggest misconception most parents have even before taking a vacation is-

• traveling with kids is the most difficult thing to do.
• Or, you should not travel with babies, it’s a lot more work.
• And, of course, toddlers can make your life hell on a vacation with their tantrums.

NOT TRUE AT ALL!!! 

• Traveling with kids can be a little difficult but it is so much fun. If you will look closely, kids teach us the actual meaning of having fun.
• I found traveling with a baby much easier. You may need to carry a few extra things but that’s all, your baby won’t even put his preferences.
• We have traveled the most with our toddler, 3 international trips and 14 trips within the country in the last 2 years.

Com’on guys, traveling is not that difficult with kids, it just needs a bit of preparation & planning. So, before planning a vacation, make sure you clear out all such misconceptions. Also, stop listening to people who discourage you from traveling with a child.

PIN IT!

2- Proper planning is the key

I always put a lot of emphasis on planning and it is actually an umbrella term & covers a lot many aspects of traveling. It includes planning trip itineraries, booking hotel stays, making checklists of what to pack, finalizing day trips, deciding activities for kids, etc. And, if it is your first trip with your child, then planning plays the most important role.

You may also read – What to pack for keeping your toddler engaged while traveling?

A well-planned trip can turn your first travel experience with your kids into the best experience of your life. Our first ever road trip to Amritsar with Nemit (then 2-month-old) was a blunder due to lack of proper planning. But we learned from our mistakes and our next trip to Goa with Nemit (when 7-month-old) turned out to be super fun & we even extended it by 4 more days.

If you are not sure about traveling with your child, try taking a day trip or a weekend trip. You will get to know the problems and you can plan better for longer trips.

3- Follow a schedule & keep it simple

Young children usually have a set day & night schedule. Nemit wakes up every day around 5-6 am, he has a set meal time, school time, afternoon nap time, park time, family time, reading time & of course bedtime. It is very rare that he does things out of his routine. Although the schedule has become a lot more flexible now that he’s 3+, it was quite stringent from 6 months to almost 36 months. And, that schedule helped us a lot in planning things accordingly while on a vacation.

The most common mistake which parents do is not following this schedule. Instead of planning things as per their child’s routine, they make the child adjust to their plan. This obviously will lead to tantrums in toddlers & crankiness in babies.

4- Keep ample time for free play

Kids have a huge reserve of energy which if not burnt out can turn them into deadly volcanoes. And, you would not want that volcano to erupt while you are on a vacation. So make sure that you provide them ample free play time to burn off all their energy.

You can take them to the pool or to the kids’ play area. Each parent can take turns to keep a watch while the other takes a break. Or, better you join your child’s play. Nothing can make them more happy to see their parents spend time them.

5- A family vacation is a family vacation! 

Another very important point is to enjoy a family vacation like a family vacation only. You can’t expect thrills of traveling with a group of friends out of your family vacation. It’s not that traveling with family can’t be thrilling, it’s the expectations which can ruin the things.

I have seen a few families in which taking care of the child is solely a mother’s responsibility. Now, I can understand how that would feel to the mother on a vacation. She’s still doing everything which she does at home whereas her husband is in full vacay mode, enjoying & relaxing.

And, I have also seen children too attached to their mothers that they don’t let the father do anything for them. Both these situations have something wrong in it.

There’s a dire need for equal parenting here. When both partners work together in raising a child only then they can truly enjoy family bonding. I know I’ve diverted from the topic but it is one of the major reasons for parents, not taking up family vacations. Think about it!

Well, that’s all for now. See you guys tomorrow with another post.

I would love to hear your views on this. Write them down in the comments below. And, if you feel someone needs to read this post or it can be helpful for somebody, do click on the share buttons below.

Today is Day 20 of #BlogchatterA2Z and the letter of the day is ‘T’. My theme for the challenge is ‘Traveling with kids’ & I have chosen T for Traveling. 

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The post How to make Traveling with Kids a fun family affair? appeared first on Growing With Nemit.