Top 10 Family Travel Tips You Can Actually Use
May 7th, 2008 | by Jamie Pearson 11 comments
Any simpleton knows to pack snacks when traveling with kids. Ditto toys. Here’s some fresh family travel advice you can actually use.
- You paid for that hotel room, so move the furniture around all you want.Push the bed into the corner and stash the coffee table in the closet. Sure, you’ll make the odd unpleasant discovery, but isn’t that a small price to pay for a new and improved family-friendly floor plan?
- Bring a really, really funny book. You’re crossing airports, countries, and time zones with people who can’t consistently blow their own noses. This is no time for Kite Runner, people.
Never leave home without peanut butter. Unless your kids are anaphylactic to peanuts, then never leave home without beef jerky. On a related note, while TSA policy remains noncommittal about Cheese Whiz, TSM maintains that pressurized, aerosol cheese is never a good idea. - You can never have too many Ziploc bags full of cheap, new plastic toys. One bag per child for the flight over. Same for the flight home. Same for restaurants. Skimp at your own peril.
- It’s okay to take Ambien. For reasons entirely unknown to TSM, your preschooler will easily go back to sleep after a light snack and a quick Backyardigans episode at 3am on Greenwich Mean Time. You however, will not.
- No child is too big for a stroller. Trust us, there’s nothing like dragging an exhausted six-year-old up a steep medieval cobblestone street to make you wish you were pushing an exhausted six-year-old up a steep medieval cobblestone street.
- Fold out sofas are a fact of family travel life. They are also your enemy. From their treacherous leg-gouging metal protuberances to their mid-spine “support” bars, fold out couches are expressly designed to inflict torture. Plus, kids fall out of them with alarming regularity. Disarm these devious devices by removing their mattresses and placing them directly on the floor. Try falling out of that, kid.
No matter how much your child is freaking out in the Immigration line, do not let them hold their own passport. Sweating, panicking, and inter-spousal shouting are no longer permitted in airports around the world, although obviously this takes a LOT of the fun out of family travel. - In the event of tarmac delays, stage an impromptu puppet show for your kids using the provided air sickness bags. This is especially important for those of you who are fans of the bulkhead row because your stuff will be totally unavailable to you during takeoff and landing. Even if it takes nine hours.
- On flights of any length, the correct seat assignment for your husband is the one directly in front of your toddler. No less true for being, you know, head-slappingly obvious.
You can thank me later. Now it’s your turn.
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If you liked this post, may we recommend our Top 10 Family Travel Tips for the Thinking Impaired?
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Kimberly Ford on May 14th, 2008
This list killed me! I’ve forwarded it to a bunch of traveling moms. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at a cookie sheet in the same way ever again.
Jennifer Margulis on May 15th, 2008
The thing about peanut butter is they won’t let you take it through security anymore–which foils a lot of plans because we have a no checked bag policy when we travel these days (now that car seats and portable cribs are behind us). I even like to bring peanut butter when I go to conferences. It’s way cheaper than room service! Thanks for the awesome list Jamie. From one furniture-rearranging mom to another…
Mari Chazen on May 23rd, 2008
I needed this list 9 years ago and it would have saved me a lot pain and travel angst. Since you can’t bring the peanut butter anymore I recommend M&M’s. It is amazing how far you can stretch a small bag when you’re in control of it.
Nichole on June 6th, 2008
This is a wonderful list.
I would die if I found something like that under a bed. Or anywhere else for that matter. The only “surprise” I’ve found in a hotel room was a pair of underwear. My sister-in-law’s 3-year-old found a toupee once. He pulled it out and yelled, “Mommy! Hair!”
Andee on June 6th, 2008
We found beer bottles under our hotel bed.
Maria on June 17th, 2008
Hi – great site and now as a Mom of two, one with multiple severe food allergies, I live without peanut butter anyways(but we do use Sunbutter instead and it’s healthier too) and I can appreciate the suggestion of plain M&M’s when traveling. Peanut in the air, especially peanut dust, might as well be nerve gas to our kids, but fortunately for us most of our travel experiences have been positive.
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Larc on August 5th, 2008
The Backyardigans have many items you can take with you on a trip and keep your kids entertained effectively.
Amy on August 19th, 2008
We’ve just booked flights from Chicago to London, and thank you for tip #10. I hate it when the answer is so obvious, but I couldn’t think of it myself. On past flights, we’ve pre-apologized to anyone seated in front of our toddler, then stressed as we tried to keep him from kicking them silly. Of course, try too hard, and it’s a kicking game. Don’t try hard enough, and it seems that you’re incredibly rude. Alas.
Tracyn on January 7th, 2009
OK, this is a bit unconventional, and I’m not sure where I actually saw this, but it’s too funny NOT to pass on (and, apologies to the original creator of this idea).
I read on a blog (or saw on You Tube??) where it was recommended prior to boarding an airplane with a child(ren) to purchase a bunch of $10 gift cards. Upon settling in one’s seat, the adult enthusiastically hands them out to ANY adult adjacent to your child (or children). The idea being, now YOU have the upper hand on the potential meltdown, seat kicking (if a member of your traveling group is NOT seated in front of the child), or other disturbance. I have also read (cheaper alternative) to pack a bunch of earplugs and perform a similar distribution!
Just a thought – hey, whatever it takes.
Happy Travels!
NileGuidance: A Travel Blog » Blog Archive » Top 5 Family Travel Blogs on February 4th, 2009
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