My 5 Family Vacation Travel Tips to Save Your Sanity
Are you ready to take your kids on vacation and hoping to keep your sanity? After years of traveling with my kids, I’ve learned a few things. You’ll enjoy your vacation much more if you keep these family travel tips in mind.
Don’t Overbook
One of the biggest mistakes I think I’ve made sometimes in our family travels, has been trying to do too much! Our first trip to Disneyland I had a detailed plan of the day for when we’d go on which rides, and planned to orchestrate the whole day minute by minute.
Well, about an hour into my plan, everyone was stressed and not having fun. Lizzy wanted to go on Alice, and it wasn’t on the schedule yet, so I wanted us to move on. Finally Paul said enough, and I finally clued in.
Now I try to schedule a “nothing day” during our trip. This is a day when we have no plans to be anywhere or do anything. We typically spend it sleeping in, enjoying an extra long breakfast, hanging out at the pool, and checking out anything that’s captured our interest so far in our location.
It might feel like a wasted day, but I would say absolutely not. It allows all of us to recharge, regroup, and relax; which is really important for a family vacation!
First Aid Kit
This is another tip from experience. Bring along a little first aid kit of all the meds you might need at home for your child.
Kids Tums is one of our most useful packed items. Eating new foods and having a change in environment can often play havoc on little ones’ systems.
Make sure you have fever meds, sore throat/cough drops, a thermometer, tummy meds, bug bite cream, and even something for ear aches. When you’re dealing with a sick kiddo, it’s much easier (and better for them) to have a solution at hand than trying to drive someplace to find it (especially internationally).
Kid’s Choice
While family travel doesn’t have to all be about your kids, it’s still nice to include them in the trip plans or details. One way you can do this is to have them help you plan; maybe let them choose which hotel you’ll stay at after you’ve narrowed down to a list of acceptable properties.
Or perhaps you’ll let them choose between some activity options if you don’t have time to do them all. Another way to prevent sibling fighting is to let a child be the King or Queen of the day. That child then gets to help navigate or make choices for the day, like where to go next or where to eat.
This is especially nice when you’re at a theme park and each kid wants to eat at a different place or ride a different ride; whoever is King/Queen for the day gets to pick.
Of course you can also split the day into hour blocks if you have a popular attraction and need to share the day amongst the kids, or if you have a few kids and don’t want to have too many kid choice days.
Food
Here’s a HUGE one for families. Food. Kids get grumpy, and so can adults, when they’re hungry. It is so important to make meal time and snacks a priority on your vacation planning.
Make sure you always have snacks on hand in case there’s a delay or event that doesn’t allow you to eat on a regular schedule. Having your own travel snacks at the ready will also help reduce costs so you’re not stopping to buy snacks everyday.
I sometimes add some favorite snacks to our suitcases, or we swing by a store at our destination to pick some up. Another part of this is to know where you’re going to eat, or at least have an idea.
Early in our travels we wouldn’t have a plan and it wasn’t until after we started getting hungry that we’d start to look. Then you’re met with having to find a place, and having a possible wait, and pretty soon you’ve been starving for 2 hours.
Kids do not do well in those circumstances, so figure out the meal stuff in advance. This could mean that you plan where you want to eat before you even take your trip, or it could mean at 4 pm you discuss and decide where you’ll go for dinner at 6.
Accept the Unexpected
I’m taking a bit of a play on the traditional “expect the unexpected” tip that many of us family travel bloggers give. When I say accept the unexpected, it just means to go with the flow. From sick kiddos to missed flights, and bad hotels to bad food, things can and probably will go wrong during your family vacation.
However, it’s how you react and deal with it that will impact your vacation, possibly even more than the actual problem. If you let the issue rile you up and you fret about it the rest of the trip, all you’ve done is lost some of the joy you could have been having. My advice is to deal with it, and move on to enjoying all the other parts of your limited vacation.
Another reason for this is that your kids will be watching how you react to situations and problems, so show them how to handle things with control and kindness. Find and embrace the joyful moments that are found while traveling with your family.
There you have it, my top 5 family vacation travel tips! I hope they’ve helped you prepare for traveling with your kids, or just encouraging you that family travel is great!
Now, here’s your chance to hop around and read some more great family vacation travel tips:
How to Plan a Multigenerational Vacation
How to Raise a Good Traveler from We3Travel
20 Best Travel Tips from ytravelblog
Tips for Using Lyft and Uber with Kids from Trips with Tykes
Tips for Traveling with Kids from Global Munchkins
Tips for Flying with a Baby / Toddler from Travel Mamas
Shannon at 100 Routes Across America
Francesca at The Working Mom’s Travels
Leave time everyday for some free time, no plans.
I love your tip about bringing a first aid kit. That’s something I will definitely remember to pack on our next trip.
With eight grandchildren , I am always ready for the worst.. I always make sure to bring extra of everything, wet wipes, diapers, food, clothing, and plenty of water.. I don’t believe in soda or junk food so that is usually the only thing that I will stop at a store in the local area to buy , fresh fruit and vegetables..
For our trip to Disney World, snack time was a chance to slow down and sit down. Yay for snacks!
Let everyone pick a activity they enjoy
bring plenty of snacks!
Family tip- have a gps on your phone as well as the car.
Don’t forget the drugs. It’s always a good idea to travel with some children’s Tylenol (or whatever you prefer) so that you don’t have to worry about tracking down a drug store in a strange neighborhood
My best family travel tip is to have healthy snacks, lots of water and books, games, etc. to keep the kids entertained when they get bored.
Each person has his or her own bag/backpack with water bottle, ear buds/headphones, cell phone charger, tablet (for the younger one), snacks, and books.
We also freeze water bottles and use them in place of ice in our cooler. When it melts, we have cold drinking water and it keeps things from getting soggy! The cooler helps us save money on food and helps us pickier family members stay happy. :)
Finally, we always look for hotels with a pool so that the kids can burn off some energy. We pack suction cup hooks that we can attach to the shower wall so that the swimsuits can hang and dry.
I find “Accept the Unexpected” most useful.
Be flexible and have a back-up plan in case of bad weather.
My best tip is to pack a lot of snacks on a car trip.
make EVERYONE potty again right before you walk out the door
Planning ahead is so important, but it’s also important to be flexible. It’s great to have a plan but you have to be willing to stray away from it depending on the kid’s moods/interests!
My best tip is to pack a lot of snacks for the ride and activities for the kiddos!
Don’t pack so much to do into your vacation that you need a vacation from the vacation!
My best family travel tip is to have a schedule but be flexible. We stopped buying tickets to attractions for a pre-set time and date. Nap times change, kids get burnt out or bad weather happens. Don’t waste money booking everything in advance only to have to cancel and do something different!
My tip would be to pack healthy snacks for the trip. I know whenever I’m on the road, I tend to eat a lot of unhealthy junk food so having healthier snacks already with you could keep you from buying that bag of chips or burger and fries.
My tip is be organized and ready to go and RELAX.
Don’t try to do too much in one day.
Always have a buddy system so that no one gets lost.
I always, ALWAYS bring one “emergency” outfit for each kid and adult, I pack them in gallon sized ziploc baggies so that any accidents or messes are contained once you have the fresh clothes on. This has proven a lifesaver on more than one occassion and saves the trouble of digging through the luggage when you need a quick change due to mishap or adventure.
Know where the hospitals are in case of an emergency or accident
bring coloring books and crayonsfor down time
Have a plan and schedule mapped out but don’t be afraid to deviate from it.
thanks for the great ideas, I have the one about knowing where you are going to eat first. We are going to travel for the first time since we have had our last daughter. She has life threatening allergies to MANY things and that got me thinking I should call and have a list of restaurants in the area that will me safe for us to eat at!!! Thanks!!
Plan ahead as much as you can…then be willing to change along the way if necessary.
Bring toys/books to entertain the kids on long plane rides (better than electronics the whole ride!)
I always travel at night with my darlings. When the girls were babies and my son was 5 I would feed them dinner, bathe them, put them in their car seats in jammies and drive 12 hours straight to Grandma’s house! They sleep all night, mom jams to music and drives in peace!
Let the kids help plan the trip. You end up at interesting places and see things that are often over looked.
My tip is to keep an emergency contact list, and also remember to bring snacks and activities to keep the kids entertained.
It is always good to have a flexible travel itinerary.
Bring activities for the kids
Make sure the kids are well rested and don’t cram too much into a day
use groupon, let the kids help choose things to do and make sure you don’t cram too much in to one day or a short trip for that matter.
Plenty of snacks & music if it’s a road trip!
Be organized, so you don’t lose or mix your things up! And for entertainment on those long road or plane trips, download as many movies, games, books, etc. into your electronic devices to keep yourself and the kids busy!
Definitely do not overbook a trip! If you are doing somewhere that you are 1000% sure that you are never going to visit again, then pick your top three or five things you absolutely have to see or do and plan for those, otherwise be flexible. Having a “do nothing” day is great, especially so you don’t feel like you need a vacation from your vacation.
I agree so much with Don’t Overbook. You can’t do everything and if you try everyone is exhausted & cranky.
Bring snacks and a lot of patience to deal with the kids fighting in the back seat.
If it is a road trip, we plan to drive no more than 125 miles per day…So I plan for frequent breaks and stops that may interest us. Giving time for wiggles and less car time.
Plan things to as much of a “t” as possible, snacks, entertainment, and something to remind the little ones of home.
My tip is to pack lots of snacks and age appropriate toys/books etc as well as devise some travel games
My best tip for traveling with kids is to be flexible and don’t get too stuck on doing every single thing that you had planned on doing/seeing. Just go with the flow because the kids always seem to have a blast even if all they do is go to the beach every day.
Take plenty of snacks and toys or games for the road or between activities.
Plan for some down time between activities
When going on an extra long car ride, stop somewhere with a playground to eat and play.
Have plenty of snacks and water.
Allow extra time so you can get out and stretch and explore
You need to allow yourself enough time when traveling or you will not enjoy the trip.
Wonderful tips! Allowing your kids to pick certain activities and restaurants can keep them happy. Thanks for sharing!
Helpful for family travel tips, Thanks.