How To Have A Fabulous Holiday With Children
As you are probably already aware, going on holiday comes with a lot of organizing and preparations. This fact is magnified when it comes to going away on holiday with children - it really is a game changer. You need to ensure that your destination is suitable for your little ones of varying ages and abilities. You will need to do all the packing too. You may need to make sure everything is the correct weight and packed according to the rules and regs if you are flying. You need to make sure that you have everything in accordance to their needs too. Another thing to consider is entertainment. Everyone knows traveling in a car for a long period of time can be trying with children, so you need your traveling arsenal fully loaded and ready. If you have a baby, you may need to take formula with you as there are no guarantees you'll be able to purchase the one you need while you are away. You may need to consider strategies to stop your baby from crying on the plane. We all know how stressful this can be! Another thing to think about is sickness. What happens if you or your children get ill while you are away? There is an awful lot to consider when you travel with children. As an adult, some of this you may be willing to risk, such as insurance, but with children, this is not wise. So, let's take a look at some ways you can ensure you have a fabulous holiday with your children.
Create a Holiday Checklist
As soon as you make that plan to go away, then, you should start preparing. To make sure you remember everything, it is wise to create a holiday checklist. A list of everything you need is one of the best ways to ensure that it all gets completed with time to spare. With the beauty of time, you will not be panicking, wondering if you have remembered it all. When you first create your list, it is likely that you will not think of everything you need. So you can add to it as things pop into your mind. Write down everything from the travel documents you need to the number of formula bottles you are going to need. You could stick this list to the fridge, or you can create a digital list using an app - this may be the preferred option if you have a habit of losing things! Whichever way works best for you. As you buy things or prepare things, you can tick items off, and the stress will fade away or never surface in the first place - that would be good. Lists created way ahead of time can help you manage everything and keep that calm and cool demeanor you are used to showing off.
The Destination
It is always a good idea to limit the time you take traveling. So, pick a destination that it relatively easy to get to, a short flight as opposed to a long flight. Start investigating great family holidays within an hour or two's flight, or drive away. There are so many family-friendly places these days that you will be spoilt for choice. If budget is a constraint for you, and you do not want to spend too long in queues, then you should steer clear of the large touristic places, at least during the peak season. Consider somewhere with a lot of activities, such as a great campsite where you can all go kayaking or hiking in the forests. Children will enjoy these activities, and at places like this, they generally have the facilities to look after your children while you and your partner have a romantic afternoon together. Wherever you eventually choose, the last thing you want is to be stressed out after an eight-hour flight and have to find more transport to whatever hotel you are staying at.
The Accommodation and Transport
You have far more choice than just simple hotels. Hotels are great, but are they suitable for you and your family? Perhaps you would be better off getting a holiday let house. This way, you are in a home away from home where you can cook; this may make it less expensive and can give you a lot more options. Maybe you could hire an RV, or even go camping with tents, as mentioned before. Will you also rely on public transport or is hiring a car a more sensible option? Take a look at the best auto transport companies for overseas destinations. If you can organize convenient transport that works for your whole family, it will make it a lot easier, and if anything does go wrong, you will feel far better about it.
Involve the Kids in the Decision Making
If you are brave enough, why not let the children have a hand in some of the decision-making? You could create a short list of destination choices for them to have the final say. Or maybe you could focus on the activities and ask them what they would prefer to do more, say hiking through the forests, or swimming in the sea, etc. Would they prefer a tent or a hotel, etc.? If the children feel like they have had a choice, they may well behave better, differently from how they would if you made all the decisions. You would also be able to say, "well, you chose this," or words to that effect. Also, perhaps you would give them some leeway on what you do while you are away, the restaurants you choose to go to, the sight-seeing adventures you do that day. A little power in this way will make them feel more adult.
The Packing
Holiday packing is always great fun, isn't it? Well, packing for you and your children can be even more fun. Ha, well, it is easy to get confused packing for a lot of different people. You need to find ways to divide up the clothes and make the whole affair a lot simpler. If you have never tried packing cubes, now is the time. These are a great way to divide the clothes up and help you find things far more easily. If you are going on holiday with your baby then perhaps you could choose cubes of different colors to make it easy to sot the right clothes straight away. Some of the cubes have windows on the side so you can see what is inside the bag, too, without having to open it all up. Another option is to put labels on the bags. Separate suitable for older children is a great idea, and can you trust them to pack their own things? Using a separate suitcase means it is easy to know where each child's clothes are. If you are feeling super organized, perhaps you could get fourteen bags for fourteen days for each and every one of you. When it comes to filling up the suitcases, it may be an idea to pack a few days before the trip to ensure that everything fits. Unpacking and repacking is a nightmare, especially if the flight is later that day or early the next morning.
Traveling Accessories
Depending on where you go, you may not be able to just pick up this or that, or perhaps you fon t want to risk it. If you are going to a campsite far away from the beaten track, you cannot guarantee that the campsite shop will have certain items that you personally need every day. Wherever you are going, it may be in your best interests to find out just what exactly you can get hold of and what you need to take with you. Wherever you are going you will need to need a few essentials. If you are going to be traveling with a baby, you are going to need a baby carrier. Pretty much all airports require this as well as the plant itself. They are also a great shout if you are going to be using the trains. A travel cot is another thing to remember. How about some reusable water bottles, phone chargers, and a portable speaker is great for sitting about ?Consider all the accessories you might need, make a list of them and start buying them..
The Entertainment
When it comes to children, you are going to need entertainment. You cannot expect them to sit quietly for a few hours while you drive here and there and have a few films loaded onto a tablet, for example.Games are a great idea too. Do you have a few portable games like cards, a game of snap for younger children, and how about teaching older ones some poker? There are actually hundreds of games out there that you can buy. So, get researching and find some that are suitable for your family and all their different ages. You will not regret it on those long nights.