Tips for Traveling with Kids

Nothing is so humbling as traveling with kids.

Think you have your life together? Got the perfect vacation schedule? Have you thought of everything to pack? The vacation gods laugh in your face and will throw every possible wrench in your neat schedule as possible!

So what is a family to do? Just never leave your town for 12 years? Hide in your house? Only go to places like Chuck E. Cheese? Those are all possibilities, but we like to be risk takers and dare to take our kids out in public!

We are not experts by any means. But B and I wholeheartedly believe if you want well-rounded kids who can handle themselves around different people, situations and places, travel is the best way to do that! So we are willing to take that risk! Here are some tips we have learned a long the way if you want to try to take your little ones out on the road!

Prepare, But Not Too Much:

Bring extra clothes, snacks, diapers, a few extra toys and blanket. But don't pack your babies' favorite high chair or the giant teddy bear that sits on their bed. One child should not have more than 1 bag (plus diaper bag)! Just remember-if you did forget something, you can always buy it on the road.

The last trip to Iowa we took both B and I totally forgot Dayne's bag sitting on our kitchen floor. Literally everything of hers was in that bag besides the diaper bag we had with a few diapers and wipes in it! And of course the little town we traveled to had no kids clothes! We did find a 7 year old girls cute blouse that she wore as a dress and no one knew the difference! And we got plenty of compliments on her "cute dress!" Did we freak out, just a little, but we knew we could just buy a new outfit for a day, some extra diapers, and everything would be ok. Which leads me to my next tip....

Go With The Flow:

Before kids, I loved a good schedule! When I traveled with friends, I told everyone where they needed to be, at what time, and what we were doing (I'm sure I was everyone's favorite travel companion!)

But having kids sure changes things! I mean, you can continue to try to be this way, but life will be SO MUCH EASIER if you can go with the flow! Remember, these little people with you all the time are KIDS! They are going to whine, cry for no reason, get delighted over the smallest things, take longer than you think, make a mess, be loud, and run! Go with it! So what they got ice cream all over their outfit-clean it and move on. So what they want to run through the zoo park-they are outside and they can burn some energy. Kids whine and cry-simply pick them up calmly and take them to the nearest exit so they can have their moment without disturbing others.

I try not to get worked up about these things, because I KNOW they will happen! They are kids and this is what they do. When you have kids, you are kind of setting yourself up for this kind of nonsense. So enjoy the circus while it's here. You can either hop on and enjoy the ride and laugh at the craziness, or swim upstream and try to fight their natural tendencies to be kids!

Make Time to "Wander Around"

When you take a vacation, you probably have a list of things to do and see. But word to the wise, choose one highlight per day and save plenty of time for things that pop up! It's always better to have some extra time for either rest or taking your time at a place then trying to rush from place to place.

Our family uses the "wander around" method at every vacation! We save at least half a day where all we do is wander around downtown, a park, a shopping area, a trail-SOMETHING! We want to be free to check out the area in our own way without having to visit the usual tourist areas. These days have been the most fruitful for our own family memories!

Keep a Travel Bag

Before we had kids we bought a nice book bag with our last name engraved on it. At the

time I'm not for sure why we did this! But now it's our official "travel bag!" This is mainly our 8-year-old's "guys"( what he calls his action figure toys), coloring books, activity books, headphones, card games, non-perishable snacks like beef jerky and granola bars, some candy (never underestimate a good candy bribe for your kids to behave!), magnets and dry erase markers.

This bag has been a life saver on longer car rides, but also great to take into restaurants so the kids have something to do while they wait for their food. Take it to the hotel for a playdate between activities. We never leave home without this bag!

Traveling with kids is not always easy, but it can be fun and the best way to make memories! What tips would you add to this?