5 tips for travel with kids
Traveling in and of itself can be a challenge, but try it with kids and the experience can make you wish you stayed home. With limited attention spans, picky food preferences, and a tendency to need routine, kids aren’t always the best travel companions, but with a little planning, a lot of patience, and a great sense of humor, it can be really worthwhile. Here are VirtualTourist.com’s Top Five Tips for Traveling with Children.
1) Involve kids in pre-trip planning. This is a great way to get kids excited about the process of travel and will allow them to be more invested once there. Let them in on the decision-making process by giving them a choice of three or four cities or activities that you’ve scouted out beforehand. This way, you won’t end up going on vacation with cartoon characters and they won’t end up listening to endless art lectures.
2) Make a big deal out of the plane ride. The plane ride can set the tone for a whole vacation so this is where to start building the excitement. Point out how the plane works, what the staff does and track how close you are to your destination throughout. Bring a special gift bag with a toy or book that can only be opened once you’re on the plane and if a tantrum starts to brew, nip it in the bud so it’s clear that kind of behavior won’t be tolerated all through the vacation.
3) Let people help you. Obviously, you don’t want to hand your baby over to some random person who offers to help you in the airport, but if a staff member of a hotel, restaurant or airline tries to help you with your luggage, get you a cab in the pouring rain, or make your life easier in any other way, let them. People in service industries are great about understanding when people need help, and can generally be trusted not to run away with your property.
4) Use the “One for Me, One for You” rule. Day after day of museum-going or church-hopping may be fascinating for an adult, but it isn’t much of a treat for a kid. By dividing the day into two parts and letting kids choose the morning activity and adults the afternoon jaunt, everyone will be happy.
5) Don’t try to predict what kids will like. Remember when you were little and someone gave you that toy in the huge box? Chances are you remember making a house out of the box more than you remember the toy. This is what most of travel is for kids. You can take them to the Louvre, and they’ll remember the street performers outside. Bring them to the changing of the guard and they’ll remember the fish ‘n chips they had beforehand. If something interests them, be indulgent and don’t try to force an interest just because you’ve come thousands of miles to see something.
By Giampiero Ambrosi, General Manager of VirtualTourist.com
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