Tips for Traveling with Kids

Maybe you enjoyed travelling before you had kids or it’s something new you want to do with your family. Either way, travelling with your kids is a rich experience that will shape your family, challenge you, create many memories, and help you and your kids grow in new ways.

It’s a privilege, to be sure. But travel is something we also choose to invest in. We budget for it each year in order to make it happen, even if it means tying up our expenses elsewhere in our lifestyle.

I hadn’t travelled a great deal before having children, though I had been backpacking in the Caribbean, Costa Rica (solo) and Nepal, with a few trips in my youth to Mexico and Trinidad. Most of these were backpacking trips, which I think helped to prepare me for the more adventurous type of travelling I’ve done with my kids. Backpacking requires a certain amount of independence and resourcefulness—two skills that I think have served me the most as I’ve hauled my children to various corners of the globe.

Exploring on Easter Island. Photo: Paul Zizka.

I’ve travelled with kids aged 5 months to 9 years. As a family of three, we travelled to New Zealand, French Polynesia, Belize, Bermuda, and various Hawaiian Islands. Since our youngest joined the family in 2018 (and as of the time of writing this piece) we’ve been back to Hawaii, Chile/Easter Island, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, Costa Rica, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia (the last four on a road trip through the Western Balkans).

I wish it was easy to distill all the hard-earned knowledge from this collection of trips into easy-to-digest tips. I could write a whole book about the ins and outs. Here’s my best stab at giving you the basics!

1/ Learn by Doing

The best way to learn how to travel with kids, and actually enjoy it, is to just GO. Prepare as much as you can, but then just be open and ready to adjust on the fly. You’ll begin to develop a ‘second brain’ for all things travel: essentials to pack, items to have handy, things you can leave behind, how to find the food that suits your family, as well as the best arrangement for accommodations. Every family has their own style, as well as budget, which greatly affects things. Don’t let fear hold you back!

2/ Passports

In Canada, children’s passports expire after 5 years, and you can’t renew them; you can only reapply. Give yourself ample time to renew them and be sure to do it before there are 6 months left before the passport expires. Some destinations won’t accept passports that expire within 6 months. Check your country’s regulations on this.

3/ Immunizations

Depending on where you are going, you may need to get additional immunizations for your kids, and/or ask if their routine childhood shots can be adjusted. Be sure to do this about two months in advance, as some shots need to be given a month prior to leaving. Be sure to consult with a travel clinic about any immunizations you may need, as well (breastfeeding mamas will need to see what’s safe on that side).

4/ Booking Accommodations

Consider what your needs are and how long you are travelling for when you are booking your accommodations. Your arrangement will affect you, so take some time to weigh your options and figure out what will work best for your family. When we first started to travel, we could only afford a one-bedroom apartment or hotel room. This left us with nowhere to hang out when our daughter was sleeping. Some places had porches we could access without disturbing her, or kitchens separate from the room where we could cook a late dinner.

Our favourite setup now is a self-catered apartment with at least two bedrooms, enough beds for everyone, and a separate kitchen/living room. For us, it’s worth the extra expense to have space. I use Airbnb a lot, as well as Booking.com, which has fantastic cancellation policies.

Depending on your needs, ask to check in early or check out late if it’ll make things easier for you. Many proprietors will be more than happy to accommodate you.

Moai at Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island. Photo: Paul Zizka.

5/ The Essentials

These items will change depending on the ages of your children. The only real essentials are things you can’t buy at the destination where you’re going, such as passports, credit cards, driver’s license, medications, favourite stuffed animals, English language books, etc. I don’t recommend leaving behind anything you can buy overseas, of course, but it’s always nice to know you can buy it if needed. Keeping this in mind takes the pressure off if you’re worried about forgetting something important.

6/ Packing

I usually use a suitcase or two, as well as large duffel bags. I pack a size-appropriate backpack for my kids to carry. I pack anything they’ll want on the plane into the backpacks, and the rest goes into luggage. I really love packing cubes for sorting the kids’ clothing. For layovers, I try to pack all essentials into a single bag so that we only need to open one.

These are the main categories I use when I’m packing:

ID/Cash/Cards.
Clothing (especially extra underwear, pants and socks while travelling with little ones).
Outerwear, if needed.
Hats and sunglasses.
Appropriate footwear/sandals.
Toiletries/Medications/Sunscreen.
Diapers/Pull-Ups and Wipes (those ‘buy it there’ items but it’s nice to have a stash).
Toys/Crafts/Books.
Entertainment (iPads, etc.).
Adapters.
Comfort Items (stuffed animals, blankets).
Snacks.

Other items I love to have:

Waterproof, zip-up laundry bag (this is our fav).
Noise-cancelling headphones (at least one parent can sleep in without noise!)
A white-noise machine for the kids’ room.
Ear plugs (are you catching on to a trend here?)

7/ Snacks + Food on the Go

For airplane transit, I put a few snacks in each backpack and have a bigger stash in one of the adults’—all packed into a giant Ziploc so that things are easy to see. Snacks include dried fruit, yogurt-covered raisins, cheese strings, granola bars, chocolate-covered nuts, small oranges, and gummies. In the past I’ve brought too many snacks; you can always buy some at the airport or on board if you really need to.

For car travel, I have a larger shopping bag with more options in it, such as crackers, whole fruit, chips, and nuts. Often, I’ll have items for a quick picnic, such as bread and jam, honey or Nutella.

Always, always have bottles of water handy!

When we’re out exploring, we have snacks in our bags or pockets. Food is a great incentive while travelling, and can help kids cope when plans change, you’re waiting for a bus, or they just need a little pick-me-up.

Restock on hard-to-find items as you see/need them.

8/ Car Seats

I have gotten this question a lot: “Do I bring a car seat?” It depends on how old your kids are and where you are going. With a baby, we brought our car seat, as it was reasonably lightweight and could clip into the car using the seat belt. Toddler seats get heavier and heavier, so we opt to rent those at the car rental agency (just beware they may not be up to North American “5-point harness” standards). We otherwise bring our booster seat, because it’s small enough to stuff into our luggage. And, occasionally, we don’t bring or rent a car seat at all, if we’ll only be on public transportation (bus/taxi). This is just the way it goes; in some of the places where you’d most want a car seat, it’s just not feasible or the local custom. This is a risk you’ll need to decide if you’re comfortable with.

9/ “Accidents”

Always have extra underwear, pants, socks and shirt and a plastic bag handy. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve needed to use our backup, whether we just couldn’t get to a bathroom in time, our kids regressed due to the changing environment, or someone was a victim of motion sickness. If you’re travelling with a baby, I recommend you pack an extra shirt too!

10/ Strollers and Child Carriers

We try our hardest not to use a stroller while travelling. It’s worked wonders in helping our kids adapt to walking and hiking for longer distances (plus we carry/piggyback when needed!) For babies and infants, I highly recommend bringing a soft carrier and/or a baby backpack. Strollers are cumbersome and tie up your hands. The only time we brought a stroller was when our youngest was too small to walk far and too big to carry (such as in Ireland and Malta when she was a year and a half). We brought our soft carrier on that trip for hiking.

11/ Toys + Crafts + Books

We bring small toys, such as card games, that can easily fit into a Ziploc. Toy cars would also fit the bill here. Otherwise, I bring colouring books, a pad of blank paper and brand new markers, and these are always well used by our kids (age 3+). Now that my kids are older, I bring plastic string (gimp) and pony beads, too. Mostly, we keep our toys to a minimum. This is something you can always buy if you need to!

For books, we bring 5-6 soft books for bedtime and a chapter book for our oldest (though we’ve moved to having her read on the iPad so we can save space and weight. If you’re heading to an English-speaking destination, you can buy books. If not, you’ll want to bring or download them.

I charge the iPads and download games and movies in advance, which is a lifesaver. I’m not going to lie, having a tablet for each kid is a gift. We of course monitor our kids’ usage, but on those longer travel days they really help.

Beach toys are something we tend to purchase upon arrival and then we either bring them home or leave them at the apartment rental for the next kids.

12/ Jet Lag + Big Transit

You’ll be surprised at how well kids do with huge travel days, though of course be ready for the odd meltdown. My biggest tip on this is to keep your plans very low-key for your first few days, especially if you have a time change. Try to get onto the local time zone as quickly as possible, but let them nap for a short time if needed. It takes almost a week to adjust, and this is why we usually plan trips of at least three weeks in order to maximize our time once we’ve settled in.

Jetlag is a tricky one with babies, but my experience is to let them sleep when they want to, and graze on snacks throughout the day until they naturally fall into a rhythm and routine again. Try to move their bedtime incrementally earlier or later as you need to and gradually they will adjust. Unfortunately, they just can’t sleep and eat on demand!

Another tip for longer flights: in planes with a row of three, book the two outer seats. If the middle seat ends up filling, that person will gladly switch for a window or aisle. But, otherwise, you’ll be left with an extra seat (which has happened for us many times!)

Huahine, French Polynesia. Photo: Paul Zizka.

13/ Work as a Team

If you have a partner to travel with, keep your communication lines open. Need a break? Just ask for one! Give each other time to explore without the kids. Take turns sleeping in (you’ll need it!) You can also ‘divide and conquer,’ so that you can do age-appropriate activities. Our kids are five years apart, so we split up for certain activities. That way the oldest kid doesn’t miss out.

If you’re a solo parent, consider bringing a friend or grandparent along. We have travelled many times with a grandparent, and it has worked wonders for our family. Having a third adult keeps the kids outnumbered, so everyone can relax a bit more. Occasionally, my husband and I have escaped for a dinner out or even overnight at a local hotel. Such a treat when you don’t get much couples time otherwise!

14/ Keeping Kids Happy

Kids are incredibly adaptable but they may push back amidst all the changes and uncertainties. We try to balance out of days with something familiar (familiar food, iPad time, a playground) and something new, such as a beach to explore and historic landmarks (ie. something the adults will enjoy!) If our kids are doing well, we may be out exploring the whole day. We use rainy days for downtime.

I’ve discovered kids are easily incentivized, and the older they get the more they’ll appreciate the new things they are seeing. Don’t be disappointed if their reaction doesn’t match yours! I remember visiting Irish castles for a day and at the end of it, our daughter drew a hot chocolate with marshmallows in her travel journal—her personal highlight. It’ll come with time. For now, you’re helping them acclimatize to the rhythms of travel.

15/ Hopes High, Expectations Low

This is a mantra for life, in general, and especially for travelling with kids. You likely can’t travel the way you used to, kid-free. Keep your schedule light and if things are going well, you can tack on more! Ease your way into things, and gradually build up the length and intensity of your itinerary according to your growing confidence and the kids’ experience.

Build in things you know they’ll love, like a beach, waterpark, or ice cream stop, and you’ll give yourself some leverage when you need to push them.

16/ Take Note

When you get home take note of items you didn’t use on your trip, and file that away for the next time. I’ve gotten to the point where there is very little I don’t use on a trip. Sometimes you can’t know what weather you’ll have and you’re better off bringing the items you think you’ll need, but if you see you’ve overpacked, make some notes for next time!

That concludes my major tips, but I will say one more thing. We’ve made a lot of mistakes while we’re travelling, had some terrible accommodations (nightmarish, actually), dealt with sickness and injuries, and shed some tears of frustration along the way. We’ve also had the most joyful moments of our lives, lots of laughs, a chance to bond with our kids, and some memories to last a lifetime. It all comes with the territory. Over time, you can reduce the ‘bad moments’ (especially those due to bad planning), and as your kids get older, everything gets easier.

Stay patient, brush things off quickly, avoid blaming each other, and move on. Be ready to go with the flow and you’ll have an amazing time.

Got questions? Please comment below! I’ll write back or update the piece for you. If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them!

Meghan J. Ward is a writer based in Banff, Canada, and the author of Lights to Guide Me Home (coming Sept ‘22), a travelogue/memoir about her own journey into a life of adventure and her trips around the world with her kids in tow.

Tips for Travelling Abroad with Children