With the holidays right around the corner, I thought I would share some of my favorite travel tips with you, especially traveling with kiddos. Recently we took the kiddos on their first real vacation and for Lele and Isabella it was their first flight. They all did great on the flights and behaved. We also have taken a few road trips to visit grandma and a trip to visit my family. Our road trips now look very different than our first road trip with them. 

Traveling in general starts before you actually leave. Yes I know booking and planning a vacation starts before actually leaving, but there are some important things to do before actually leaving on vacation. Get the kids involved in planning, they definitely want to help and be a part of it. 

Make a list of everything you need to pack, this is true even if it’s just you and your spouse. This is the first trip we didn’t forget anything. If a kid needs something certain to sleep with, make sure to put that on the list. Ours was a doll for Isabella and a dog for JJ. It might be a blanket but whatever it is, put it on the list. I have the kids pack their own backpacks with toys and anything else they wanted to bring for the plane ride or car ride. They knew they were carrying their own backpack. I also set reminders on my phone. See JJ can’t sleep without Ruff Ruff, so we had to make sure we grabbed him the morning we were flying out. We also started having him take his second favorite stuffed animal on vacation, that way if something happens he still has Ruff Ruff at home. I told him that Ruff Ruff needs to guard the house. 

No matter when we travel I always pack snacks for the plane, car and the hotel. This is one way we can save money traveling, plus I know what the kids are eating will be healthy, not junk food on the plane. I don’t know about you, but whenever we seem to travel in a car, the kids eat the whole time. In each of their backpacks they had their own bag or lunchbox of snacks and food. When they were done they were done. I also give them a bag for their trash, hoping not a lot lands on the floor. 

Don’t plan every minute of everyday. If you know me, you know that’s hard for me to say. I love to do a lot on vacation. We actually decided before we went to leave a lot of free time and to have some down time. We really didn’t know how the kids would adjust to a time change.

Plan for naps, especially with time zone changes. We were in a three hour time zone change, so taking naps was huge for us and the kids. Each day at least one of the kids needed a nap, but honestly most days it was all three of them. Let’s be real, even us adults need or want  a nap on vacation. 

Be present during the vacation. Take a break from social media and really unplug from work. I know this is so hard, but it is so important. While I love taking pictures, there are times I just don’t take pictures. Because I’m so caught up in the moment and wanting to see things through the kids’ eyes.

We love to hike and see new places. Hiking is such a great reminder of God’s beautiful Creation. The kids love to hike now, well JJ and Lele are more into hiking, than Isabella. Isabella always complains it is hot. She is such a dram queen.

That’s the Dish from My Kitchen to Your Kitchen 

Billie-Jo