Whenever we speak of travelling with kids the first thing that comes in our mind is the food, health, packing, and so on of kids. Travelling has a lot of benefits, for both the parents and children, however how do you make this travel without any hassles is the point.
In fact, the best gift you can give your children is to take them to different places so that they experience a lot of new things which can be treasured for their whole life.
For this all you need to do is focus on involving the children during the whole travel starting right from planning through your travel and return.
Travelling With Kids – The Initial Phase
Planning and Budgeting
The most important phase of travelling is planning and budgeting. Get your kids involved right from this phase. If the kids are older, talk to them about the travelling budget.
While discussing about the budget, also allow them to think about the detailed budget like cost for transportation, accommodation, food, tickets and souvenirs.
They can also be given additional job of reserving tickets, find out the time taken to reach the destination and plan the activities to be done on each day spent during vacation (like visiting places, joy rides, etc.,).
If the kids are small, give them few options about what they want to do during the trip.
Note: Set some limit in the budget for souvenirs so that they know what to expect and what not to while shopping.
Preparing for the D-Day
While travelling, children tend to get bored. Here are certain things you need to keep ready on the day of travel.
- The first thing to do is to pack snacks and a variety of entertainment. Allow the children to select snacks of their choice but at the same time see to it that the snacks are travel safe and don’t make them travel sick.
- Plan to travel when the kids are sleepy and halt when they are energetic.
- When you select a destination, make sure to research beforehand about the history and culture of that place. Also, encourage the children to read about those places. If the kids are small, then narrate stories with the destination as backdrop.
- Always have supplies like tissue on hand. Also, keep them hydrated.
- If the travel is long distance, then allow some break time to get refreshed.
Children need to be engaged all the time
A trip becomes memorable and full of fun only when both the parent and the child are involved. So, always ask questions and keep them involved.
- When they are questioned about the new environment, they start looking outside rather than tied up with their gadgets.
- Ask them to document their view about the new place in a journal. This triggers their sense of feeling, seeing and hearing. It is also a good idea to give them a disposable camera to capture the events of the memorable trip.
- If the kids are small, this is right time to inculcate new habits like trying out a new type of food or enjoying a walk.
- If your kid is one with special needs, then they might find travelling a bit unfamiliar and scary. In that case, talk to them about the travel and what would be expected during the whole phase of travel.
Say, for example, if you are travelling by flight, talk to the child about the security check. This will ensure that the child appropriately behaves at that time.
It’s All about Experience
While it requires lot of energy and patience to travel with the kids, it is finally a fantastic life experience. The children get the opportunity to experience a different environment and learn about different people and cultures. It also creates a special bonding between the parents and children.
