Traveling With Kids: Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst
Traveling has always been one of my greatest passions. Although I don’t come from a wealthy background, my family did a good job taking me to cool places when I was a kid. Granted, we didn’t cross half the world for a summer vacation and a cold, snowy destination in the winter was something I probably didn’t even know existed, but I went to Disneyland in Paris (I am from Portugal) when I was ten and I treasure my memories from that and other trips to this day.
I started traveling by myself in my late teens/early twenties. I was always on the lookout for student exchange programs across Europe, temporary scholarships or work trips and ended up, as my family expected all along, leaving my home country to live abroad. Then I met my husband: a total travel junkie, who made my itch to see the world even worse!
We traveled to dozens of countries together and separately. We saw countless landscapes, experienced amazing cultures, tried different cuisines and ended up becoming avid skiers in the winter, passionate scuba divers in the summer. We wanted to do it all. And we did it.
We promised each other we would travel the world with our future children from a very early age — kids adapt, they will love it, we will love it, it will be amazing! Picture perfect, in our minds.
Then we became parents. And the pandemic hit. And we had a second child. All of this in just two years. Traveling the world was, for a very long time, the least of our desires. Slowly, though, we started getting back on track. So much so that we got to the point where we are now frequently asked for advice from friends and acquaintances — how do they sleep? What about the jet lag? How do you entertain them on a plane? And so on and so forth.
I decided to compile our five most important learnings so far on how to travel with small children. Please bear in mind our kids are one and two years old, so when I say small children, I really mean it.
1- The plane ride will most likely be terrible. Expect the kids to be restless, to refuse to sleep or eat, to scream and cry and be extremely noisy. Expect to be exhausted and for everyone on the plane to hate you. And then be surprised, relieved and excited when you realize it was not that bad. Don’t get me wrong: it will still be tough. But because your expectations were so very low, it will turn out to feel like a piece of cake.
2- Be nice, but not apologetic. Your children have the right to be on that plane. Of course, they don’t have the right to kick people’s chairs or run up and down the halls during the night, so your job as a parent becomes even more important (and exhausting, by the way). But please, don’t feel like you have to apologize to anyone for being on that plane. Or for existing, in general.
3- On a similar note: more people than you expect will be kind and lend a hand, should you need it. Turns out that A LOT of people already had small children and they understand your struggle. I’ve had fellow passengers singing to entertain my children and, for that brief moment, renewing my faith in humanity.
4- Jet lag is worse for adults than for kids. They truly adapt. Just keep them on the same routine (nap schedule, meals, bedtime), regardless of where they are. If they need an extra nap because of the time zone, do it. If they eat cookies for dinner, so be it. Do whatever works for your family and trust the process: kids are really fantastic (when they want to, of course).
5- It will be worth it. Very different from when you traveled by yourself, for sure: most likely you’ll be on a schedule now, you have to plan meals, naps and you probably won’t stay at the cheapest hostel in town. But your kids — even if they’re little like mine — will love the experience and they will have fun.
Bonus: Many people keep telling me they don’t travel with young children because the kids will never remember it. My answer is always the same: they may not remember, that’s true; but I certainly will.
