Practical Tips for Better Family Trips

Keywords: family-friendly, travel

By Meryl D. Pearlstein

• Avoid travel during peak holiday periods if at all possible

• Pack a carry-on bag with (or bring in the car) plenty of diversions, snacks and drinks. Great boredom-busters, in addition to the standard coloring items and books to read, include stickers or Colorforms; MagnaDoodle or Etch-a-Sketch sets; travel versions of games; personal tape player with headphones and audiocassettes; and mini tubs of PlayDoh.

• Don’t book the bulkhead seats unless you need the floor space for a bassinet on an overnight flight. You won’t have anywhere to stow your carry-on gear except in the overhead bin.

• Time you travel to coincide with nap schedule

• Never assume that the airline, hotel, or resort (or even relatives) will have child-friendly food or special equipment. It’s far better to over pack than be caught without something essential.

• Baby-proof your hotel room or host’s home as soon as you arrive. Pay particular attention to window locks, glassware, ashtrays, electrical outlets, lamp cords, toiletries, and medicine.

• Try to establish familiar routines while away from home. Your child will handle the change of environment better if naps, meals, and bedtime occur as usual.

• Make an effort to connect with other families at your destination and to incorporate child-oriented activities and sites into your itinerary.

• Introduce new sleeping arrangements ahead of time. For example, put your toddler to sleep in the port-a-crib at home for a few nights before you leave; if siblings will be sharing a room for the first time, practice the new bedtime routine to get them used to it.

• Delay major transitions, such as weaning, potty-training, or going from crib to bed until after your trip.

• Don’t expect perfection from you family vacation. Keep it simple, try to be patient, and remember Murphy’s Law of travel with children: whatever can happen, will. Just wait until they’re teenagers and don’t want to go on the trip in the first place!

Traveling with her two sons and husband has given Meryl Pearlstein a chance to “live” all over the world, something she’s always longed to do. Meryl has been a writer from her earliest days on her junior high school newspaper,then working in marketing and advertising, and later as a travel publicist and travel writer. Meryl also drags her clan to restaurants throughout Manhattan where she critiques the ever-changing NYC food scene for Gayot.com. A Bostonian who remains true to the Red Sox despite her NYC residence, Meryl also writes for Fodor’s Guide to New York, and has written for www.ClubMom.com, the Boston Herald, Global Traveler, Fortune Small Business online, GQ, and New York Magazine.