Travel Tips for Moms with Kids
By Mommy Donna and Kib - September 05, 2017
Traveling can be both fun and stressful. While it is true that taking a time-off from your job will give you a fresh perspective, it'll also make you feel tired because you need to maximize your time while you're in another place. Worse, you might encounter some problems like lost baggage, delayed flights, running out of cash, getting lost in another place, getting sick in a foreign land, among others.
In addition, traveling is a lot different when you travel with a child!
My son and I have already been to several places. Friends admire our travel adventures because we were able to have fun even with just the two of us in a different place. It takes guts to travel with a child and do freestyle. Even if we already had been to several places, we still encounter difficulties. Indeed, each and every travel is unique.
 |
| My forever travel buddy |
The usual problem that I always encounter every time we travel is packing our stuff. It's difficult to pack light when you travel with a child! I always have a problem packing our luggages because I have to pack for two people and I want to bring a lot of things, waaah! Even if we have already travelled for several times, I still cannot master the art of packing light, huhu.
Second, a child's energy is different from an adult. A child can walk a bit slow or might run when excited. A child may not be able to stay energetic the whole day and needs to have a short nap to regain his/her energy. A child's behavior might change while on travel. It's very difficult to pacify a cranky child especially when you are in an unfamiliar territory. A child might get thirsty and hungry, so better prepare to have enough budget for food. A child might sweat a lot so better to bring extra clothing and towel to wipe off sweat.
 |
| "Mommy, I'm tired, let's sit for awhile, I want to take a short nap" |
Putting all of these possible problems that may occur during your vacation, it is very important to be ready especially if you will travel to a faraway place.
I know you have read a lot of travel tips from online magazines and blogs, but I will try my best to give you other tips that will help you when you travel with your young ones. The travel tips that I'm going to give is based on our travel experiences and now I'm sharing it with you.
1. Bring an empty water tumbler. Water is a precious commodity and it can be very expensive to purchase bottled water in another place. If the place that you will stay at has a water dispenser, fill your water tumbler and bring your water tumbler while going on a tour. If there's an electric kettle available in your hotel room, boil water and let it cool so that you can have water to drink.
 |
| Refilling our water bottle at Ocean Park |
2. Bring some food. This can help you recharge your energy especially if you are traveling on a budget. You can bring cookies, crackers, candies, coffee, chocolate drink, cup noodles, just any food that you can be easily consumed and prepared. Do not bring chips because it is bulky inside your luggage.
3. Prepare your child about your vacation. It is also very important to let the kid know your itinerary during your trip. You do not want a cranky kid in the middle of your trip. Also, let your child know the name of your hotel so that if he/she gets lost--we hope not--he/she can ask help to bring him/her to your hotel. If you will only have local vacation, let him/her memorize your mobile number. Let him/her bring something to entertain him/her while waiting at the airport/bus station, like a book or his/her favorite toy.
4. Bring sunblock and rechargeable fan. Hand fans are more portable than rechargeable fans, but with the global warming, the air that that hand fans produce isn't enough to relieve you from scorching heat. In addition, since you will be outdoors most of the time, better to apply sunblock so that you won't get sunburned.
5. Bring powerbanks and extension cord. Your gadgets might get drained in the middle of the day documenting your trip, so better to have a powerbank handy so you can still take photos and videos for the rest of the day. There might not be enough power outlets in your hotel room, so better to bring an extension cord as well.
 |
| Recharging our gadgets and powerbanks inside our hotel room |
6. Bring several gadgets. Mobile phones, digicams, tablet--all gadgets that can take photos and videos during your trip. Use all of them so that your photos during your trip will be distributed and not just confined in one gadget. You might never know, your gadget suddenly might malfunction during your trip or gets lost or gets stolen--if any of these situations happen, it's heartbreaking that you lost memories of your vacation. You can also encourage your child to take his/her own photos during vacation too.
 |
| My son accidentally deleted all the photos on my digicam while we were in Hongkong |
 |
| I encouraged Kib to also take photos during our trip |
7. Try to stay on your pocket money budget. While it is tempting to break the bank during your vacation, try not to use your credit card during your vacation. Do not overspend. You might not have enough cash to last for the rest of your trip.
8. Discourage your child to play digital games while on vacation. Your vacation is intended for you to enjoy the place and not to play computer games. I got upset at my son while we were in Hong Kong recently because he was playing with his tablet instead of seeing the sights. I said, "If you will just play your gadget, we could've just stayed at home and not go on vacation anymore." Let him/her play with gadgets while waiting at the airport or when you're already in your hotel room, but when you're outside, encourage your child to enjoy the scenery more.
Now that I've already given you tips, are you now ready to travel with your kid? Tell me about your adventure next time, okay?!
0 comments