In less than a week we head to the States for a big trip to see my family and friends (almost six weeks ? includes international flights, train travel down the East Coast with stops and a road trip up the East Coast with further stops). I thought it would be a good time to document all things family ?travel related to help other families and perhaps inspire a few people to tackle international travel with kids.
Having parents both born overseas our kids both had passports ordered when they were newborns. Our oldest daughter?s first trip was to New York with me when she was 3 months old. We have done everything from long haul international flights to three months spent in an SUV driving through five European countries (covering over 10,000 km). We have traveled with kids from every stage of development from 3 month old infant to primary school age and all that it brings ? nappies and breastfeeding through to carrying your own bags!
This post will cover planning for an international trip. I will also draft some posts with tips for air travel with kids, how to help kids get the most out of (often expensive) overseas trips and more. If you have any topics you would like me to cover please let me ?know in the comments or via email as I would love to share what people actually want to know about.
Research your destinations
- know at least a few restaurants ? having eaten at the worst possible restaurant in Paris after visiting Notre Dame I regret skipping this step for the Paris part of our big trip.
- know what is open and closed ? nothing worse than getting to a town and finding out that Wednesday is the day they close museums or a big attraction is closed for renovations or requires tickets in advance
- is anything special going on (festivals, things the place is known for) ? there are pros and cons ? one of my worst French experiences was when we inadvertantly ended up in a beautiful city for their biggest music festival ? steel drums playing outside your window at 3am are not a good recipe for a family holiday
- how best to get around ? you might not need that car hire if there is great public transport, a trolley or things are walking distance from your hotel. On this upcoming US trip we selected cities and hotels that allowed us to be without a car for our train travel stops.
- what is a good area to book accommodation in ? some areas that are cool and hip or well known might be less than safe or family friendly
- investigate the parking situation if you will have a car -we would not have chosen one hotel that had parking available if we had realised it was numerous blocks from the hotel, impossible to find even with GPS and meant carrying our bags through an unfamiliar area.
Research accommodation carefully
- Read descriptions carefully and ask questions if not clear ? at the French hotel with the music festival it was also a centrally located (but parking was two blocks away in a mega car park) and groovy (but not kid friendly) apartment that required a key pad code that did not work.
- what is the bed situation- in this case the supposed two bedrooms were actually a studio style with a loft bed above that was accessed by an unanchored ladder and had access to the shower below (if you fell out of bed!). We only discovered this after opening the closet thinking it was the other bedroom. In another case our accommodation was two unconnected rooms in a ?B and B where we ended up having the kids sleep in our room on a mattress. If you are not in standard hotels clarify every detail.
- bathrooms ? do you need a bathtub or will a shower do, is the bathroom in your room
- curtains- amazingly some places overseas do not have substantial window coverings ? Europe in summer means it is often light at 10pm ? one hotel with sheer curtains found me hanging clothes and towels from the curtain bar
- what is included ? If ?you have a family of 5 breakfast included can be a huge factor
Pre-planning details
You need to organise everything from travel insurance to ensuring everyone?s passports have at least 6 months validity on them. A tip on travel insurance is to check with your credit card company. In our case we have a good card that includes international insurance so long as a certain percentage of the trip is paid for with the card. We book the flights with it and as much accommodation as possible. Also check your car insurance for any reciprocal deals in case you can skip the insurance on any car hires.
I have included my own travel planning checklist?if you want an example of the things I check out. I break it down into things for the house (like stopping the mail and arranging someone to take our bins out/in), personal things (like buying medications needed) and travel related tasks (like visas and transportation).
?
Do you travel with your family? What are your best planning tips?
?
The next installment will be my best tips for traveling on long haul flights.
?
Find your simple,
Deb
?
?
Source: http://www.homelifesimplified.com.au/traveling-with-kids-tips-for-planning-an-overseas-trip/
santonio holmes raheem morris winter classic mt rainier caucus stanford vs oklahoma state occupy rose parade
No comments:
Post a Comment