Travelling with Children

If you’re lucky enough to have a child who is a good traveller, like I am, it can be a really rewarding experience to see the world with them. Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky as I am in this regard. I don’t know what I’d do if I had a child I couldn’t take on holidays. My son has been a traveller from such a young age, maybe he’s just used to it. Whatever it is, I thank my lucky stars for it.

Of course, it’s no always plain sailing. There’s always going to be those restless or bored moments for kids when they travel, especially if it’s a long haul trip. Richard’s first experience with long distance travel was at 9 months when drove the nearly 1000km from Sydney to Melbourne. We’ve also driven from Sydney to the Gold Coast (also nearly 1000km). My advice for long car trips is this:

1. if you can break the one long trip up into a few smaller trips, do it (I found that about 6-8 hours in the car in one day is as much as any toddler can take)
2. take regular breaks for the toilet, stretching the legs, snacks and getting some fresh air (every couple of hours is a good measure, even if it’s just a rest stop where the kids can jump up and down for 5 minutes, even getting the baby out of the car is a good idea; and stop at McDonalds or equivalent fast food joint to give the kids a chance to play on their equipment, you don’t need to buy anything if you don’t want to)
3. keep plenty of water and healthy snacks in the car (celery, carrot sticks, cheese cubes, water biscuits, etc are easy for the kids to feed themselves)
4. invest in a portable DVD player (if your car doesn’t have one built in, I suggest a dual DVD player with headphone jacks so you don’t have to listen to it as well, especially if you have multiple kids with very different tastes so you can have Thomas the Tank Engine playing on one and South Park playing on the other)
5. put together a travel pack with games and colouring in and other activities which can be done in the car or at the hotel/motel as you’re travelling around (include a travel tray or even just a chopping board from them to lean on)
6. set some rules for the trip, especially if you’re travelling with multiple children, such as each child gets to choose one car game and each child gets a specific amount of time to choose what music plays on the car stereo (assuming they don’t have their own iPod/MP3 player or DVD player)

The same basic rules apply to travelling in planes with kids. My son’s first plane trip was a 13 hour trip to South Africa at the age of 4. Luckily, most planes now come with a good selection of children’s entertainment (movies, games, etc) as well as the major airlines providing activity packs for junior fliers. My little flyer was the consummate traveller. He read the safety manual from front to back. He watched the safety demonstration with enthusiasm. He was polite to the flight attendants and didn’t annoy the travellers around him.

Having said that, not all children can cope with being cooped up for that long. If there are other children on the flight, ask their parents if they children can “play” together. For slightly older children, let the choose what they take on as their activities (a favourite book, drawing paper, a handheld computer console such as a PSP). My recommendation is 2 or 3 activities for anything under 6 hours, then one activity for every 3 hours of travel time for any trip over 6 hours. This gives you variety but also makes sure they are things they can put away and come back to.

When you get to your destination, then you have to make sure your child or children are interested in the things you’re going to do. This comes back to planning. You know what your child likes but include them in the decision making process. Find museums that have a children’s section. Look up child friendly activities in the city you’re going to. Make a compromise with your child that if they go to the art gallery with you and don’t complain about it then they can go to the fun park of their choosing.

Most of all, don’t expect your child to be a msall adult while travelling. They are going to get tired. They are going to get bored. They are going to throw the occassional tantrum. Just be aware of your child’s limitations. If you know that at home they can’t sit still for 5 minutes, they are not going to change just because you are in a different city or country.

If you plan on going to a museum or art gallery or something similar while travelling, do a trial run at home. It will give you an indication of their attention span while at a similar venue. You can also talk to the staff at your local venues about the things they suggest for people with children. This is especially good if you are going to a country which speaks a language you are not fluent in as it might be difficult, if not impossible, to get the same information whilst in transit.

Finally, if you are going to be in the same city for a while and are staying in a hotel with a concierge or at least regular reception staff, make friends with them. They usually have a pretty good idea of what’s going on around the place and can give you advice on what is good for children locally if you haven’t been able to find the information on your own. They might also be able to tell you of things that are not in the tourist brochures.

So while my son is a well-travelled little boy, having been to South Africa and Canada before the age of 6, I am going to put in just as much effort when we make our next long haul trip to ensure he is entertained as well as educated and that he enjoys the expierience. It’s important to remember that our children are explorers with us, not just another piece of luggage to tote around.

My main aim for my son is that he has a love of travel, of exploring, of learning. If I can instill that in him, then I have done my job.