How To Travel Around The World With Kids

Having kids shouldn’t be a reason to stop travelling. You can still see the world with your kids. In fact, it could be good for your kids, helping to enrich their lives with experiences.

Of course, travelling with children is a lot more challenging than it would be travelling without them. Here are just a few tips for making it easier.

Time it right

Home-schooling has its advantages in that you can travel out of season when most kids wouldn’t otherwise be able to travel. This allows you to take advantage of out of season deals. February to May and September to November are the cheapest times to travel, helping to make travelling with kids more affordable.

If your kids are in school, you’ll have to weigh up the fees of taking them out of school during term time. You may find that it’s simply cheaper to wait until the summer holidays.

Choose the right travel method

For the comfort and safety of your kids, you’ll probably want to give travel methods like backpacking and hitchhiking a miss. Fortunately, there are many other means of travelling.

A cruise could be one way to see lots of countries in a single trip. You can find family cruises at sites like Bolsover Cruise Club – such cruises have lots of on-board entertainment for kids. These cruises operate all over the world.

A road trip could also be a possibility. By renting or buying a campervan you can tour a few countries of Europe or take a trip across the States. This could allow more freedom and spontaneity whilst always guaranteeing somewhere for the kids to sleep at night.

If you’re planning to drive in a country other than your own, you might need an international driving license. An international driving permit (IDP) is a document that allows you to drive in foreign countries. It’s usually valid for one year, and you can get an international driving permit online or from your local auto club. Before you hit the open road with your family, check the requirements for driving in the countries you’ll be visiting. That way, you can be sure you have everything you need for a safe and enjoyable trip.

Then of course there’s flying. Whilst long-haul flights aren’t fun with kids, they can be done. Some families prefer to break up these flights into a number of shorter flights. This could be a chance to also see other places along the way and it could be a lot cheaper (shorter flights tend to be less expensive). You could even investigate Jettly who are the global leaders in private jet charter services.

Plan ahead

Going with the flow isn’t always an option when you have kids. If you’re travelling around South East Asia, you don’t want to be trekking around late at night looking for a hostel – booking accommodation in advance could ensure that you’ve always got a room for the night. Planning ahead also allows you to look for family-friendly accommodation.

The same is worth doing with tickets to attractions such as museums or theme parks. Booking these ahead will prevent you queuing for hours for a ticket.

Keep the kids occupied

It’s worth bringing a few toys to keep kids occupied on the go. This could be important for flights and long road journeys. Tablets have become the go-to gadget for such occasions, but there other toys you can bring if you don’t want your kids staring at a screen the whole trip – items like puzzle books and stuffed toys could also be worth bringing.

Make sure to also load up on snacks whilst you’re travelling so that the kids don’t get hungry. Flights may have strict rules as to what you can bring, although you can generally buy stuff in the departure lobby (this is cheaper than buying snacks on the flight). Be careful of bringing too many sugary snacks as these could make young kids hyperactive, which won’t be fun.  

Giving your kids a camera could also be great idea when visiting sights and attractions that they might otherwise find boring. For older kids, you could also encourage them to write a journal as they travel.

Bring the right gear

Certain pieces of gear could be handy to invest in before travelling – especially when travelling with infants. A portable cot save you having to look exclusively for accommodation with a cot (besides you never know how clean hotel cots are). A baby sling meanwhile could give you an alternative to a pram when trekking over rugged terrain. Baby Can Travel is a great online store that sells such items.

For containing mess on the go, it’s also worth loading up disposable plastic bags. Items like baby wipes could also be useful for young kids for keeping their hands and face clean.

As for keeping your kids safe, make sure to pack some sun lotion. A first aid kit is also important in case of any accidents (hopefully nothing serious will happen, but you can guarantee there will be some cuts and bruises along the way).

 

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