Ten Things That Can Save Your Sanity When Travelling with Kids

I realised early in my career as a parent, that travelling as I knew it would never be the same again. From the sanguine relaxed “let’s go to Goa tomorrow morning?” to the even more sanguine and relaxed, “Here’s a duffel bag, put in two swimsuits and two t-shirts,” to the even more sanguine, “Let’s just check into whatever is available on the beach,” things would never be the same again. But just how different, I had no idea.

The first time we travelled with the kid as an infant, the neighbourhood gathered to watch, convinced we were shifting homes and going to a remote uninhabited continent where nothing was available, including water. We were going to another city, a five hour drive away. I’ve learnt a bit since then. But one thing that remains constant is that travelling with a child is nothing short of a military expedition with contingency supplies, back up plans, every detail locked in, medication and not to forget the nerve of steel.

Here then, are ten commandments you need to carve into stone if you want to travel with a child and live to tell the tale:

1. Lists are Sacred

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Long lists, detailed lists. Excel sheet lists if those work for you. Lists of clothes to be packed. And back up clothes to be packed. Lists of medicines. Lists of toys. Pack by list. The last time I packed without a list, I forgot to pack socks and ended up making the offspring wear mine and grumbling throughout about how he was “NodAGurl” and would not wear “FlowerSocks.”

2. Cross Check your Bookings

The last thing you want to happen is to land up, tired and hungry to find no room available. Or that your flights are so far apart that the wait exhausts the children more than your travel. Plan everything to be smoothly connecting, allowing for adequate delays. A road trip at the fag end of a long flight will probably be the worst demon to handle, so choose a destination appropriately to minimise long hours of road travel.

3. Pack Enough Snacks

Travelling means long hours of being stuck in one place with nothing to do, and apart from boredom, hunger is something that tends to strike hard. Keep enough dry finger snacks in your hand luggage so you can hand it over to the child when he or she feels hunger strike. You will never find the sound of munching so soothing as when your cranky child finds nirvana in a packet of trail mix.

4. The distractions, the Distractions:

The action figures, the audio books, the movies loaded onto the iPad for the long flight, the rubik’s cube, the apps that allow the child to stay engrossed for hours on end, all these can save you from pulling your hair out in fistfuls when your child begins the “I am bored” whine on a loop for the zillionth time. Pack enough distractions.

5. Factor in the Weather and Pack Appropriately:

Nothing could be more miserable than to not account for variations in weather and pack inadequately. Pack enough warm clothes if you are going to a cold place, with requisite thermals, mufflers, caps, gloves and fleece jackets. If you are travelling to a place where there is the likelihood of the occasional shower, a foldable umbrella and a raincoat won’t occupy much space in your bag but will keep the tyke dry and safe from a passing shower. For a trip to the mountains in May, I unfortunately under packed, thinking it wouldn’t be too cold and ended up making the offspring wear all his clothes all at once. Suffice to say trips to the bathroom were a chaos of infinite zippers and finite patience.

6. Pack All the Medicines You Might Need, and More

Car sickness medication. ORS sachets. Medicines for fevers. Medication for sudden upset tummies. Bandages. Disinfectants. All you can think of. Eye drops. Ear drops. I have been guilty of travelling like a mobile dispensary when travelling with the offspring, because well, the old girl scout in me did not want to risk any chances.

7. Bug Repellants, Water Purifying Portable Filters:

One of the important things about travelling is to make sure that one doesn’t fall ill on the trip. Or the kids. Make sure the kids are up to date on their vaccinations, carry along water purifying tablets, just in case you’re stuck in a place with no access to filtered water, bug repellent sprays and creams if you’re going somewhere warm and mosquito infested. Swatting mosquitoes be great for tiring the kids out before bedtime, but a fever brought on by a mosquito bite might not be such fun while travelling.

8. Have Kids Pack Their Backpacks

That WWE Dean Ambrose action figure. The little packs of Slam Attax. That Elsa doll. Whatever makes your child happy. Let them pack their own backpacks with all they think they would need on the trip, of course do remember to edit their back packs else, if left to them they would wheel around the entire contents of their toy basket ensuring your baggage allowance goes to shot. One trip I let the brat pack his own backpack and was the most peaceful because high pitched battles were fought between an army of WWE action figures through the way on the back seat, and the dratted words, “Wen we’ll reach,” were never uttered.

9. Encourage Them to Keep a Diary or a Photo Journal:

Hand them a cheap disposable camera, or an old phone with a decent camera and get them to click whatever they find interesting. Encourage them to write down their experiences at the end of the day. This keeps them busy enough to keep them from tap dancing on your last standing nerve, and it makes for a fabulous documentation of the trip from their gaze.

10. Keep Your Sense of Humour Handy 

Pack oodles of it, and keep it easily accessible, and not in your check in luggage. You will need it when the kids and the spouse begin behaving alike, in terms of tantrums and sulks.