Below we are sharing our favorite tips and tricks for traveling with children. Whether you’re exploring by airplane, train, bus, or boat, here are some ideas to help you move through your travel days with a little more ease.
1. Book your layovers as strategically as possible.
After a 4+ hour flight I find our layover sweet spot to be around 2 hours. That’s just enough time to move our bodies and grab a bite to eat without feeling like we need to sprint from place to place. We don’t usually bother with layovers that are longer than 3 hours. After a 5+ hour flight (and especially if we have a long haul flight next) we tend to book an overnight layover so we can rest up and reset in a nearby hotel. *We have our favorites and if you want to learn more about them, just drop us a message or email.
2. Pack only the necessities plus one carry-on of overnight essentials.
Whether I travel with our without kids I always challenge myself (and those with me) to ensure that everything in their luggage gets used. This means that we are extra intentional during the packing process and usually pack things that can be paired together in different ways. Everyone organizes their own luggage with sections of tops, bottoms, underwear, etc.
Then I’ll pack one carry-on with everything the entire family would need for a one night stay — toiletries, plus the next day’s outfits which they’ll partly wear for pajamas. It’s extremely convenient because no luggages need to be touched for an overnight layover plus you have a backup in the rare case your luggages get lost. *Expert level packing means you manage to have everyone use carry-on luggages only. Since our children are older and can manage their own luggage this is most convenient for us because it saves time during the arrival process.
3. Prepare some engaging surprises for travel days.
In addition to books and basic art supplies, we lean into simple games that children can use long beyond travel. Portable is key for us so that outside of the airplane these items that can be brought along to restaurants and such. For example–this summer Meli could fit a tiny notepad, a few markers, and a couple Bob Books in her Lil Louis Sling from Walker Family Goods. The night before travel we hide these items in their backpacks but we’ll also occasionally pull out something new during layovers or other legs of travel. See a list of our favorite children’s travel goodies here.
4. Narrate the day’s events before, during, and after.
It always helps for children to know what’s ahead of them so we try to walk them through the process every step of the way. “Tomorrow when we wake up it’ll be dark still but we’ll get our bags into the car and drive to the airport. When we get to the airport we will take all our bags out and check in with the auntie or uncle at the counter. We’ll get our boarding passes and walk to the security checkpoint. Then we will put all of our bags onto the moving belt to go through the x-ray machine.” As we go through each stage the keiki will start to be able to tell us what comes next.
Eventually that voice will become internal and they’ll know exactly what to do on travel days. It’s a pretty cool progression to witness and even nicer when the older children begin helping the toddler through it all with ease. Narrating also helps them learn the appropriate terminology for parts of an airport, train station, etc. It gets more fun as they mature and start learning the words in the languages/lingos of the countries we travel to. This process definitely works for road trips, train trips, and more.
5. Book an airport hotel for whenever you have a morning return trip.
Traveling with children can be stressful enough, morning flights certainly add to the madness. Whenever we have a morning return trip home, I book our final night at an airport hotel so that we can wake up and be right where we need to be with little fuss. These hotels often offer a free shuttle service to the airport. Again, we have many favorite hotels across the world (that are conveniently located nearby major airports) so reach out if you want help booking one!
