A couple of years ago, I mentioned to a friend that my husband and I were taking our children, ages 4 and 6 at the time, to Spain for a week. Her response? "You're insane." I didn't quite understand it since this person
had been traveling overseas with her children since they were infants. She said it was completely different since she stayed with family, had her days organized for her, didn't sightsee and was in relatively familiar surroundings. It was, in her words, "same life, different locale."
That conversation got me thinking. What is it about traveling with children that gets us so stressed? Why is the idea of staying in a hotel with kids so foreign to many families? And what can we do to reduce that stress so that we can expose our kids to different people and places while at the same time maintaining family harmony?
* Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore - Many people are afraid to travel with children because it takes them out of familiar surroundings. To combat that, make your new surroundings familiar. Talk up the trip in advance, teaching your kids about your intended destination whether it is a cross-country trip across the United States, a European vacation or even a trip to Disney. Let them help pick out some of the sights to see. In essence, make your children part of the planning so they feel it's their trip as well.
Don't forget to pack familiar comfort items from home. My son never travels without his green pillow which is essentially the pillow from his bed with a mangy green pillowcase. He says it's "nice and smelly" and helps him sleep. And because of that, I say bring that pillow!
* That darn hotel room - We've all been there. The small hotel room with 2 double beds and the bathroom where you can touch all walls by standing in one spot. It isn't comfortable. As one friend put it to me, her kids' bedtime becomes her bedtime as well and that simply isn't a vacation. That need not be the case anymore.
That conversation got me thinking. What is it about traveling with children that gets us so stressed? Why is the idea of staying in a hotel with kids so foreign to many families? And what can we do to reduce that stress so that we can expose our kids to different people and places while at the same time maintaining family harmony?
* Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore - Many people are afraid to travel with children because it takes them out of familiar surroundings. To combat that, make your new surroundings familiar. Talk up the trip in advance, teaching your kids about your intended destination whether it is a cross-country trip across the United States, a European vacation or even a trip to Disney. Let them help pick out some of the sights to see. In essence, make your children part of the planning so they feel it's their trip as well.
Don't forget to pack familiar comfort items from home. My son never travels without his green pillow which is essentially the pillow from his bed with a mangy green pillowcase. He says it's "nice and smelly" and helps him sleep. And because of that, I say bring that pillow!
* That darn hotel room - We've all been there. The small hotel room with 2 double beds and the bathroom where you can touch all walls by standing in one spot. It isn't comfortable. As one friend put it to me, her kids' bedtime becomes her bedtime as well and that simply isn't a vacation. That need not be the case anymore.
Published by Ilisa Oman
I am a belly dancing soccer mom who also happens to own her own travel agency. I am an avid traveler and a rabid Disney fan, having made my first visit at the tender age of two. Planning trips is a passion... View profile
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