Ultimate Family Travel Hacks: 7 Traveling Mommas share their biggest tips
Traveling with kids can be hard and sometimes very stressful but with a few travel hacks up your sleeves going on family vacations can be very rewarding. 7 traveling mommas share their biggest tips, tricks and hacks to help you travel a little easier.
Plan, plan, plan!
“Have a plan before you go especially if it is a road trip. You know where you are going, so before you leave, find out what is on the way. Pick a place to stop at the halfway point especially if the trip is longer than 4 hours. Plan activities and snacks for your older children if you have them. Make sure everyone knows you are doing one big stop, and make it efficient to get gas, eat lunch, go to the restroom, breastfeed or pump, etc. This way hopefully you will only have to stop once before midway and once after the midway point for potty breaks.” – Valerie – A Peach in the Queen City
Valerie is a former teacher and current stay at home mom. She hopes to help moms, moms to be, current moms, and hopeful moms through each season of motherhood.
Special Suprises!
“The thing that has saved my sanity, traveling with kids, was offering small, gift-wrapped surprises at regular intervals! They don’t have to be expensive, visit the dollar store or Kmart and grab a few small toys and snacks for a dollar each. I wrap them up, and every 30 minutes to an hour I’ll whip one each out for the kids.Sometimes they only bring a few minutes of peace but, on a long-haul flight or car journey, I’ll take anything I can get! Occasionally though, I’ve hit the jackpot and found the perfect thing that kept them entertained for ages.” – Sophie Marie – Lifestyle Queensland
Sophie is a mum of two living on the bustling beaches of Gold Coast, she writes all about her home state of Queensland, Australia.
Lists Are Your New Best friend
“Plan, plan, plan. Days before, I make a plan. I start with a list, which is usually long! Since I rarely have time to pack everything at once, I use the list to scratch items out as I go; this allows me to know what I need to purchase before my final packing, so I’m not scrambling at the last minute to get everything I need!” – Mallory Richardson – Mom of W.A.R., Hear My Roar
Hi, I’m Mallory! I’m a 30-year-old, wife, mommy, employee, PhD student, and blogger. My life is busy, but it is full of love!
Bags!
“When we take a road trip, I pack a couple of bags. One has a spare outfit for each kid, spare diapers, baby wipes, etc. because life happens. Don’t forget motion-sickness bracelets and an empty coffee can with a screw-on lid… just in case. The second bag is to ward off the “are we there yet?” chorus. It has snacks, drinks, and a toy or game of some kind. Often, we take our cameras. Finally, grin and bear it, and take your kids’ favorite music.
Happy travels!” – Stephanie Dicks – Rural Ruby
I am a happily married Christian homeschooling mama of four girls.
Child-Friendly Maps
“My children tend to be very anxious on road trips, and we have found that having a child-friendly map posted and available for their viewing has been very helpful in allowing them to see where we’re going. Before our trip, I add some dots to our map at major cities, state border crossings, rivers, and other landmarks. I aim to have them every 2-3 hours or so. As we travel, I add a small sticker dot to the map to show our progress. It has completely eliminated the “are we there yet” questions and all the anxiety about whether mom and dad know where we’re going. Plus, it helps teach geography.” – Missy Parlane- Party Through the USA
Homeschooling mom of 3 adopted kids, who writes a family road trip blog with ideas for themed trips and DIY toys.
Plan Ahead
“My favorite tip for traveling with children is to plan ahead. It is hard to be extremely spontaneous with children and have things go smoothly. You need to have accommodations for where to stay set up so you can have the ideal situation for getting good sleep while on vacation. Have some ideas of where to eat so when your children are hungry; you can get them fed. In your planning, leave room for flexibility. You want to be prepared, but while on vacation, you want to have the freedom to have fun and make memories!” – Valerie Plowman – Chronicles of a Babywise Mom
Valerie, the Babywise Mom, is the mother to four children and blogs about parenting at babywisemom.com.
Pack Travel Snacks
“Pack lots and lots of travel snacks for there and back. If there is one thing that you do while traveling it is eating! You can never have enough snacks and water. I typically pack one case of water for each way of our trip and pack lots of healthy and not so healthy snacks to munch on. Not only do you save money by bringing your snacks but you also keep your little ones engaged during the trip! I guarantee that you won’t hear ‘I’m hungry’ twenty times before arriving at your destination.” – Kristal Leon – A Sailors Wife
Kristal is a military wife and mom whose goal is to provide support through parenting and military life to both military and non military families.
Now that you know how to prepare for your next road trip, you’re ready to drive.
Where are you going? Leave me a comment below and tell me where you are heading on your next road trip!
These are all great! Day trips are our thing, so I’m going to use some of these. I especially love the map idea!
Kristal,
What a great round-up! You have truly found some great tips that would help anyone, especially mamas. I look forward to reading more in the future.
Sincerely,
Mallory
Great read! We are about to travel ourselves! It will be the first time to fly with our baby girl, and I’m both excited and scared!
These are great tips! I especially like the kid friendly maps – my daughter would love that!
I really enjoyed reading this as I plan to travel with my baby and family soon!
Traveling can be so tough with kids! It really helps to be prepared to make things go as easily as possible.
Love that you say pack snacks….my family teases me, there will be food when they get there. Of course, then they want the snacks I packed!