Five Tips for Traveling with Kids This Summer

Salaam, Hello from Delicate Arch in Utah!

Overall, my kids and I will be gone for a month, and boy do I have tips for YOU on how to travel, both by car and by airplane.

First up are my “keep the kids busy” tips for Road Trips.

1. Road Trip Activity Tips:  I am what my kids would call a “mean mom” -- I don’t allow screen time for the entirety of drives, instead, I challenge my kids to do what I did in the 90s -- make up games, do activity books, and find ways to entertain themselves.  First up: I bought tons of activity and sticker books from Target that kept the kids entertained.  I also purchased some fun car games on Amazon - including a car Bingo game, a memory matching game, Bluey sticker scene book, and Princess Sticker scene books.  We also did cave in and allow screens for limited amounts of each drive, so we purchased a portable DVD player on Marketplace that allowed the girls to watch classic early 2000s movies: Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Shrek.  There was definitely an old school theme here!  We did have big feelings on the road trip but we would absolutely do it again.
2. Bathroom Tips:  My girls are 8 and 6, so they are fully potty trained, of course, but they, like many kids, like to wait until the last minute to alert us of their urgent potty needs.  For road trips, we stick to water and stop every 2-3 hours. We bring toilet seat covers, hand wipes, and baby wipes. PRO TIP: On long hikes at national parks, our OXO Portable Potty Seat was a lifesaver, especially when the park potties were yucky. My youngest preferred using it in the van trunk!
3. Comfy Traveling Tips:  We often take early morning flights, so we allow our girls to fly wearing their pajamas.  They feel SO comfortable in them and they look cute, too!  Their bamboo PJs are temperature regulating, perfect for airplane conditions. Each child packed 3 pairs of PJs and had a comfy trip!
4. Packing Tips:  Have you ever asked your kids to pack and seen only toys and teddies in their suitcases?  Or, have you packed for your kids and seen their refusal to wear the items you packed? Because, same.  I give my kids detailed packing lists with exact numbers for each item they need, like pairs of underwear, socks, and pants. It's freeing and ensures they always have enough clothes.
5. Mealtime and Food:  On this trip, we booked only hotels with daily breakfast included (list below of all places we stayed).  We have often stayed in AirBNBs, but I refused to cook or do dishes during our holidays.  The daily breakfast at each hotel saved us so much time and money!  The kids thoroughly enjoyed each hotel’s selection of hot breakfast and we enjoyed fresh fruit that we often took away (bananas and apples) for snacks along the way.  We also used the hotel’s toasters to toast bread that we made sandwiches with for our hikes, with lunch meat we got at local stores.

What tips would you add to this list?