Getting the Most Out of Vacations with Kids

School {for us} starts this week! I am not sure how it came so quickly. Like a lot of people, we tried to squeeze in one final fun trip before school goes back in session.

Not having a ton of time to travel somewhere far away, we settled on a quick family trip. Even though it wasn't a very long trip, it was a great way to have some fun before heading back to school.

What was shocking to me as I planned this trip, was how much planning still needed to go into a short trip. When you are traveling with kids, there is a lot more to think about! Pre-kiddos, Mathlete and I could hop in the car and just go with little planning or prep work. That just doesn't fly now!

So, having completed one family vacation already this year and prepping to embark on another, I thought I would share some tips from my experience traveling with kids!

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1) Make lists! Now, everyone doesn't live and die by a list like I do but they are so valuable when you are trying to pack for several people and there are many items that are vital to the trip (i.e. diapers or special nighttime buddies)

2) Set your "go" time about an hour earlier than it really needs to be. It always takes longer to get kids into the car and on the road so adding in a cushion is key to maintaining any sort of schedule.

3) Snacks! I can't say enough how important travel snacks are to a trip with kids. I don't think we'd ever make it to our destination if I didn't have snacks galore in the car. There would be constant begging for food or drink as if they had never eaten before.

4) Bring entertainment and lots of it. Movies aren't enough anymore for most kids so be sure to pack movies, games, coloring and other fun things to keep them occupied. They won't get bored and you won't constantly hear "are we there yet?"

5) Anticipate the things you might need. What do I mean by this? Let me give you an example. On our last trip to the beach, we tried to make sure our bathing suits and towels were left outside to dry every afternoon. That worked great for my packing plan UNTIL we went to the beach the morning before we left. I didn't want to throw all those wet clothes into suitcases. Thankfully, I had thrown a roll of cheap garbage bags into our luggage so I could just throw the wet stuff in there.

6) Try to keep sleep schedules pretty close to what they are at home. I know this isn't always reasonable but trying to do it at least part of the trip will make everyone much happier! Heck, I'd even recommend a nap for mom and dad when the kids nap too! I know I definitely took a nap on every day of our last trip because I was wiped.

7) Go with the flow. When visiting a different town, things are inevitably going to be different than they are at home. Case in point: a certain beach town that will remain nameless offers no changing tables in men's bathrooms. At first, I was pretty peeved that this would leave me changing all of the diapers for a week. But, it was something we couldn't change so we compromised and I changed all diapers in public places while Mathlete took hotel diaper changes.

8) Expect the best, plan for the worst. It is almost inevitable that someone will get sick or hurt on vacation. Mathlete loves to tell the story of his families' cross country vacation when he got chicken pox on the second day. While you can't plan for everything, boosting your kids {and your own} immune system before heading out on a vacation is a great idea! For our kids, we use Culturelle Kids!. It was recommended by our pediatrician and is so easy for them to take. I just pour a packet directly into the kids' juice cups and it dissolves into the liquid instantly. Traveling shakes up everyone's routine which can easily lead to illnesses. Adding in a probiotic, like Culturelle Kids!, before and during the trip, helps reduce the likelihood that the kids get sick when they are on vacation.

Someone got really worn out on the car ride {as usual}

I was compensated for this post.  However, the views and opinions expressed here are my own.