When travelling with children, how to have a great holiday

I just got back from the annual family summer holiday.

A week of unadulterated time with the children with no to-dos, no iPads, no homework, no afterschool sports. Nothing. Just the luxury of time.

So many couples I know delay travelling, especially overseas, with young children and I’ve often been asked how I do it. It’s simple.

Now that children are part and parcel of your life, you just alter the activities and destinations when they’re infants, and then before you know it, you can take exactly the kind of holidays you want and your kids will fit right in.

I started travelling with my kids right from the time they were a few months old, initially choosing locations where I could stay with family or friends or cosy homestays, and then graduating to hotels.

My older one is nearly ten and she’s been to Uzbekistan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Not to forget Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, Guwahati, Shillong, Cherrapunji, Jallandhar, Chandigarh, Kasauli, Shimla, Chail, Dehradun, Mussoorie... you get the drift.

We’ve done air, train and road travel, though some of the car rides were difficult no doubt, especially the eight-hour ones. But having done them, I now realise we’re all richer for the experience.

Here are a few things I’ve always followed:

1. Be a list maniac: Before going, find a good travel checklist on the internet, take a print out and paste it on your fridge. Pack according to that instead of depending on your cluttered brain to remember everything.

If you’re out and remember something, put it on the memo in your phone and transfer it to your list later.

This is especially useful when the kids are small and there are tonnes of vests and diapers and bottles to carry. Also, always carry a change of clothes in the bag that’s going to be closest  to you. For yourself as well.

This one time in the hills, my daughter puked and some of it was on me. While I had carried a change for her, I didn’t have one for myself! True story.

Also read: What moving abroad taught me

2. Get a medicine kit ready: Ask your paediatrician for the essential medicines list and prepare a kit. Then, you don’t need to panic. Also, no airport stops you from taking medicines in your hand baggage.

3. Instil curiosity: There are so many games you can play with your kids to keep them busy. I Spy, Word Associations, Spellings, Tic Tac... As a rule, we don’t carry the iPad so the kids also get non-screen time and these are the games that always come in handy, be it a drive or a layover at an airport.

Also, talk to your children. Point out things to them, or observe the people around you to start a intelligent conversations when they’re younger, soon you’ll be chatting with them as friends and you won’t even realise that time has passed.

4. Insist on manners: Some parents are worried that their kids will be noisy at restaurants or won’t behave properly.

My answer to that is: bad behaviour shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere, not at home, and not outside. If you insist on good manners all the time, why should children behave differently in company?

In fact, the more you travel and expose children to restaurants, table manners, cultures, people, the more they develop an understanding of themselves and the world around them and less likely they are to throw tantrums.

Also read: 5 travel secrets I don't tell other Indians

5. Don’t worry about food: Sure, some kids are picky eaters, but who knows what cuisine your little one may take a fancy to? My elder daughter, who despises most vegetables, took such a shine to stir-fried bok choy and rocket beans on a recent trip that she now wants to eat it ever so often.

The younger one, who isn’t big on non-vegetarian back home, loved Peking duck in Beijing. Also, don't forget you’re on a holiday too. If the kids don’t drink milk for a few days, they won’t lose out on life-altering amounts of nutrition.

And, if they eat less at a certain meal, they’ll make up for it later. Also, every restaurant will have something they can eat. In China, for instance, my younger daughter survived on plain rice and butter.

The trick is to calm down.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)