Spring Break Family Travel Tips

February 26th, 2010 · Comments Off

There is nothing more exciting than embarking on a travel adventure with your family. Whether you have someplace exciting planned for Spring Break or are going to take a road trip to visit Grandma, we wanted to share some tips to make it all easier so you can enjoy. We’ll be adding more tips daily so check back often.

Planning the Trip
Planning ahead can ease some of the stress of traveling with your kids, especially when they are little and you need to bring a lot of extra gear. Don’t be daunted or get discouraged. Follow these tips and add your own creativity to make Family Trips a blast.

Tip 1: Two weeks before the trip, conduct a mock packing session with each member of the family. Mom, when you know what everyone wants to bring, you’ll have time to wash favorite things or shop for extra necessities. No more “Honey, have you seen my favorite shorts?” the night before you’re leaving or “Why don’t Johnny’s ski pants fit anymore? Is Target open this late?”

Tip 2: Take a look at all of the gear you need to bring then decide whether it is easier to carry it with you, ship it to your destination, or rent it on site. With all of the new luggage fees on most airlines, it might be easiest to just ship your stuff ahead of time or see if you can rent or borrow on site. You’re going to have to pay anyway so have someone else lug it for you.

If going to see Grandma, tap into the Grandma Network. What’s the Grandma Network you ask? Have Grandma ask her friends if they have any baby gear you can borrow. Especially if Grandma and Grandpa live in a sunny locale, there are bound to be other grandparents who have their kids fly in for visits. One friend may have a stroller and one may have a high chair. By sharing and trading, it makes life easier for the grandparents and the traveling families.

Renting is an option and there are a lot of services popping up to help make this process easier. Your rental car company can usually rent you a car seat. Many hotels have cribs for rent now too. Or look into these incredibly handy services:

- For larger baby gear like strollers, cribs or car seats, rent from
www.babysaway.com

- For baby essentials like diapers, formula, etc. look at www.babystravellite.com

Don’t feel like you have to carry everything with you. Ship it or rent it and travel a little lighter. Remember you’re an adventurer, not a sherpa.