Family Travel: Practical Tips And Hacks 2023

Toddlers To Teens: Our Best Practical Tips And Hacks Learned Over Our Years Of Family Travel

Packing Tips, Gear Recommendations, and Overall Advice On Traveling With Kids

I can share a lot of stories about traveling with children over the years- from 3 am wakeups in Hawaii (kids don’t change their internal clocks but hey, at least you get the beach ALL to yourself) to a kid that took all the underwear and socks for himself out of the suitcase after I packed it because he needed them at home (Seriously?!!?). Teens are a whole ‘nother set of issues- they are often vocal about doing things they want to do that don’t always coincide with I want to do, and they sleep super late making crowd beating early starts a pipe dream.

But there have also been many fabulous experiences in family travel or else we wouldn’t still keep signing up for these trips. Like a whole new army of sandcastle builders that can work together to build something epic or a new appreciation for mid-afternoon ice cream breaks. Plus, you get to actually hang out together as a family, something that can be hard to do in “normal” life because we are all running to work, school, sports things, dance class, etc.

These are just some of the tips and hacks learned over the years that have smoothed the way to great trips and helped avoid disaster. It doesn’t always work but sometimes the disaster makes the best family story. And some of these tips are learned because of said disasters.

Our 14 Tried And True Kid Travel Hacks

1. Let go of regular limits on screen time

2. Bring some reliable, old- school, electricity free entertainment

3. Pack a complete change of clothes in a Ziploc bag and keep it handy

4. Download apps for inflight entertainment before you leave

5. Bring a water bottle for every person

6. Stock up on downloaded audiobooks, movies, TV shows, and podcasts before you leave

7. Packing cubes are your friend

8. Portable batteries are also your friend

9. Pack an inflatable sleep pad for toddlers and elementary- aged kids

10. Splurge for lounge passes/ airline credit card if you fly a lot

11. Invest in good backpacks/travel bags for kids

12. Pack a first- aid kit

13. Get a strap that connects the car seat to a rolling suitcase if you are traveling on a plane with a toddler

14. Inflatable Bubblebum booster seats are super handy

15. *MOST IMPORTANT* Let The Kids Feel Like They Have Some Input Into The Plan

16. *ALSO MOST IMPORTANT * Provide Some Balance If You Can And Don’t Forget To Chill Out And Enjoy Yourself (Speaking To Myself Here)

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Should I be making this kid look up and see the French countryside while on this train? Probably. Am I going to fight this battle? No. I would rather he be rested and ready when we get to our destination. Besides, it's his vacation too so if he wants to watch a movie right now, that is fine.

1- Let Go Of The Regular Limits On Screen Time.

I know, I know, screen time causes kid’s brains to turn to mush but I think that temporary bingeing in the name of family harmony is worth it. Sometimes there’s just a little too much sibling togetherness on a trip that a little mindless Minecraft can take the edge off.

If people are judging us while we sip a beer in a cafe while the kids play on their electronic devices then that’s on them. They missed the four awesome hours we just spent in a science museum or don’t know that we are are gearing up for an afternoon kayaking trip.

Find out our tried and true apps for entertaining kids (some are even educational!) with this blog- “The Best Educational And Fun Apps For Toddlers and Elementary Aged Kids.”

I am not advocating whipping out the ipad every time there is a down moment but don’t be afraid to pick your battles. (Meaning: sometimes strategic retreat can win you the war). And a little time to yourself and in your own head can do wonders for sibling bickering. Sometimes.

2- Bring Some Reliable, Old-school, Electricity-Free Entertainment.

Because batteries die and Minecraft eventually gets old. (Still waiting for that to happen, in fact my teen niece just rediscovered her love for the game and is back at it.) In addition to the always reliable crayons and sketch book combo, I have found "extreme dot- dot" or "extreme mazes" to be good investments of time and luggage space for younger kids even though they make me go cross- eyed. Or adult coloring books for teenagers and even myself- those things are surprisingly meditative once you get going.

You can find activity books for young and old at a Michael’s store. Also, Highlights magazine for elementary- aged kids still works well and has the added bonus of being disposable. And you still can’t go wrong with a good paperback book for older kids. A good murder mystery or action novel always makes an interminable plane flight go faster.

3- Pack A Complete Change Of Clothes In A Ziploc Bag And Keep It Handy.

Because kids’ ability to get sick with little to no warning always amazes me. You are going to want that Ziploc bag to put dirty things in (or maybe you just throw them away, a particularly appealing option when dealing with poop accidents).

For planes, this means bring the change of clothes in your carryon. It is doubly important not just for in flight accidents but also because there is a chance you can arrive without your luggage. All of our kids and even the adults carry a complete change of clothes geared toward our first day’s activities for that reason. If we are going to the beach, the bathing suit gets packed. (It can totally work as underwear if needed or spare shorts.)

Even on road trips we pack a change of clothes in a ziploc and keep it somewhere accessible. (This rule is less important as the kids get older.) You want to keep it somewhere handy because digging out the entire suitcase for a spare pair of pants at a rest area parking lot is no fun. And what you need will always be in the bottom suitcase/ duffel bag/ whatever. You will absolutely need to empty the entire back to get to it. It is another rule of travel.

4- Download Apps For Inflight Entertainment Before You Leave.

Because airport WiFi or cell service can be terrible, I always make sure I have the necessary app on my phone before I leave on my trip. For example, if you are flying American Airlines, you will need the American app on your phone. You won’t be able to access their inflight entertainment while you are in the air if you don’t. If your plane has seat back screens then you will be fine without the app but many smaller planes expect you to use your own device. Better safe than sorry.

5- Bring A Water Bottle

No kid is more thirsty than when water costs $12 a bottle at a tourist attraction. It’s a fact. Also, water fountains are not always easily come by, nor are they always safe to drink out of either. And the “environmentalist / person that is flabbergasted by the obscene amounts of trash at famous scenic spots” in me feels better at the end of the day doing my small part to contribute to less plastic waste.

We carry water bottles everywhere when traveling-- stashing them in rental cars, carrying them in backpacks while exploring cities, and bringing them on planes. The key to planes is to carry an empty one through security and then fill them up at the water fountain before you board.

We have a variety of water bottles at our house. Some kids drink like fish and some like camels so we have all the sizes. Plus, some must have their water super cold so they get the fancy double insulated bottles. I also like these collapsible ones if space is an issue although rarely is my water bottle the big problem there. It’s always shoes for me.

*Parenting Pro Tip- Those double insulated bottles also keep other things cold besides water. Used one to bring my barely touched beer back to the hotel from the Augustiner in Munich when a kid got an upset stomach. He was fine (just needed to poop) and I got to enjoy my beer in the hotel room at least.

6- Stock Up On Downloaded Audiobooks, Movies, TV Shows, And Podcasts Before You Leave.

You can never count on inflight entertainment on a plane 100%-- maybe the seat back screen is broken or maybe your app suddenly doesn’t want to connect to the WiFi (both have happened to me). And I don’t love flying so I like to have a treat all ready for myself once I am buckled in, usually a movie or TV series I have been holding off on watching so I am excited about the flight.

This works for cars too since you don’t want to be depending on cell service to stream a TV show for kids who have hit their limit and just want to watch some Thomas the Tank engine (or last season of Outer Banks).

Podcasts work great on car trips as well and I don’t know if you know this, but there are a lot of podcasts out there. (#sarcasm). Luckily that makes it easy to find something for everyone. The Big Fib is a fun one- it’s a gameshow format where kids have to guess who is telling the truth and who is lying. Freakonomics Radio is a personal favorite of mine and would be great for high schoolers. It has a wide variety of topics from economic questions to pop culture issues, including a series on why college is so expensive now which should interest them.

7- Packing Cubes Are Your Friend

It took me a long time to hop on the packing cube train and now I could be its conductor. I am the most annoying of converts, loudly proselytizing to near and far how great packing cubes are. Not only do they save space by compressing clothes, they also help tremendously with organization. Socks in a small cube, pants in a medium one, shirts and sweaters in a large one is usually how I do it. If the kids are sharing a suitcase for a short trip, then one kid gets one large packing cube and the other gets another large cube. It allows me to quickly run through what we have and don’t have and find clothing once we get to our destination.

The compression Eagle Creek cubes are my favorite as the double zipper really allows you to compress bulky things like fleeces or jackets. They even make 2 sided cubes that are moisture and odor proof so you can have a clean and dirty side -these are the bomb. The cubes are machine washable too. I have had a variety of Eagle Creek cubes for a couple of years now and they are doing great. I keep adding to my collection because they are well worth the investment.

8- Portable Batteries Are Also Your Friend

Since everybody needs about 50 different electronic devices nowadays (ok not 50 but it is like 5- phone, watch, earbuds, kindle, tablet, etc) you could easily spend your vacation scavenging for outlets. Or you can bring portable batteries for eveyone.

I am partial to anything Anker makes. I bought one of their early batteries years ago and it is still going strong. Unfortunately most modern devices require more mAh (aka charging oomf) than that one so it is kept around as a last resort charger to keep you from dying. It keeps a charge for a year or more if I don’t use it, which is something I like about all my Anker products. I never leave home without my Anker PowerCore 10000 as it is just big enough to get a couple of charges out of it but not so big that I feel like I am carrying around a brick. The kids got the smaller Anker 321 Power Bank in their stockings at Christmas. In fact, those are my go to gift for people because who doesn’t need more battery life to stash in a car or purse?

9- Bring An Inflatable Sleep Pad For Toddlers And Elementary- Aged Kids.

Sharing a bed with a young kid is akin to sleeping with a sadistic octopus in my opinion so a sleep pad has come in very handy for me and for them. And for Airbnbs with small double beds, kids will often choose to sleep on the inflatable pad rather than share a bed with their sibling. It doesn’t work as well for older kids as they are too big to really sleep well on them but our elementary aged kids really liked their sleep pads.

I like the REI AirRail inflatable pad. As you might guess from the name, it has little side rails that help keep a kid from rolling off the pad and it packs up fairly compact and light.

Not by any means the lightest or smallest pads if you are going to use it for extensive backpacking but great for overnight camping, hotel rooms and even overseas trips. They have accompanied me all over the U.S. and I have even sacrificed luggage space for them on trips to Europe, that’s how useful I find them.

10- Splurge For Lounge Passes/ Airline Credit Card If You Fly A Lot.

I have always balked at paying $500 for a credit card but if you are feeding a family of four at the airport several times a year, it starts looking not so bad. Throw in free WiFi, showers after overseas flights, and nice staff all ready to help you when all hell breaks loose with your flight plans, then it really starts looking pretty good.

Just having a spot to spread out your stuff that’s a little quieter than the main terminal while you go get a complementary glass of wine and the kids load up plates of free snack food sounds dreamy right? A lounge can be the temporary relief I need while on a long trip with multiple flights. Nice bathrooms with roomy counters to wash your face after an overnight flight is another small but meaningful perk as well.

“How To Get Airport Lounge Access For The Whole Family” covers our favorite credit cards for lounge access and which one is the one we use the most.

I flew for years without lounge access and scoffed at people paying that much for a seat and some snack food but once we started doing it, I am not sure I can go back. It has absolutely been worth it for us, has saved us money in the long run, and made trips that much easier. Plus, the airline branded credit cards that get you the lounge access, also come with mileage perks that come in handy for upgrades. The system isn’t that hard to learn and if you fly a lot with your family, is well worth a couple of hours googling to find out how. The Points Guy is an excellent website to get started. But generally, pick 1 or 2 airlines you fly the most and commit to those with the credit card.

11- Invest In Good Backpacks/Travel Bags For Kids

It doesn’t have to be expensive but do really think about the practicalities and read reviews.

I like for kids to be responsible for as much of their own stuff as they can and a good backpack can go a long way. Bigger is not better. You don’t want them to try and take 14 stuffed animals or all of their American Girl doll accessories.

You do want small bags with just enough room for what they need- electronic device, book, change of clothes, crayons, paper, lightweight jacket and water bottle. It forces them to choose carefully what else goes in. Packing light and thoughtfully is an essential travel skill that small bags necessitate and there’s a chance they might actually carry it all by themselves the whole time.

My nephew uses a discontinued Osprey pack that we loved. It was a perfect size and had a stuff pocket in front that turned out to be really handy for things that get taken on and off, like mittens or sunglasses. I think all kids bags should come with that. Sadly, it got left behind one fateful trip after years of service without a single broken buckle or torn strap and we were unable to replace it because Osprey stopped making it. The REI Tarn 12 is a good approximation and I would do the Tarn 18 if you have kids older than 6 or 7.

My nieces got Kavu bags and I have one as well. It is my must have travel bag, especially in recent times where museums and other attractions have started banning backpacks, the Kavu comes in handy for its purse- like qualities.

12- Pack A First- Aid Kit

This has been learned the hard way more times than I like to remember. And each time something happens, we add something new to our medical kit. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) has long been a staple as well as a couple of bandaids but blisters while walking around New York meant moleskin got added for the future. Severe car sickness in a few of the kids meant ondansetron (this is a doctor prescription) got added. Anti- diarrheals like loperamide because, well, you can guess that one. Pharmacies aren’t always handy and finding what you need in foreign countries can be an adventure filled with hope and disappointment.

Our basic first aid kit now looks like this:

• Acetaminphen (Tylenol)

• Naproxen (Aleve)

• Ondansetron - for nausea

• OTC anti-allergy like Claritin

• Anti- diarrheals like loperamide

• Antacids like Tums- This could be the most important thing. Nothing helps tired kids eating unfamiliar food that have a tummyache like a flavored Tums. Could be mostly a placebo effect but it seems to work.

• Melatonin- especially if traveling across time zones and might need help with sleep

• bandaids of various sizes

• moleskin

• tweezers (for splinters/ ticks, etc)

• Small Ace bandage - surprisingly useful for all kinds of things especially attaching ice packs or covering large cuts

• alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer

• bandage scissors- get used for so many things besides first aid stuff

• antibiotic cream- not as good as antibiotics of course but a good on small stuff

It sounds like a lot but it really isn’t. Everything fits into an old, small toiletries bag of mine. I only bring 5-10 pills of each medicine in either a labeled ziploc or a super small travel- size container. You can often pick these up at Target in the travel section for common medicines and I re- use the heck out of them.

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Kavus in action outside the Pompidou Centre in Paris. It is so much more fun for adults when the kids carry their own water bottles, chapstick, snacks, whatever.

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Our travel first aid kit

13- Get A Strap That Connects The Car Seat To A Rolling Suitcase If You Are Traveling On A Plane With A Toddler.

Car seats are incredibly helpful on planes. Seriously. One, it is much safer for them, and two, your toddler is familiar with their car seat and has likely already taken some good naps in it. It is a known entity for them. Also, you can pop the car seat right into your rental car at your destination, therefore avoiding ridiculously excessive car seat rental charges.

*If you aren’t sure about the why’s and how’s of using a car seat on a plane, check out this article from University of Vermont Health about car seats on planes.

But car seats are annoying to travel with so get yourself a strap that attaches the car seat to a hardback, non- spinner carry-on. If the car seat isn’t humongous then you can roll right down the aisle of the plane and lift them straight into their seat. Been there, done that. The straps aren’t expensive either which is nice.

Practice at home first as it takes a few times before you get the hang of connecting the car seat but once you have it, it can make traveling so much easier. They don’t make the strap we used anymore but the Car Seat Travel Belt looks just like it.

I have a hilarious memory of my brother and I running through O’ Hare for a connection while pulling his twin toddler boys behind us in their car seats on our carryons. They thought it was the greatest fun.

*Again, you really need the 2 wheeled rolling suitcases for this as you have to tilt the suitcase for best effect. The 4 wheeled spinner suitcases don’t work well with the strap.

14- Inflatable Bubblebum Booster Seats Are Super Handy

If the kids are too big for a car seat but still need a booster seat then look into an inflatable Bubblebum Booster Seat. I hate keeping up with booster seats on trips, especially when there are multiple cars or taxis being used or we are only using a car for part of the trip and then I have to trip over them in the hotel room the rest of the time.

This inflatable seat is super easy to inflate, packs down to the size of a hardback book when you aren’t using it, and is safe (it meets or exceeds all US and EU regulations including crash tests). It is a great travel hack that makes family vacations so much easier. I liked them so much, I wrote a whole blog about it- see below.

14- *MOST IMPORTANT* Let The Kids Feel Like They Have Some Input Into The Plan

This goes a really long way. I always encourage them to read the itinerary ahead of time so they understand the timeline and feel more invested in what we want to see and do. I will often give choices as well- “Would you guys rather see The Statue of Liberty or rent bikes in Central Park?” And if they do some research and come up with something on their own they want to do, I will probably include it.

I also use blatant monetary rewards to encourage interest. If they read a book about our destination, then they get vacation money that is theirs to waste however they want. (The caveat being whatever they buy, they have to carry. This helps avoid the giant stuffed animal pitfall.)  

15 - *ALSO MOST IMPORTANT * Provide Some Balance If You Can And Don’t Forget To Chill Out And Enjoy Yourself

I strive for a balance when planning these itineraries - we do something I want to do, something you want to do, and then something everybody wants to do. Best case scenario - it teaches a little compromise; worst case - you only have to put up with the whining for part of the day.

I also like to balance among activities- outdoor versus indoor, active versus passive, and super- packed days versus lazier days. If we are at the beach all week, I might look for an indoor activity like an aquarium or museum for a change of pace. If we spent several days doing hard hiking, then the next day might be chilling at the campground/ rental house with maybe an excursion to explore a nearby town. You see the point.

The rest days are particularly important and that is something I took a long time to realize. I am a planner and researcher at heart so I tend to try and pack everything into an itinerary because I want to see it all. But one of the best days we spent in Greece is the day we ditched the itinerary and did nothing. The villa we rented turned out to be an unheralded gem, with an acre of olive and lemon trees and a local guy who kept an eye on the garden and brought us fresh vegetables and fruit. The kids played an epic game of hide and go seek in the orchard, we made fresh lemonade and learned that fresh feta cheese and honey is so good, I read a book in the sunshine. If you ask kids about Greece, they liked all the ruins and museums but they LOVED that day at the vacation rental. It is their best memory.

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