Travelling with Kids Personal Experience

Travelling with kids is an absolute art from and something I think my wife is at absolute pinnacle at. By the time our eldest was four he had been completely around the world five times, had birthdays in Croatia, Greece, Ireland and Portugal and even spent seven weeks backpacking through Croatia sleeping on beaches and in guest houses.

Sleeping baby after a horse and coach ride in Brugge

Interestingly enough travelling with Keir was not easy. He had dreadful eczema which meant that the heat or sand or dust would drive him crazy and he has just never been a sleeper. When staying in guest houses one of us would have to wake up with him between five and six am and get him out of the house quickly to avoid waking everyone else up. But we had our routine and for every horror story there is one hundred amazing stories. For example, we used to walk him in the evening in his buggy to get him to sleep so that we could then go to a restaurant and have a nice meal - it was an exercise in good timing. For his birthday we booked a very fancy restaurant on the Island of Bol. Keir could walk (toddle) by nine months so to tire him out to ensure he slept we made him walk one and a half kilometers back from the beach that day. Yet, despite all efforts the little bugger stayed awake till ten pm that night - each of us taking turns to walk him in his buggy while the other dined alone - it was his birthday after all.

Travelling with kids is an exercise in organisation. One key ingredient is to always have snacks and drinks at your disposal. When they are babies organising a bottle adds a whole new level of organisation again. In the case of Keir we had to have it ready the night before because when he woke up at five am he wanted it. Usually there is no microwave or anything like that.

Many people are scared of even flying with kids but again it is testament to my wifes organisation that we continue to regularly travel with two very active boys now. The secret is to have lots of things to keep them entertained - a handful of toy cars each, lots of colouring books, pens, pencils, and stickers. You have to be prepared to devote time to then and they will reward you with great behaviour. We are constantly complemented on how good our boys are despite the fact in reality they are absolute horrors.

We have been tough on the boys right from early on when it comes to eating in restaurants. They understand the concept of our time and subsequently we have been to some of the best restaurants in the world.

A family pinic in Ireland

There are some real advantages to travelling with kids - like loading the buggy up with all the extra gear. When it comes to travel buggies we are the worlds experts - we have tested everything. Go for something smaller and lighter than you would initially be inclined to. You want to be able to easily and quickly fold it up for bus compartments or fit it into an airplane overhead compartment. You will inevitably end up carrying it fully loaded up countless steps. Bigger three wheel adventure types are heavier and are often harder to fit in smaller shops than the small lightweight four wheel ones - you don’t want to be leaving your children outside when you go to get some bread.

It took us some time to completely relax while travelling on totally flexible itineraries with the kids. I remember we went through much mental anguish before the first time we slept on the beach with Keir. We arrived to the Island of Vis on the last ferry in only to find all the accommodation was completely gone. However, once we did we realised how much he in fact loved it sleeping outside between us (except he woke up at four am to see the ferry come in).

Obviously as kids get more mobile it definitely gets harder and we have chased Keir through the streets of Dubrovnik and Barcelona with him getting a one hundred meter lead and lost him once under the ropes at the Vatican; and adding a second or third poses another level of challenge.

But there should be no reason that they addition of extra members to your family should slow down your travel experiences. It will make your kids better people - right from an early age I have noticed they become more inquisitive, their language skills excel from being around so many adults and they quickly learn the needs of you as parents - a little space or quiet (unfortunately it is a completely different case at home). Plus more than anything they give you incredible pleasure and fun stories that will last with you for life, long after they have been arrested, crashed the family car, graduated and moved out.

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