We have been traveling with our minis since our youngest was three months old. Our first trip? Bohol! While people would think we’re only stressing ourselves out by bringing along our two little ones on our trips, we’d say it’s pretty fun having kids as travel buddies. Having them around encourages us to look at the world differently.
Although it’s fun to have kids around when traveling, parents also need to prepare to beat the stress that often comes with traveling with kids — because kids will be kids! Here are five travel essentials when traveling with kids:
- Lots of extra clothes (of course)
If you have extra space in your luggage, I suggest bringing lots of backup clothes for your kids when they are traveling with you. Our minis tend to get very messy when they’re out and about so we find ourselves changing them multiple times each day.
Now, it’s easy to bring extra clothes if you have your whole car trunk with you (which is why we like road trips most), but if you have limited space for clothes, the best thing to do is to bring detergent in small packs so you can wash your clothes when you’re about to run out. You can also buy from a local store or have your clothes washed at a local laundromat (though that may cost a bit more than washing them yourself).
This saved us heaps when we went on a backpack-less trip to Boracay with our kids. I call it a backpack-less trip because we literally had no luggage with us when we went there. LOL! The only clothes we had were the ones we were wearing. We just bought a extra clothes and undergarments in D’Mall and just washed and wore our way throughout our vacation. (That was all thanks to my ever so spontaneous husband)
- Activities
Stay sane throughout your trip by bringing activities your kid enjoys–there are lots of educational toys under 1k from Lazada! We never really have a problem during our vacations, rather en route to our destination. Long drives and plane rides can be very boring for children, especially the young ones, so make sure you have something for them to do during the trip. What we usually bring are drawing pads, crayons, and lego blocks. Which activities you’ll bring depends on what your child likes doing.
- Medicine
Save yourself from a trip to the E.R. like what happened to us when we brought the kids to Boracay by bringing a first aid kit with you on your trips. Your first aid kit should have:
- Alcohol
- Betadine
- Bandaid (very important if you want to skip the long dramas over little boo-boos)
- Gauze
- Paracetamol
- Antihistamine (never forgetting this again!)
- Plus other medication your child needs if he/she has a special condition
- A reliable camera (water-proof and shock-proof if going to be used by the kids)
A must-have in our list of travel essentials when traveling with kids is a camera. But, if you have a little photographer in training and you don’t want your SLR to end up like ours, which has a crack across the screen (huhu!), then invest on a water-proof, shock-proof camera. We recently bought our daughter her very own point-and-shoot camera after she accidentally dropped my SLR during one of our hikes. Not her fault–the SLR is too heavy for a kid!
Heck, the SLR is heavy for a full-grown adult! I’ve actually been thinking about buying a new phone that I can use for work and to take photos during our family trips.
I’m currently eyeing on the OPPO F1s, which boasts of a 16MP front camera for beautiful-looking selfies AND a Selfie Panorama feature so the whole family can fit in the shot.
And, for a mom who brings her work everywhere, I find the 3GB RAM and octa-core 64-bit processor for smooth multitasking and seamless switching between apps SUPER important. I find it so frustrating when my ancient smartphone hangs when I switch from my email app to the camera whenever I see a picture-worthy moment of my kids. You have no idea how many moments I missed because my phone hangs up when there are too many apps running!
- Snacks
We often forget to bring snacks, so we end up having two hangry minis in the middle of our trip to our destination. Prevent hunger-induced tantrums by having tasty snacks ready for consumption during your trip. What we usually prepare are sandwiches (given to them at the start of the trip), biscuits, fruits, and candies for when they get dizzy.
There you have it! Five travel essentials when traveling with kids. Don’t let being a parent stop you from traveling—bring your little one with you! Take these travel essentials with you on your next family trip and remember to have lots and lots of fun!
This blog post is an entry for Nuffnang’s OPPO F1s: Travel Essentials Blog Contest. This post also contains affiliate links–in case you decide to buy any of the products I mentioned above!
