Below you will find some tips we have discovered through our travels and extensive research. We hope it delivers some value to you and your companions.
Always have snacks handy (hungry kids and spouses get angry pretty fast:))
Ensure your child has their favourite toys on hand. A DVD player is always good especially if you fly discount airlines.
Always have extra diapers and wipes on you and possibly a toilet seat adjuster for a toilet trained toddler.
Make your parking arrangements ahead of time (at least 1 night before)
Get to the airport at least 2 hrs for local flights and 3 hrs for international flights. It’s better to be early and sane than late and have a fight with your spouse while running to the gate:)
Check-in online with the airline if available (usually 24 hours, discount airlines sometimes 2 weeks before!) ahead of your flight. Note: You may need a printer but some airlines now allow to use your smart phones as well.
Communicate with your travel mate, always! Small misinterpretations during challenging situations will turn into arguments. When with a kid, you need to minimize that risk.
Divvy up the chores … even on vacation, doing dishes, grocery shopping or laundry needs to be done.
At restaurants, check the menu for prices before you enter … the language barrier may make it difficult to leave when you find out a burger is equivalent to $20.
Whenever possible reserve the seat behind the ‘better’ class, these usually have more leg room.
Backup your photos, videos and files from cameras, laptop etc. You don’t want to lose thousands of photos! We recommend some cloud type services like DropBox to sync your files with your laptop on a regular basis.
Mail packages home with gifts, souvenirs and extra clothing. Use the cheapest route. It doesn’t matter if it takes a month to arrive.
We hope you will find the above helpful. More to come later.
If you have any other tips or recommendations please leave us a comment below.
