My seven tips for traveling with children and enjoying an unforgettable vacation

We all look forward to the time of summer vacations, to enjoy with the family. We visualize ourselves resting on a beach mat, reading a book by the sea, planning fun excursions with the children ... in short, recreating that idyllic journey that we have in mind.

But we have already seen on several occasions that expectations are not always met, especially when we have young children. Therefore, my advice as a mother of three children with different ages, is to adapt to their rhythms and not wanting to fill the agenda of plans that probably cannot be carried out; No matter how much we put him!

I share you, from my experience, the keys that work for me to enjoy an unforgettable vacation, both for my partner and for me, as for our kids. Do you share yours too?

Involve them when preparing luggage

With a pre-adolescent child, I know firsthand the implications of forgetting at home his favorite shirt, his football boots or the book that at that moment has him absorbed.

So, to avoid arguments and forgetfulness, my advice is involve children when preparing luggage, assigning them tasks that they can do autonomously according to their age. They may not be ready to choose correctly all the clothes they will need during the holidays, but it is likely that they can select their favorite clothes, organize their toilet bag and, of course, the toys they want to take.

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The journey is an important moment, do not neglect it!

When preparing our vacation, we turn our full attention to develop a perfect activity agenda, where that fun excursion is not lacking, the bath in that dream beach or the visit to that interesting museum that everyone talks about.

But on many occasions we neglect a fundamental part that, on the other hand, is what gives the "starting gun" to the holidays: the moment of the journey.

Whether by train, plane, ship, car, motorhome ... we must understand that For most children, the trip is a real bore. They get tired of always sitting, crying, want to pee frequently or even some get dizzy. In short, the best thing that can happen when we travel with children is to ask us at all times what is "missing a lot?".

Therefore, my recommendation is to arm yourself with a lot of patience and fun resources to spend the moment in the best possible way. Remember that if you travel by car you must make frequent stops, check the traffic beforehand to avoid traffic jams and try to choose the hours of the day in which your children are calmer (personally, it works for me to travel after eating, because they usually fall asleep immediately).

Upon arrival, make a "recognition" of the area

As soon as you arrive at your holiday destination, and unless it is a second residence or a place that you know very well, my advice is that you take a walk in the immediate vicinity, in order to have located those sites that may be useful during our stay away from home.

Bus or taxi stops, pharmacies on call, clean parks with shaded areas, supermarkets and extended hours stores, health centers ... In this way, if you need it you will not waste time looking.

Embed adult and children's leisure activities

My husband and I are in love with city tourism. We love that of "seeing stones", walking through narrow streets, discovering charming squares, visiting museums ... but we are aware that our children only enjoy the beach and natural tourism. What to do then?

My advice is try to adapt vacations to all family members, so that we all enjoy and have our favorite leisure time. In my case we do not give up city tourism, but always in very small doses, and interspersed with children's plans.

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In this way, little by little I am introducing them to another type of tourism that as they grow they are beginning to appreciate, but without losing the essence of the holidays you really enjoy.

Always keep the child's needs in mind

This advice is closely related to the previous one, and I consider it important that the child's needs prevail over those of adults.

That is, and returning to my previous example, when we plan to do city tourism, we always choose to visit comfortable cities to travel with the kids and, if possible, plains. In addition, we do it for short periods and during the day when your energy is at the highest.

Plan family excursions with them

Surely, with all our good intentions, we begin to fill the holiday agenda with activities that we are sure our children will like: water and theme parks, children's shows, fireworks on the beach, interactive museums ... But have we asked them what they really want?

And I say this because something very curious happened to me this holiday that gave me a great lesson; Let me tell you. At the place we were staying, they made a recommendation to visit a night show with drones, so my husband and I organized to take the children there, believing they would love it.

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The show lasted almost an hour, and although during the first five minutes the children remained extremely attentive, after that time they began to protest. "I get bored, I don't want to see more", my daughter told me tiredly. When I asked them what they wanted to do, they answered that all they wanted was to walk along the beach at night and drink ice cream together.

That was when I realized that we had taken them to see that sophisticated show without asking them if they were interested. We simply decided for them and thought they would like to, but what really made them happy was something much simpler ...

Let them get bored!

And in line with the above, I also make the following reflection: we want children to be entertained during the holidays, that are unforgettable for them and that there is no time for boredom.

This means that, on many occasions, we are not aware of the amount of activities and plans we schedule for them. It hardly gives them time to assimilate an emotion, when we are fully involved in the following plan.

In my opinion, it is convenient to dose and even let children get bored. Because it is also positive that they know how to have fun for themselves, and that they spend some free time with their own interests or concerns.

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Photos | iStock

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