A Beginner’s Guide to Traveling With Kids

Picking a destination is the fun part. Personally, there’s nowhere I’d travel solo that I wouldn’t travel with my daughter. If I know how to keep myself safe and secure somewhere, I know how to do the same with her. But not everyone has the same appetite for risk or experience in international countries, and some family travelers may want to stick to destinations where they feel more confident.

This might mean visiting places where you speak the language—Canada, Australia, the UK, or the US are great options for English speakers, though for your first time traveling with kids, perhaps choose somewhere within your own country, or nearby. It could also mean going somewhere you’ve been before or where you know people with whom you can stay.

Wherever you choose, get a feel for how your kids handle long car journeys or flights, changes in routine, and different foods before adding dramatically different climates or time zones to the mix. Kids can be remarkably adaptable though, and may handle changes better than you anticipate: my daughter complains on the short walk to school, but happily trekked for three days in the Annapurna Himalaya as a 6-year-old.

You may immediately think beach vacations, cruises, and amusement parks make for the most kid-friendly travel options. These can of course be great and may suit your family perfectly … but only if you actually enjoy them yourself. However, I’ve found it better to incorporate a few typically kid-focused activities and attractions into trips I want to take. (Besides, kids have a capacity to be interested in and entertained by lots of different things.)

When visiting Sydney, we spent a few hours at a zoo—a kid-friendly classic if ever there was one. I wouldn’t have gone there alone, but I knew my daughter would enjoy seeing kangaroos, crocodiles, and koalas. On New Zealand’s North Island we visited the Hobbiton™ Movie Set; I’m not a big fan of The Lord of the Rings and my daughter was too young to have seen the films, but it was a fun destination for all.

In Singapore, we spent a day at Adventure Cove Waterpark after a couple of days visiting the city’s markets, temples, and museums. It was the highlight of her trip, and I enjoyed myself as well. When traveling to India, we spent a week on the beach in Goa rather than in my favorite cities. My daughter loved playing on the beach, and I stuck to my travel values by staying at a locally run resort rather than an international chain. You can have your cake and eat it, too (but you’ll need to share it with your kids).

Traveling with kids doesn’t have to mean all-inclusive resorts, but there will be some unavoidably higher costs. Multiple airline tickets or train fares, larger rental cars, bigger hotel rooms, and more food and activity spending may mean you need to save for longer to take a family trip—or take fewer trips than you would have done in your pre-kid days.

Having said that, there are ways to travel well with kids on a budget, with some good family vacation planning. Pick more affordable destinations—though your definition of “affordable” may not be the same as someone else’s—or travel in the off-season. Alternatively, choose destinations with free or very cheap activities: For example, London can be pricey but entry to many museums and galleries is free. New Zealand’s national parks are free to visit. Beaches and parks are almost always free, wherever you are, and kids can rarely resist the pull of a public playground without stopping for a spin.

And the food? Plan mealtimes ahead to save money. Buy snacks and picnic items from markets and local grocery stores. Take advantage of hotel breakfast buffets. Buy takeout that you can split among your family. And look for accommodation with some meal preparation facilities—even a small refrigerator, an electric kettle, and a microwave can help save on meal and snack costs. A full kitchen is even better.

And when it comes to accommodation, I prefer more comfortable (and therefore usually more expensive) spots now than I did in my backpacking days, as do many family travelers, but this is down to personal preference—kids don’t need luxury to be happy.

Take that airplane advice to heart: Secure your own (proverbial) oxygen mask before helping others—the same applies to enjoying your family trip. If you’re not rested, fed, and calm, chances are your kids won’t be either. And prioritizing your own comfort doesn’t mean neglecting your kids’ needs—it just means you’re better prepared to take care of them.

For me, this means booking daytime rather than overnight flights. Like many kids, my daughter can sleep almost anywhere, including on a cramped airplane seat. I can’t. I chose to take a recent 10-hour flight—by day—to Singapore with my then 6-year-old. Yes, it was long and boring (for me), but she watched the Barbie movie on repeat and we arrived in Singapore in the evening, ready to sleep. The next day I didn’t feel as completely wrecked as I would have if we’d flown overnight, so we were ready to explore the city straight away.

For you, perhaps putting yourself first means scheduling in rest days, sending your kids to a kids’ club at a resort, or booking a massage while your offspring hang out poolside with their other caregiver (if you have a partner or a travel buddy with you)—do what works for you.

Packing is often a headache, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’ll have access to laundry facilities, aim for three days’ worth of clothing for everyone. If you won’t, pack a few more changes of clothes but still try to travel as light as possible (based on the climate of your destination, of course).

Whatever the age of your kids and the size of your family, your first time traveling with kids is the time to upgrade to some roller-wheel suitcases—trust me. When kids are small and you still need to carry them, having a case you can wheel easily is a lifesaver. When they’re older, they can then help wheel their own. And you can even involve them in the trip-planning process by letting them pack. (Just double-check things after, to avoid rocking up with one pair of underwear, ten odd socks, and no pajamas.)

Packing enough snacks for the entirety of your journey is another traveling with kids essential. If you get in late and can’t eat a full meal before bed, make sure kids have some crackers, muesli bars, or cereal to tide them over until breakfast (but take note of any biosecurity restrictions at your destination). Ditto, medical supplies. Taking a basic first aid kit saves you having to scramble to find a pharmacy for an errant blister, headache, or insect bite. Of course, bring any essential medication with you, or anything in specific child doses.

Aside from a precious stuffie and some reading and drawing or writing materials for long journeys, I pack minimal toys. They take up too much room, and there are way better ways to keep kids entertained while traveling. It’s also nice to buy a few local souvenirs for kids—I enjoyed picking up French comic books when I was a kid traveling to France, and I still have a doll in a traditional costume my parents bought me in Hong Kong.

Wherever we go, one of my top family travel hacks is to look for accommodation that either includes breakfast or has breakfast facilities on-site. When kids are hungry for breakfast, they typically need it now, aka 10 minutes ago, so buffets are ideal. Lunch and dinner facilities are less important, in my opinion.

When traveling to cities, I try to book hotels with a pool—if the climate and season allow. After a day of sightseeing, nothing perks up water babies more than a splash in the shallow end. And if you need a break due to sickness, jet lag, or just plain fatigue, having a pool on-hand means you have an easy activity to fall back on. (For similar reasons, I also look for local leisure centers—a shout out to the Marlborough Lines 2000 center in Blenheim for keeping kids entertained.)

Another top hack for trips longer than a weekend is looking for accommodation with laundry service or washing machines. In many Asian countries, hotel laundry services are very affordable, though they’re less so in other destinations. If you’re on a budget, opt for self-service washers—these are common in holiday parks and serviced campsites, as well as more homely guesthouses, hostel-type accommodation, or apartment and house rentals.

Other facilities that are less important to me but that many traveling parents look for include full kitchens, kids clubs or babysitting services, and portable baby cribs. These can make or break a stay for many.

This depends a lot on your destination and the age of your kids—how you travel with toddlers is different from how you travel with tweens. However, I typically assume that traveling is no more risky than everyday life at home for the most part.

I’ve never felt the need to do this, but some family travelers place air tags within their kids’ clothing or shoes when transiting through airports or other busy places. (And it’s not a bad idea if your toddler is a budding escape artist.) However, now my daughter is nearly nine, when we visit crowded places, we decide on a meeting point in case we’re separated. Otherwise, I tell her to go into the nearest shop and ask for help from a woman. (I know there are plenty of trustworthy men in the world, but I think it’s safer for kids to seek help from unknown women than unknown men).

I also make sure she knows the name of our hotel, and has my home-country cellphone number memorized. If we travel internationally and I get a local number, I make sure she has that written on a piece of paper in her pocket or purse, too. But when it comes to other safety aspects, we simply follow the same rules we do at home: using seatbelts in cars, even if they’re not required locally; using pedestrian crossings, if available; washing our hands before eating; not petting animals; only eating at places that seem hygienic.

On that final point, food hygiene can be a big concern for many traveling parents, so make sure your kids have up-to-date vaccines that cover your destination and that they only drink bottled water if you have concerns about water quality. We spent a month traveling in Nepal and, by following these basic tips, my daughter didn’t get sick once.