Holidays. We all love holidays don’t we. Live for them perhaps? Holidays when you have children though are totally different. Sometimes you can feel like you need a holiday to recover from the holiday if you know what I mean.
Anyway, the packing for a family holiday can be enough to produce a few grey hairs in parents and send you into the paranoia phase, where you repack the bags several times over, or end up with lists of lists. Even the most organised of us is capable of a packing meltdown. Sound familiar?
Now in terms of what to pack I could tell you:
- Don’t forget the Calpol
- Don’t leave without the baby carrier
- Question if you really need the pushchair
- If you are off skiing pack layers for everyone, not loads of bulky fleeces
- Always take some of that hand washing soapy stuff
- Take basic first aid kit that includes steri strips
- Pack bucket loads of snacks
- Think about whether you need the baby monitor
and on and on and on…but there are tons of people reminding you about these things, and in reality my top must have travel products alter depending on where we are going and what age and stage the children are at the time. You know best and my advice would be to think through what you will be doing and pack for that purpose.
The things that don’t change too much and those things I consider to be my top 10 travel must haves are a bit different.
Excitement
Don’t leave home for a holiday without this, and I am not just talking about the children, us grown ups should be excited too – it’s holiday time for goodness sake!
A sense of humour
This is essential when holidaying with children. Don’t take things too seriously. There WILL be difficult moments, stressful even but don’t let them ruin the holiday – laugh them off and embrace the moment.
Love
Holiday time can be a great time to reflect on just how lucky we are to have each other, to have this time together. Love hard. Show the special people in your life how much you love them and they will feed off that.
Memory preservers
Cameras, phones, video cameras, tablets – whatever it is you use, pack them, pack the chargers and record those memories. Also remember not to be behind the camera the whole time, otherwise in 10 years time your children will be looking at the photos asking where you were!
Patience
This should be an easy pack as we need this all the time as parents but don’t forget it, holiday times can mean relaxed rules and routines but if you are doing something new or different you will need plenty of patience, and that’s not just with the children if you know what I mean?
Sense of adventure
I tell my children we can never leave home without this. Holidays are adventures and about trying new things and seeing new things. Teach everyone to embrace these moments.
Forgiveness
It’s a holiday but that doesn’t mean there won’t be bad behaviour or mistakes along the way. Forgive quickly and move on because you don’t want it to ruin the time. Holidays are short.
An open mind
You will see different things, hear different things, possibly have to do things that you wouldn’t normally do. Be open to new experiences, these help us grow and shape our characters.
The eyes for the back of your head
A must have for a holiday with children to avoid little Jonny ending up in the lake, little Jessy face first in the Paella, or little Jude skiing off with the wrong ski school – but you’re a parent, so you’ve got it covered!
Every family member
Sounds daft right? We have all seen Home Alone though! No one wants to leave Kevin behind again, so however silly you think you sound do the head count and then do it again. I do it just for the school run, so you can imagine how many times I do it on holiday!
41 comments
We take our trunki wherever we go as well!
That’s an apt answer to an ineiersttng question
looks like you had lots of fun 🙂 i really want to get my 2 girls trunkis for when we go to cornwall in May
We need a lot more inhtisgs like this!
We need to get some specific welsh and scottish people to join Dodecad it be interesting to try and break out the variation across the island of Britian. I know in past studies that Scots have often overlap with both Irish and English.On the GBR group which obviously excludes the Welsh the levels of Cluster 8 drop from the 35% in British_D to about 21%-Paul(pduffy81)
amazing photos- I love the black and white ones -they always look extra special in B&W .looks like a great time was had by all
Yes I love B &W too!
I definitely think a sense of humour and a sense of adventure are the most important things to pack.
It would be a nightmare without them !
A sense of adventure is very important as holidays certainly are such a good time to try out new things.
You are so right Lisa 🙂
Great -always forget to pack Calpol and hand sanitiser- love Trunki -make travelling fun
They do – especially useful waiting to get through customs!
I would say take the stroller. We travel quite a bit with the kids and I can’t imagine being without the stroller. We have a nice umbrella fold one and it’s very useful.
That sounds useful – nice and compact!
Great list!
Qui fournit les adresses IP et les adresses e-mail des intervenants sur ce blog ?C’est moi, Jambrun. Je fournis également films et photos, grâce à un logiciel qui me permet de déclencher à distance les caméras web. A ce propos, vous pourriez boutonner votre chemise, les poils dépassent. Et dites à la grande Colette de mettre un sogeoen-girut, mes enfants regardent.
Fab post …very informative i
Looks like you all had fun
Take more pants and socks. Just because. Lovely photos. Looks like you had a great time 🙂 #sharewithme
Yes – always more than you think you will need!
Looks Fun
Patience and an open mind are definitely key, especially the latter. Travelling is all about broadening the horizons – if we can’t go on holiday with an open mind, then what’s the point? We might as well stay at home!
Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more Tim
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Spme great ideas..looks like you had a fab day. Have taken notes for my next day put with the grandkids lol.
I love the open mind comment and so true
Looks like you all had a great time 🙂
Love this post x
🙂 x
great photos nothing better than a bit of adventure
Great blog, this will come in handy as I have 3 children under 5. You have a gorgeous family by the way, you must be very proud.
Thanks Amy – that’s a lovely thing to say 🙂 You have a crazy life like us then hahaha!
Would love a trunki
spare pair of glasses
What lovely pictures :-). You are so brave taking all the kiddies on holiday, we have done but only to a caravan park as I dont think I can brave a plane yet! Takes me about a week to pack for a holiday for all of us lol
You can get some really good pocket games for familys to take on trips that don’t take much space up in suitcases , always prepare if the weather is bad and your forced to stay indoors you don’t want bored children lol
wow you got some amazing photos, it looks like you all had a great time
I love your ideas; and I think that we need to have an easy going nature with children and be good listeners.
Great post ,a very practical and interesting read xx
This was a great article. If you’re traveling alone on a road trip here’s some great Canada solo road trip tips – traveling is the best!