With the recent Thanksgiving holiday, we had the luxury of not having to travel more than about 20 minutes to visit family and enjoy the holiday.
However, as I sat in the comfort of my home and watched the news, I saw numerous reports from the local airports about the insanity of traveling on the day before a major holiday.
While watching the frantic people stress about whether they were going to make it to their destination on time, I thought of a few holiday travel tips to help you keep your sanity:
- Travel before the last minute rush. Rather than planning to travel on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, reserve an extra vacation day or two and leave on Monday or Tuesday. You’ll beat the mad rush of travelers and stress involved with traveling the day before you need to be somewhere.
- Bring plenty of things to keep the kids occupied. There will be plenty of idle time as you travel, such as waiting on the tarmac for your flight to depart or a scheduled layover along the way, so you want to have activities that will keep your children busy. It will help delay their boredom and frustration, which likely will turn to whining and added stress for everyone.
- Plan for the worst case scenario. This might seem obvious but it can turn a stressful situation into a day at the park. Do you have a layover? Plan ahead and prepare a list of local hotels in the event your connecting flight is canceled due to bad weather. Are you renting a car? Print out a list of the phone numbers for three or four car rental agencies, as then you will be able to quickly call one of the other agencies should there be a problem or delay with your reserved rental.
The holidays should be a time for relaxation and enjoyment. There is no reason to let your holiday travel plans add unnecessary stress that can easily turn a happy family trip into an episode worthy of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
What are your favorite holiday travel tips?
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It’s a guy thing but, learn to be happy in the clothes you are in, it saves packing space and time!
Lol, I will be putting that to the test with an upcoming trip. =)
Bring lots of filling and non-sugary snacks. Nothing makes behavior (yours and the kids) go awry faster than hunger, and the airlines don’t generally have great options for kids.
One of my favorite tricks when flying is to get to the airport early, then head straight to the Qantas Club, Virgin Lounge, or the like and let the toddler loose amongst all the business travellers while the wife and I have a nice relaxing coffee and cake.
I know it is annoying to all the business travellers – I know it is for me when I am travelling for work. But I do it for purely selfish reasons, you see the next time I am sitting in that lounge waiting for a 6:00am shuttle flight between capitals I can remember some fun times with my kids while I am sipping the awful coffee.
So sorry all my fellow travellers, but I just love to have memories of my kids wherever I go
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Seeing the “bring things too keep the kids occupied” makes me glad I don’t have any kids, haha. Just flying and what not by myself is enough work.
Great list!
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