Tips While Traveling with Kids – Turkey Edition
we’ve traveled plenty with our kids, but it’s not always easy to manage if we’re not mentally + physically prepared for the adventure ahead. Below are some tips for travelling especially around covid:
💥take it slow + leave plenty of time for the airport.
-planning for extra time is exactly the opposite of what we’d do when it’s just the two of us, but add three kids, additional baggage, bathroom breaks, random mishaps + you’ll be glad you left home an extra hour earlier! it’s less stressful too!
💥review covid regulations and requirements…
-do this at least two days before the trip and then right before the trip. Why? Because they are constantly changing. The last thing you want to do is pay for tickets that you cannot use when you go to the airport because something changed. When we traveled to turkey, those 6 and over were required to take a covid test or show proof of vaccination. On our way back, those 2 and over had to take a covid regard regardless of proof of vaccination.
💥don’t overpack….bring an extra suitcase or buy one when over there
-when traveling with kids, we assume we’ll need every little item to come with us. be wise, edit everything down to basics! pack clothing that can easily be mixed + matched, especially for longer travel! For international travel, you will have one or two bag allowance for free per ticket. Take advantage of this by bringing an additional suit case that is only half full because you are bound to buy some things that will take up space. On our trip, we ended up buying an extra suit case while in turkey…don’t worry my husband made sure we didn’t pay an arm and a leg for another suit case but that’s because he does his homework. He actually found a quality suitcase for one-third the cost of what we paid for her.
💥pack some medicine
Yes…you read that right. You won’t think of medicine unless you need it. Now you may be asking why would you travel if you aren’t feeling well? You won’t but that doesn’t mean you won’t get sick or something may happen when you finally reach your destination. And come on, no matter how much you try to stay away from germs, you are on a plane for so many hours with people side by side each other. Especially with kids you should take some allergy medicine, fever medicine, pain reducers…and don’t forget the syringe applicator that makes it easy to administer.
💥pre-book everything you can!
-i mean everything! your seats on the plane before your flight, choose meal options for kids (for international flights you can also choose vegetarian meals for yourself!)
+ here’s a tip that saved us from not only missing our flight on our connection in frankfurt but saved us from waiting in long lines with three (sleepy!) kids-my FIL was with us, my husband pre-booked a wheelchair for him! we were ALL able to breeze through every line because of him! no additional documents, etc is needed for the wheelchair request online!
💥explain the trip to your little ones.
-some kids have anxiety before a trip. they may show it in different ways, but explaining a trip ahead lessens their level of anxiety. do this by showing images of the places you’ll visit, read books about the country, + share of the culture!
Watch our YouTube video below hear Ramin’s tips!
💥SNACKS! SNACKS! SNACKS!
-need i say more? Your kids (and prob you) are bound to get hungry. Airlines these days won’t offer in-flight purchases like they used to and the last position you want to put yourself in is being on a long flight with little ones who get hungry. The best options for snacks are pre-packaged granola bars, chips, cookies…and a few lollipops. Why? When the flight is taking off or landing, the lollipops will help your little ones when they need to pop their ears. Gum also works.
💥be familiar with the area you are going…
-this is my husband’s trick…which i make fun of him for but glad he does it because he will know what is close to where we are staying. For a long trip like ours in turkey, he searched for grocery stores, pharmacy, transit options, etc. and did all of this with google maps. The great thing about using google maps, or something similar, is you can generally see the buildings and the street so you already feel like you are there…when you aren’t.
💥accept things will go wrong.
-from your plans to their behavior! with any vacation, kids routines go out the door, + over a period of time, their behavior begins to shift too! personally, i wouldn’t recommend more than 4 weeks away from home, by the 5th week, my kids were jumping off of the walls 🤪
