Since we adopted our daughter, Elisa, six years ago, we have traveled a lot. We have been on so many airplanes that when she plays “traveling” with her dolls, she can recite the flight attendant’s introduction and safety talk verbatim. She can also freely recall all the pertinent information on the safety instruction card.
Recently, when I called one of our frequently used airlines to ask a question about Elisa’s mileage account, the airline representative, exclaimed, “Holy Moly! How old is your daughter?!” In short, we’ve learned a lot over the last years about what works – and what doesn’t – when preparing for a trip with children.
In my last entry, I published my list of tips for travelling with a baby. Now that our daughter is nearly seven, travel – and packing – has taken on a new dimension. We now travel as lightly as possible. For our upcoming two-week trip to Italy, we will take two backpacks, plus a booster seat, the last vestige of early childhood.
At six, a Elisa is capable of taking responsibility for much of her packing needs. As I began to pull my own things together this week, I handed her a pen and told her to make a list of what she might need for our vacation. She was initially satisfied with “books, underpants, blanket and pandella (her stuffed panda),” but with gentle prodding, she put together the fairly comprehensive packing list pictured above. She then helped put these things together.
Here are some other tips we use when preparing for a trip with our daughter:
1) Travel Journal: In the past, we have always carried a sketch pad for Elisa to draw what she is seeing and experiencing. For this trip, we bought a Draw and Write Notebook for her to record her daily activities. I like this one best, which can be found here.
2) First aid kit: We’ve carried one since we became parents, though it has evolved over the years. Today, it includes a thermometer, band aides, children and adult pain relievers, children’s Benadryl, mosquito repellent, sun screen, anti-itching cream, anti-septic wipes, scissors and small gauze pads.
3) Life vest and booster seat: We still carry a booster seat, which doesn’t seem like much after years of packing along a Sit n Stroll. If we are going to be near water, I also bring a child-sized life vest so that I don’t have to hesitate when considering a boat ride.
4) Anything to help with sleep: For Elisa, this means her blanket and a small stuffed panda, acquired in Beijing and featured above.
5) Toys: Generally, we don’t bring many, if any, toys. Our daughter has a particular passion for story telling so we do allow a small bag of figurines that change character with her story. Those pictured here are currently members of the Von Trapp family.
6) Cards: We love a good game of Crazy 8’s when relaxing in our hotel room.
7) comfortable walking shoes
8. hat and sunscreen (summer)
For the Plane ride: Travel for us can often means 24 hours to a destination. For this reason, it is critical to have the right activities lined up:
1) Hand work: We bring a child’s needlepoint canvas with us for Elisa to work on the plane.
2) Books: Elisa chooses which books she will bring along, including some to read herself and others for us to read to her. An earlier interest was in activity and sticker books, which would keep her busy for up to an hour at a time. Likewise, magnetic “Create a Scene” sets come in a variety of themes (and are flat making them easy to pack.)
3) Technology: I admit it, for the airplane, we let go of all our regular rules regarding technology use. We hand over the ipad, fully loaded with movies and games. The battery life is 9 hours, which used to be the perfect amount of time to get to Beijing.
If you have other tips for travelling with children, please share them.