http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogList.asp?sort=organizer&schedule=72 Traveling with kids - do you even dare? Do you do it often, or only when you have to? Join me exploring the joys and frustrations of traveling with small children everywhere - road trips, air flights, camping, hotels, visiting relatives, familiar places and unfamiliar places, locally and internationally - and how your travels can benefit from a little organization Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:15:38 EST en-us http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1617 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1617 Thu, 29 May 2008 13:00:00 EST This week, I've decided to do a little surfing and see what interesting products I could come up with. My favorite product for little kids that I came across was the Snack and Play Travel Tray (pictured on the left.) We've used fold up tables before in the car (like the one on the right,) but they are tricky to stow and to put up around the kids, especially when you have your car fully packed for a trip. ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1565 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1565 Thu, 15 May 2008 13:00:00 EST I'd love to hear from you! What's your biggest organizational struggle traveling with kids? Is it knowing where to go? Is it having the finances to go on the trip you want to go on? Is it packing? Is it the actual traveling and keeping the kids occupied? Is it managing everything while you're away? Is it catching up on the mail when you get back? Let me know what your biggest hurdles are and I'll write about ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1546 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1546 Thu, 8 May 2008 13:00:00 EST It's one of the worst things about camping - the walls are fabric thin! As a parent, when your child wakes up in the middle of the night and starts to cry, you hope desparately that everyone else either stays asleep or is hugely generous and forgiving. Then when your little darling wakes up with the sun and starts to bounce of the walls because she's so excited about camping, you again hope that everyone either stays asleep or is hugely generous and forgiving and you start to wonder ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1409 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1409 Thu, 1 May 2008 13:00:00 EST Our kids, my husband and I just did back to back weekend trips with the kids. We spent time at Gilbert and Teresa's cabin the first weekend ( see last week's post ) and this last weekend, we took the kids with us on a trip we did with about 20 beginner kayakers and instructors. Paul, my husband, and I took turns teaching kayaking to the wonderful beginner folks. Naomi and Ian took turns charming them, playing hide and seek and climbing in and out of boats (on dry land.) We were ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1383 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1383 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST Our friends Gilbert and Teresa owns a cabin/house up at Kernville. They bravely invited 3 families to stay last weekend for the Kern River Festival. We had 5 children - one 4 1/2 year old, twin 2 year olds and two 14-15 month olds and all their parents (6 of us) converging on the cabin on Friday night and Saturday morning. Normally Gilbert loves managing the people who stay at his cabin, encouraging them to get up and go kayaking. This weekend, he just threw up his hands and said ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1363 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1363 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST The thought of traveling with your defiant 4 year old strikes terror into your heart. Why on earth would you consider vacationing with another family? Surely it multiplies the hurdles to having a smooth and happy vacation. In our experience, you actually get more downtime on vacation if your children have friends to play with. They will magically amuse themselves for hours building sand villages, moats, playing out stories, and whatever else it is that kids do when they're playing ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1340 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1340 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST I know, I know, this blog is supposed to be about traveling WITH kids, but when this gets posted, I will be in Reno at the National Association of Professional Organizers' annual conference - without my kids! My husband is back home, taking the kids to daycare and pre-school, coping by himself while I'm here. I did do a few things to make it easier for him while I'm away. We talked with my daughter about me going away. My husband has already taken a few trips in her recent ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1278 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1278 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST But what should you be prepared for? The short response is to expect anything when you're traveling with kids. Yes, they will get tired. Yes, they will get hungry. Yes, they will need different activities to keep them occupied. Yes, they do know which of your buttons to press when you're tired. Yes, they are in a unfamiliar situation, so they may be excited or scared. Yes, they may misbehave or they may behave. After you've taken care of the planning, the packing, the pre-trip ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1214 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1214 Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST Have you ever thought of making your vacations more green? What would you do? How can you least impact the earth when you travel? One way to reduce the impact of your vacation is to limit the amount of fossil fuels used in your travels. Have you ever investigated what interesting things there are to do within walking distance or biking distance of your home? Or perhaps within walking or biking distance of public transport? Or maybe you can plan your vacation to use no fossil fuels once ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1143 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1143 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST How much effort is it to go out quickly with the kids? Can you go out on a spur of the moment trip to the park, or out to the grocery store for a treat or to top up on whatever has been the favorite food this week. Here are some tips for quick get aways. Baby supplies: Keep a stash of diaper changing supplies in the car - changing mat, diapers, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, diaper cream. Use the back of the seat pockets, or have a small diaper bag that you keep under a seat. A change of ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1110 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1110 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST BK (Before Kids) we used to be able to pack the night before we left to go somewhere (if we were leaving early) or even the day of if our departure time was later in the day. AK (After Kids), those days are gone, partly because it's hard to get more than 10 consecutive minutes at a time to focus on anything, partly because there are more people to pack for,and partly because, let's face it, it's easier to pack something if your toddler isn't 'helping' by playing the ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1074 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1074 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST If you haven't done something before, it can seem scary or too much work. Usually something is scary because you don't know how to do something or how something will go and your brain goes to all the things that might go wrong! This is actually a useful risk management tool – as long as it doesn't stop you actually doing what you want to do. So let's look at the things you want to consider when you go camping with kids and what to expect – based on my experience of course – ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1044 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1044 Thu, 7 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST Think ahead – that's what my Dad always used to say to me. Whether it was for design purposes or life in general, it's a great lesson to carry with me as I go through life. Think ahead now to your next trip. Maybe it's this weekend, driving to a ski field, maybe it's next week, heading to somewhere in the southern hemisphere to catch some rays, or maybe it's in a couple of months, to go camping. In any case, it pays to think ahead. Our next trip will probably be in a ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1001 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=1001 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST Sometimes after a big trip, the last thing you could even consider thinking of is the next trip. But life is funny – we (humans) look forward to things and if you haven't got something lined up, then somehow life seems a little directionless. I was talking about what our next trips might be to our four year old and I mentioned camping (thinking ahead to spring and summer) and her eyes lit up and it was all she could do to stay at the dinner table and not bounce off her seat. I let her ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=948 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=948 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST I couldn't have asked for better children on our flight back home from New Zealand. My husband had had to come home a few days early, so I was traveling with Naomi (4) and Ian (11 months) by myself. We had an evening flight from Wellington, connecting with an overnight flight from Auckland to LAX. I was able to check all our bags through to LAX from Wellington, which really helped. We went on board with a small fold up stroller, a tote with my laptop and all the essential paperwork – ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=865 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=865 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST We've been away now for about six weeks. In that time Ian has started to walk, got his first tooth and has gone from eating mush to real food. The kids have had continuously changing schedules and met a lot of new people. They've met four aunts and uncles, six cousins, five great-aunts, three great-uncles, two great-grandmothers, and many second and third cousins. We've had early bedtimes, late bedtimes, naps, no naps. We've had grumps and happy times. At times on the ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=818 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=818 Thu, 3 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST Always plan ahead for all my trips. Know my itinerary, but be prepared to change if something more interesting comes up (to allow my husband some breathing space!) Research ahead of time the interesting things to do or see that are kid-friendly. Update our lists for each type of travel that we do. Keep what I can pre-packed. Replenish/fix/replace items as soon as possible after returning from a trip so they are ready for the next trip. Delegate packing jobs to my husband and teach my 4 year old ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=767 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=767 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST So often these days, I read of kids traveling with a raft of electronic gadgetry to keep them amused. I wondered what people in New Zealand where doing with their kids in the car so I did a poll of the 30 odd people at our family gathering over Christmas to see what their favorite things to do in the car were. I asked the children what they liked to do and asked the adults what they liked to do with children. The children said their favorite things to do were to sleep, eat cherries (or ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=732 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=732 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST We're about to embark on one of the longer driving sections of our trip. We've got about seven hours of driving time ahead of us. Of course it may well take anywhere between 8 and 10 hours to actually get to our destination, depending on how the kids are doing. We don't believe in pushing it too much and can be easily persuaded to take half an hour here and there to explore something interesting either to give the kids a break or us a break! We're used to traveling in our ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=688 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=688 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST It's been three years since we last visited New Zealand. In that time 5 nieces and nephews have been born and various other extended family members have entered into the scene so we've got lots of catching up to do. We've now met all the new nieces and nephews and our kids have loved meeting their cousins. Naomi, our four year old, was so excited about meeting everyone and has really loved playing with her cousins. Ian, who is nearly 10 months old, has been totally adorable and ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=634 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=634 Thu, 6 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST We're on our vacation and staying at our third place in a week. When you're living out of suitcases, especially with a family, it takes a little effort to keep things sorted out. Little children's clothing is so small and so easy to get into a muddle. There are a few tricks you can use to help to keep you from descending into chaos. A rule of thumb is to categorize at various levels and keep each category separate. At the top level, if you can, keep each person's clothing in ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=526 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=526 Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST I hope your travels for today were safe. By now, you have hopefully reached your destination. It never fails to amaze me what a zoo the city can turn into during a major holiday. There are so many people on the road at once either driving to their destinations or trying to get to the airport to fly to their destination. USA Today estimated that nearly 39 million people will be traveling more than 50 miles this Thanksgiving. That's nearly 13% of the population all traveling at once! ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=461 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=461 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST My husband and I are always looking for ways to make traveling with the kids easier. Usually for my husband, that means looking for ways to get out of the door faster. For me it means remembering everything we need. In the years BK (Before Kids) we used to just grab our stuff and go. We didn't need a lot of stuff and I could guarantee a block of time just to concentrate on packing. Now AK (After Kids) we need more stuff and I rarely get more than 2 minutes concentrating on one thing ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=371 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=371 Thu, 8 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST I've been pretty focused on planning for our trip to New Zealand. We've organized the car seats (we're not taking them, but borrowing and renting them there), the port-a-cots (one for the North Island and one for the South Island), almost got the bedding sorted out so we don't have to carry anything, our itinerary is almost finalized – we just have the grandmothers fighting over who is going to have us stay with them first! We land in Wellington on a Friday and fly to the ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=297 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=297 Thu, 1 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST There are lots of things about flying with children that can either be tortuous or possibly even enjoyable. We last traveled as a family by air before Ian was born. We visited the grandparents who were living in Paris at the time. My memory of traveling home is of checking in. We waited in line for about half an hour, then just as we were about to check in, the security people stopped chatting and decided to thoroughly check OUR bags. Which were full on our way home and HAD been carefully ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=225 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=225 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:00:00 EST Okay, so hopefully you've decided where you're going. What will you do when you get there? Knowing what you're going to do (and what you're NOT doing) when you're there will determine what you take with you – it's all part of the planning process. The other main consideration is the weather – do you pack your extra long johns or bikini? I like this weather site for trip planning around the world. You can do a search for historical data for a period of up to two ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=145 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=145 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:00:00 EST Go somewhere fun – for you and the kids – and do your homework. A little research can turn up unknown options and give you information to make the trip go more easily. I've outlined a few places to start looking here. As time goes on, I'll be commenting in more detail on some of these options. There are oodles of special places to visit in the world and I for one am grateful to live in a time where it is so easy to share those places with our kids. Our personal favorite places in ... http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=70 http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogEntry.asp?id=70 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:00:00 EST Welcome to the traveling with kids blog. Each week I hope to provide you with some helpful tips about traveling with kids as well as let you know about our own travels. I'll be approaching both little and big trips. I know what it's like when "just" getting to the grocery store or the park can seem like a major undertaking or even an insurmountable task. We are a family of four – Mom, Dad, (Paul), Naomi (who's nearly 4) and Ian (nearly 8 months old). We go camping, kayaking, ...