Blog: Traveling With Kids
Happy Thanksgiving!

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!

Anxiety levels increase as things don't go as expected.  We can mitigate the effects of anxiety somewhat by being prepared and changing our expectations.  Most people expect delays for the big holidays and with today's technology, you can find out in advance approximately how long your delays might be.  If you're flying, you can check for flight delays in major airports ahead of time at the official faa site.  Airlines also have flight specific information.  There are also sites that let you check your flight, the weather and tell you what to pack.

If you're driving, there are driving forecast maps available.  And then there are your own personal delays – by the time you've changed another diaper, stopped again half an hour down the road for someone who NOW needs to go to the bathroom, stopped to pick up the favorite soft toy that got dropped/thrown/mysteriously moved right into the back of the car, and can't be done without, etc, etc it can take FOREVER to get to your destination.  Obviously, you can do your best to condense all the stops into one and use any diversionary tactic you can think of until the next scheduled stop before you pick up that favorite toy.  To make the experience more enjoyable for the kids and if we have the time, for any trips lasting more than a couple of hours, we usually plan for driving to take twice as long as any google or map estimate.  This allows us time for extra stops and time to get out and explore something interesting on the way, giving us a chance to stretch our legs and ease those "I-been-sitting-too-long" pains.

With luck, the delays are over or avoided, you've reached your destination – enjoy the turkey and everyone's company!  Safe return travels!

Thanks for reading!

posted on: 11/22/2007 1:00:00 PM by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

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Traveling With Kids

by Katherine Macey

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About Katherine:

Katherine Macey, Ph.D., is a professional organizer who is passionate about helping people improve their lives and achieve their goals. She works mainly with academics in their offices and with residential clients in their home offices.

Katherine's Website:

www.organizetoexcel.com

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