Travel gadgets

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.
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posted on: 5/29/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

What's YOUR biggest struggle?

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 them!...

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posted on: 5/15/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Camping with noisy children

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 how many people you should offer pancakes and coffee to in order to mollify any grumpy neighbors.
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posted on: 5/8/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Back to back trips

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 camping as well, so the kids had a wonderful time.  There were lots of bugs around which provided plenty of entertainment.
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posted on: 5/1/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Gilbert and Teresa are angels

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.
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posted on: 4/24/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

The more the merrier

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 happily together. And often one (adventurous) adult or two can amuse the whole kid clan allowing the other adults to kick back and enjoy their vacation.
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posted on: 4/17/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Leaving the kids behind

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 memory, so she understood that I was going to a conference and that she wouldn't see me for a few days.

And I took care of the details:

The kids clothes are all clean....

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posted on: 4/10/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Your attitude - be prepared - the ultimate in organizing?

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 organization of all the things you would normally take care of if you were at home and you NEED your vacation, then you have to actually travel.
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posted on: 3/27/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

Going Green

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 you got to your destination (second best option.)
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posted on: 3/13/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel

The little trips - fast

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 clothes can be kept with the diaper change material in the car, or in a packed diaper bag.
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posted on: 2/28/2008 1:00:00 PM  by Katherine Macey
category: Travel