What’s your best travel/vacation tip?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m lucky because I’m not very tall or heavy, so I pack light by buying most of my clothes at low cost stores in the countries I’m visiting, and then give them away when I leave.

Yeah ... I'm not spending time shopping for stuff to wear while on vacay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On traveling with young kids….do it if you want to do it, but they won’t remember much/. They might remember a particular slide or an animal or one thing you ate. My four year old adored Costa Rica but now a decades later does not remember any of it.

I don’t think early travel really makes them better travelers in the long run — those of you with good travelers that are older probably would have had good travelers anyway/. A lot of it is genetic. Also if your kids were bad travelers (eg didn’t sleep well at night) you probably would have stopped. So you didn’t create good travelers — you just lucked out with them. We traveled a ton when my kids were little but my oldest (now an adult) is just not an avid traveler due to sleep and dietary issues. And I never traveled as a kid because my parents didn’t have the money but I am a great traveler and was pretty much immediately that way as soon as I was able, because my personality type is just laid back, like to try new things and I have no sleep or dietary issues.

I do think early travel can help kids develop interests that will sometimes stick with them. So a kid that takes a great hiking trip at 6 might discover a love of it that causes them to hike more at home and get really into nature. Or a kid might develop an interest in animals or history or something that sticks with them. Like any kind of learning, it’s good for brain development even if it doesn’t stick with them.

I fully disagree with the concept of judging the worth of something to young children by their actual memories of it. Early travel experiences broaden young minds so that they understand that there are different ways of living. Obviously this applies to travel to actual places, not like Disney. But the value of early education is not that you remember the lessons explicitly, it is that they are burned deeper into you and your understanding of the world.

Spot on. I mean with this logic why not lock them in a room until they “remember” things? Why have a 3rd birthday party? Why visit grandma? Experiences feed the soul. If nothing else, I will remember it!

I don’t care if they remember things. It is just a pain in the neck traveling with kids under 6 and you can have more fun visiting family who will provide free babysitting.

I find traveling to see family the most stressful kind of traveling we do with our <6 DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On traveling with young kids….do it if you want to do it, but they won’t remember much/. They might remember a particular slide or an animal or one thing you ate. My four year old adored Costa Rica but now a decades later does not remember any of it.

I don’t think early travel really makes them better travelers in the long run — those of you with good travelers that are older probably would have had good travelers anyway/. A lot of it is genetic. Also if your kids were bad travelers (eg didn’t sleep well at night) you probably would have stopped. So you didn’t create good travelers — you just lucked out with them. We traveled a ton when my kids were little but my oldest (now an adult) is just not an avid traveler due to sleep and dietary issues. And I never traveled as a kid because my parents didn’t have the money but I am a great traveler and was pretty much immediately that way as soon as I was able, because my personality type is just laid back, like to try new things and I have no sleep or dietary issues.

I do think early travel can help kids develop interests that will sometimes stick with them. So a kid that takes a great hiking trip at 6 might discover a love of it that causes them to hike more at home and get really into nature. Or a kid might develop an interest in animals or history or something that sticks with them. Like any kind of learning, it’s good for brain development even if it doesn’t stick with them.

I fully disagree with the concept of judging the worth of something to young children by their actual memories of it. Early travel experiences broaden young minds so that they understand that there are different ways of living. Obviously this applies to travel to actual places, not like Disney. But the value of early education is not that you remember the lessons explicitly, it is that they are burned deeper into you and your understanding of the world.

Spot on. I mean with this logic why not lock them in a room until they “remember” things? Why have a 3rd birthday party? Why visit grandma? Experiences feed the soul. If nothing else, I will remember it!

I don’t care if they remember things. It is just a pain in the neck traveling with kids under 6 and you can have more fun visiting family who will provide free babysitting.

I guess if you have uncool kids that you don’t enjoy spending time with.

If you want us to believe that you enjoy every minute of time with your kids because they are "cool kids" ... well, we don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bring a nightlight and (document) clips to keep the blackout curtains from letting in light.

Same on the document clips!

[Anonymous]

If traveling overseas, I buy shampoo/body wash/toiletries there. I love seeing what the French or British or other drug stores carry.

Also I save up older tennis shoes, good enough for walking and looks, but I throw away before heading home and use the space to pack what I've bought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On traveling with young kids….do it if you want to do it, but they won’t remember much/. They might remember a particular slide or an animal or one thing you ate. My four year old adored Costa Rica but now a decades later does not remember any of it.

I don’t think early travel really makes them better travelers in the long run — those of you with good travelers that are older probably would have had good travelers anyway/. A lot of it is genetic. Also if your kids were bad travelers (eg didn’t sleep well at night) you probably would have stopped. So you didn’t create good travelers — you just lucked out with them. We traveled a ton when my kids were little but my oldest (now an adult) is just not an avid traveler due to sleep and dietary issues. And I never traveled as a kid because my parents didn’t have the money but I am a great traveler and was pretty much immediately that way as soon as I was able, because my personality type is just laid back, like to try new things and I have no sleep or dietary issues.

I do think early travel can help kids develop interests that will sometimes stick with them. So a kid that takes a great hiking trip at 6 might discover a love of it that causes them to hike more at home and get really into nature. Or a kid might develop an interest in animals or history or something that sticks with them. Like any kind of learning, it’s good for brain development even if it doesn’t stick with them.

I fully disagree with the concept of judging the worth of something to young children by their actual memories of it. Early travel experiences broaden young minds so that they understand that there are different ways of living. Obviously this applies to travel to actual places, not like Disney. But the value of early education is not that you remember the lessons explicitly, it is that they are burned deeper into you and your understanding of the world.

Spot on. I mean with this logic why not lock them in a room until they “remember” things? Why have a 3rd birthday party? Why visit grandma? Experiences feed the soul. If nothing else, I will remember it!

I don’t care if they remember things. It is just a pain in the neck traveling with kids under 6 and you can have more fun visiting family who will provide free babysitting.

Some may feel that way. I didn’t mind at all, and it was so much easier to travel before we were beholden to a school schedule. But we also didn’t bring much stuff— we coslept, fed baby off our plates, used a soft carrier rather than a stroller, etc. Kids don’t need that much stuff for traveling. One of ours was much easier to travel with than the other, but we still found it worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're beach-bound, put your bathing suit in your personal item. Sometimes you're forced to gate-check your planned carryon, which creates the chance for loss, theft, or damage. Knowing you can get off the plane and into your suit helps vacation mode kick in immediately.

and your drink yeti.

[Anonymous]

we always book hotels/B&Bs with free breakfast.
That way, we fill up and only need to eat once more late afternoon or evening. We're not foodies though.

Always check the country for closings - Sundays, bank holidays, holidays in general and plan your trip around them and when they'll be closed. Maybe that'll be your rest day.

Really know yourself and if you want to be on a tour bus, train, etc. We hated our one tour in Ireland because they stopped too much and we wanted to be on our way. We rented a car in Scotland and were able to go everywhere at our own pace.
We're going to Switzerland and will train there, because they do it right and charge a lot for speeding if you drive.
Many European countries don't have bags for groceries and I knew this but continued to forget mine at the hotel because...America. I ended up carrying groceries in my hoodie.
Stash roll up bags in your purse/backpack that you have with you all the time.
Figure out how other countries do/handle laundry/laundromats. We were gone for 10 days and half way through our Scotland trip, found a laundromat in Inverness. There was an attended who let us explore the city while he moved our clothes from the washer to the dryer and even had them folded when we returned. That was divine.
Caribbean islands: accept that you won't be doing laundry unless you pay $$ for it. I brought powder and sink washing supplies but nothing ever dried. it's too humid.