With demand for holidays increasing rapidly in the wake of COVID-19, families across the country are making plans for their first holiday in some time. You might be preparing for a family holiday of your own, and you might be worried about ensuring your travel goes smoothly. Here are some simple ways you can keep your holiday travel plans on track, and make travelling with children a relatively stress-free process.
Plan Your Journey
The best possible thing you can do to guarantee a smooth journey is to pay especial attention in planning it. Don’t leave anything to chance, and do as much in advance as you possibly can. Plane tickets are an obvious advance purchase, but other transport links – and even transfers at your holiday destination – should also be on your pre-book list. For example, if you were travelling from Leeds Bradford Airport to a hotel in Northern Europe, you’d be thinking about booking your train tickets to Leeds, your shuttle transport to the airport, and even your taxi transfer from the destination airport to your hotel. The less you have to think about, the better.
Pack Carefully
Being judicious with your packing is another crucial way to keep stress levels down when preparing for a trip with your family. This doesn’t mean packing for every occasion – having too many unnecessary things on your person will only serve to make your trip harder. Instead, make a list of everything you’ll need but might forget: things like baby wipes, formula milk, or even a comfort blanket.
Give Yourself Time!
The last step in your planning phase should be to leave yourself an abundance of time in which to travel. Things happen, and keeping to a tight schedule can prove difficult especially if your children are a little nervous, or even excited. Make sure everyone is up, dressed and ready to go with time to spare, and ensure your family understand each of the steps in your journey. Allowing for time between each transport link can be a godsend as well.
Keep It Light
Perhaps most importantly, you should aim to make your journey as fun as possible. Stressful as getting to your holiday destination can be, keeping things light can actually help you out! Keeping your family in high spirits while you’re in transit will keep your stress levels to a minimum – try talking about the various activities you might be getting up to once you arrive, and the things your family are looking forward to the most. This way, you’re setting the tone for a wonderful holiday and keeping the journey fun and exciting all the while.
