Going on vacation with your family brings the promise of excitement, amazing memories, and laughter. However, it can also be a source of great stress and uncertainty, especially while traveling to and from your destination.

Children do not appreciate cramped spaces, long journeys, and boredom, which are the three things which often face many families when they head off on their vacation. However, there are some things which you can do to make traveling more manageable when you have kids.


Here are a few ideas of steps you can take to make your journeys a little easier from now on.

Don’t expect everything to go perfectly

When you are traveling for long periods of time, nothing is ever going to go your way completely. Everyone will be tired, your kids will cry, and you might start to feel drained, but that’s okay. The more pressure you put on yourself and your family to get through the experience without incident, the more stressed you are going to make yourself and others. Try and give all of your kids some one on one time throughout the journey, because they may just need some attention and reassurance from you to feel calmer. Remember there is nothing wrong with your child crying, it’s their way of processing and expressing their emotions, and they might be more likely to stay calm after one meltdown, than if they are trying to bottle up their emotions throughout.

Try traveling by car

No one particularly enjoys public transport, and it can be especially daunting in cities you have never been to before. Traveling by USA car rental is a great way to not only be in complete control of your journey but also to give you and your family space needed just to enjoy the ride. There is a lot less pressure on children to ‘behave’ while in a car with all of their family members, and it gives everyone the opportunity to relax and be themselves. You can interact with one another properly, play games, and your kids can sleep when needed without the hassle of having to wake them up to change buses or trains. As sitting still for a long time doesn’t come easily to children, this will also mean that you can be in charge of rest breaks to keep the whole family happy.

Bring a variety of snacks

Hungry children are not happy children so the simple step of making sure that you are stocked up on snacks for your journey will make a big difference to both your children’s happiness, as well as your sanity. Try to bring a variety of snacks which will balance cravings and blood sugar levels, such as:

Dried or if possible fresh fruit
Yogurts
Sandwiches
Oat-based cereal bars

While sweet treats might keep your children happy and distracted for a while, rewarding kids with chocolates and sweets is not a healthy option, and it could do more damage to their mood than good in the long run, so try and keep these to a minimum.