The Best Family Travel Tips for your Summer Vacation

Whether you’re piling the kids in the car to go to grandma’s or jetting halfway round the world, traveling with kids has its rewards and challenges.

If you’re staying home this year, I’ve listed some fun staycation ideas below to make the most of summer. If you are traveling, check out my best grandma’s packing tips at the end of this post.

My son Dave and his family are well-traveled, globally and locally. Read his helpful tips for traveling with the family, posted two years ago. Then check out his additional insights for traveling with kids 2.0.

More Dave’s Travel Tips

Here are Dave’s additional thoughts about traveling, having just returned from a 10-day trip to Tokyo with the family.

Portion out the Entertainment

While in the airport, the kids are expected to stretch their legs and explore; not get on the iPad. They’re also encouraged to play games they’ve brought with them, such as card games or magnetic chess.

Save the video watching for the airplane, when they have nothing to do but sit for hours, Dave advises. And don’t assume that the in-flight video entertainment will entertain your child. Some flights have no TVs or the entertainment choices are boring to the kids. So be prepared by downloading videos on your tablet or phone ahead of time, so you’re well stocked with entertainment for the kids.

Prepare for Rain

Travel weather isn’t always idyllic. If it rains on your parade, will you be equipped to brave the weather?

Dave and family plow on in inclement weather–especially during short vacations where every day counts. Each person travels with a rain poncho which packs flat, folding umbrella, and neoprene waterproof socks to keep feet dry. “There’s nothing more miserable than walking around in wet socks!” he says.

Find a Park; Make a Friend

When you’re traveling, find a park for kids to have fun and let off steam. Kids tend to interact with other kids in play, even if they don’t speak the same language. And it’s a chance for you to meet locals–kids are a universal conversation icebreaker among parents.

How to Travel with a Child’s Favorite Stuffie

The grandkids can take two favorite stuffies each (it used to be just one). While N has had his favorites, Miss T’s well-loved Pandy is irreplaceable. So there are travel rules to keep her safe.

Pandy travels in Miss T’s backpack. She stays at the hotel when the family goes touring. On the airplane, on long flights, Pandy comes out for a snuggle during sleep time, then gets put back in the backpack for the rest of the trip.

Pandy also wears an AirTag in a heart-shaped holder I stitched, so she can be tracked if separated.

Power Through a Time Change

Everyone tells you that when you arrive at your destination, you should immediately put yourself on local time, which can be a challenge if the time difference is 16 hours. Dave’s solution is to take a two-hour nap upon arrival. But the caveat is you MUST wake up after the two hours. To ensure kids get up, he offers a bribe, like ice cream.

By the next day, everyone is acclimated to the time difference. This, at least, works for his family.

Staycation Ideas for Families Staying at Home

If travel isn’t in your plans this summer, here are ways to go on “vacation,” with the kids at home:

• Have a luau on a pretend trip to Hawaii. You’ll find recipes and craft ideas to enhance your stay.
• Go full out for a trip around the world, with “passports,” meals, and travelogues to entertain the kids.
• Take the kids somewhere they’ve never been in your town, such as an art museum. Here are some tips to get them jazzed about the experience.
• Or, if the kids have adventurous palates, go around the world with a series of lunches at restaurants serving food of other countries. For a budget-wise version, borrow international cookbooks from the library and cook these meals together. For example, you can make Irish scones on a pretend trip to Ireland.

For grandparents who are staycationing:

• Making a plan to get the most out of summer.
• Go armchair traveling, which is what Steve and I did after the pandemic, until we felt comfortable to resume traveling again.

And for grandkids being separated from grandparents while on vacation, here is one child’s idea for staying in touch–“calls” to grandma on her toy telephone.

Grandma’s Travel Packing Tips

Here are my tips for packing. I wrote this post after we did nine cities in 3 1/2 weeks on a driving vacation through the American South.

And to add to that post, here are some new considerations for packing:

• Portable, disposable soap sheets–for those restrooms that don’t have soap or for picnics, and camping.
• A small hand towel like women in Japan carry in their purse, because I don’t like using aerosol dryers.
• Small sunscreen stick–Although the most expensive form per ounce, having a tiny stick of sunscreen in my purse means I can always apply it if I forget before going out for the day, and reapply as needed.
• Stain remover stick–because you have a limited number of travel outfits and you can’t have one out of commission because of a stain.
• Shower cap–quite a few accommodations don’t provide shower caps anymore. I save the ones I get from hotels that do, for my next trip.
• Lightweight cosmetics–this is not for everyone who swears by their favorite brands, but quality products also have the weightiest packaging. Just for travel, I’m sourcing cheaper makeup brands from Target, such as e.l.f. eye shadows, which have minimal plastic packaging. It’s worth it to me to save weight and space; you may not agree.

Whether you’re going far away, driving to a neighboring state, or staying at home, here’s to a wonderful summer!

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