10 Tips for Surviving Travel with Kids {Guest post by Greatfun4kids}

I have a special guest post for you today. The lovely Simone over at GreatFun4kids is a seasoned mummy traveller, and has travelled with her hubby and 3 kids on some fantastic adventures to faraway places.

The idea of travelling with kids is designed to bring on feelings of abject terror in any parent, no matter how good you think your kids are, you just know that there's a very good chance they may totally lose it cooped up in such a claustrophobic environment for hours, and sometimes days, on end.

However, when I went back and read Simone's post before we departed on our trip, I was hugely encouraged that it doesn't HAVE to be that way. That there's actually a very good chance you could get to the other end having not just survived but actually thrived and come out the other end smiling.

Let's hear how she does it:

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Greatfun4kids: 10 Tips for Surviving Travel with Kids

One of the benefits of being married to a foreigner is that Travel comes with the deal - and I love to Travel. Of course, traveling with kids is very different to traveling without them.

Firstly, there's not a chance in Hades you'll ever get upgraded to Business Class no matter how nattily you dress.

Secondly, there's the prospect of enduring hours and hours trapped in a flying metal tube with screaming kids, while the rest of the Cattle Class population glares, mutters and comments on your poor parenting skills.

But there are ways to endure.

Ways to survive travelling with kids, long haul, even.

Ways to ensure you receive compliments from your fellow passengers as you disembark. People who cringed when they saw you arrive with kids in tow; people who were wishing they'd booked the earlier flight or the other seats are now are truly impressed by the behaviour and stamina of your travel-savvy offspring.

"Dearie, your children were wonderful! Really, they were no bother - no bother at all. Full credit to you, dear..."

Oh yes. Wouldn't that be nice??

In fact there are some things you can do that might actually allow you to enjoy the journey.

Here are my Top Ten Tips on...

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Every time I travel, whether long or short-haul, I prepare a carry-on bag for each of my children.

I make a mental list of all the things that could go wrong on the flight - drinks spilled, vomit, boredom, sore ears, "accidents"... and I make sure that I cover all my bases. That child's carry-on bag is your survival kit.

Into each child's bag I put...

• non-messy activities {new books, coloured pencils, notepads etc}
• yummy snacks {for between meals, nothing worse than a hungry whiner}
• an empty water bottle {fill it up after you get through security}
• a change of clothes and underwear* {need I explain why}
• favourite small toys {and maybe a new one}
• Pyjamas {if traveling long haul}
• Toothbrush
• Mini tissues
• Lollipops {for sucking during takeoff and landing}

Into my carry-on bag I put:

• treats a.k.a. bribes {essential items for ensuring peace & cooperation}
• wet wipes 
• extra tissues
• extra spare children's clothes* 
• clean top for me*
• a book {just in case I actually get some peace}
• and all the other things you usually put in your travel bag {toothbrush, hand cream, breath mints - aerosols, liquids & gels in a clear zip-lock bag, no more than 100ml each of course!}

*If you're travelling with a baby or toddler, be assured that accidents with food, water, and all kinds of bodily fluids will happen and if you want to arrive at your destination not smelling of puke or worse - and with the kids looking nice for Grandma - then spare clothes are essential.

2. Realistic Expectations

Don't expect to eat your meals in peace. Expect to be juggling five meals on four trays. Expect spillages. Don't expect to watch a whole movie in peace. Don't expect to finish your book. Don't expect to read the paper as if you are young, free and single. Chances are you won't.

Don't expect to sleep.

And you might not want to indulge too freely on the complimentary alcohol - you'll need your wits about you.

Expect to spend the next 30 hours simply surviving - anything else is a bonus.

You never know - all your hard work preparing could pay off and you may be pleasantly surprised. But if not... at least you're prepared for the worst!

3. The Bag Itself

Choice of carry-on bags is very important and can make the difference between transit nightmares or dreams come true. We learnt this the hard way.

The last time we traveled long-haul with the kids {two years ago} I bought the older two new backpacks and filled them with everything I thought they might need. Dash was fine carrying his backpack. A strong independent traveler since babyhood, he was proud to do his bit. 

But Miss Fab got tired carrying hers. She offloaded her bag to poor daddy, who was also carrying Scrag, his own bag and ended up resembling a packhorse. But that's not the worst of it. We got onto the plane in Dubai, and began to stow the bags. Miss Fab's hands were empty.

"Where's your bag???" we demanded.

"Oh I got tired of carrying it and left it in the {departure} lounge..."

Arrrggghhh!

Source

Luckily they hadn't closed the aircraft doors yet, Mr G was able to elicit the assistance of some helpful cabin crew who ran back and found Miss Fab's pink backpack right where she left it.

Luckily no-one saw the abandoned bag and called the Bomb Squad. Luckily.

So guess what? On the way home we bought a new bag for Miss Fab. A Trunki.

One you pull along, like a puppy on a lead, and if your legs get tired, you can sit on it and your daddy can pull you. Fab.

So this trip, we'll be taking Trunki. And Scrag has his special Toy Story bag on wheels that he can trundle along. And hopefully we will get through with no more Bag Drama.

{Note: Trunki meets all the in-flight luggage specs and has won lots of design awards}

4. Beware Tired Legs

Airports are often huge and we end up having to walk long distances between terminals, or to Gate Lounges. Also, there's the queuing. Check-in, Passport Control, Security, Boarding.

The smartest thing we ever did was get a MacPac baby carrier, when Dash was a baby and we first took him to the UK. We got one that had a built in stand and extra storage. He was up high riding on daddy's back, seeing the world; we could feed him sitting in it and when he was being carried, it left our hands free.

Best of all we could take it with us right onto the plane and stow it in the overhead lockers. If you take a stroller, they will take it off you at the door to the aircraft and stow it with the baggage. You won't get it back until Baggage Claim.

So go the backpack route, OK? Its worth the investment.

For the older kids seriously consider investing in a Trunki, or similar. They are sturdy, and can be sat on and ridden when legs get tired. Our kids take turns sitting on Trunki and pulling Trunki is a novelty.

Nothing worse than tired legs and moaning kids when your hands are full and you're running for the plane.

And if worst comes to worst... there's always the baggage trolleys...

5. Service With a Smile

Not all airlines are created equal when it comes to kids. We have travelled with a number of different airlines, long and short-haul, and here's our ranking...

1. Emirates

2. Thai

3. Air New Zealand

4. British Airways

What a difference when you travel with an airline where the cabin crew like kids. Where they don't act as if you are imposing when you ring for assistance. When the kids meals are fantastic.  When the movie selection and personal entertainment centres are awesome and engaging. When crew go the extra mile to help your kids have a great flight.

Like bringing them toys and kids packs before takeoff. Like coming around with a Polaroid camera to take photos of them for you to keep. That's why when we go long haul, we fly Emirates. They go the extra mile.

{**Singapore Airlines are meant to be very good too, but we have yet to fly with them} 

6. Use Bribery

Keep your supply of treats handy. Once the seat belt sign comes off, move your bag close to you for easy access. If the kids get twitchy or start bouncing on the seat and pulling faces at the passengers behind you, bribe them. If they start running up and down the aisles or singing at the top of their lungs, crying, whingeing, wrestling, fighting... bribery will help.

"Sit down quietly for the next fifteen minutes and you can have a treat..."

{Beware too much sugar... you might want to get a few $2 shop toys to hide away and pull out when needed as well as some savory treats}

7. Sedate, Medicate, Celebrate

Seriously. When planning a long haul flight with kids it is worth visiting your doctor and asking for a prescription for something to help the kids sleep. Phenergan is the most common one, but that particular medicine makes my kids hyper. You might just want to test it before the flight...?

{We found out the hard way, but thankfully it wasn't on a flight}

Vallergan is the one my Doc gave me last time.

I tested it on Scrag and within 40 minutes he was walking like a drunken sailor and then conked out and slept for 4 hours. Bingo!

I used the weight guide to figure out doses for the older two, and after our first 3-hour leg to Melbourne, I got them in their PJ's, and gave them their medicine before we got back on the plane for our 17-hour leg to Dubai. Yes. You heard me. A 17-hour leg.

After the meals had been around, the kids all fell asleep. And slept for 11 hours. Wahoo!!!

By that stage there was only  four hours left. Four hours playing video games and watching movies on demand. So do-able.

I got so many compliments getting off that plane at Dubai....

**Warning. Make sure the children take the medicine after food i.e. on a full stomach. Dash didn't eat his plane dinner and when he woke up after his 11-hour sleep, he vomited some strawberry milk all over the seat in front. Not really recommended, but at least he mostly missed the passenger.... So this time, we'll be making sure dash eats his tea before we give him the medicine!**

8. Time Zone Tricks

When I travel long haul with the kids, I leave my watch on New Zealand time. Why? Because then i know what time my kids body-clocks think it is. There's no point expecting them sleep when its lunch time in New Zealand.

But as our flight to England leaves Auckland at 5pm, I know that by the time we get to Melbourne Airport it will be 8pm NZ Time. Bedtime. Time to get PJs on and complete the bedtime routine. Time to give them medicine to help them sleep deeply.

When we arrive at the destination {thirty hours later} I change to local time. And then we stay awake until its bedtime at the new time. This really helps with reducing jet-lag. No sleeping before 6pm local time.

9. Seating Arrangements

How uncomfortable is it sleeping on a plane? Some people can't do it at all. I can but Mr G can't.

When you're travelling with kids you have an advantage of a little bit of extra elbow room if you are smart.

So how you configure your seats can really help with comfort... and reduce the annoyance factor of: "Muuuum, can you put this game on for meeee...??"

"Muuuuum, I can't get the movie to go...."

Sit adult-kid-adult-kid.

Extra room for you, extra help for them and their Entertainment console.

No fighting and shoving.

Yep, a winner all round.

Sometimes this doesn't work.

Like the last time we went to the UK, Scrag was under two, so traveled free, but didn't get his own seat.

He was too big for the bassinet and they go first-come, first-served, youngest babies first.

So we had five people (including wriggly toddler Scrag) on four seats. For 30 hours.

Oh yes. 

And we survived!

We finally figured out the best arrangement on the way back.

Adults on the ends, kids in the middle.

Three little bottoms fit very nicely into two seats if you put the arm rests up.

Oh yeah, that's the key to comfort: Arm rests up.

10. Move It

Kids find it hard to keep still for such a long time. They need to move.

So when you are in the transit lounges, let them move. Let them sprawl on the (grubby) floor (which is why you bring spare clothes); let them ride the escalators and elevators.

Wait until the last minute before you get on board. The plane's not going anywhere without you... let the kids run around while they can. They'll be in those seats for a long time - plus it'll save on all that queuing!

When you're on board, find other kids.

My kids made friends in flight. they did some seat swapping for a bit. Dash found a buddy and his sister visited Miss Fab. And Daddy took Scrag walking the aisles. Hero daddy.

They found another toddler. They played peekaboo.

There was plenty of visiting the bathroom and entertaining the people behind us with cheeky grins.

We were lucky. Apparently they found Scrag charming.

Phew.

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So. That's my list for surviving long haul travel with a bunch of wriggly kidlets.

I was pleasantly surprised at how the trip went last time we flew long haul. I was expecting thirty hours of living hell. But it was OK. The kids were great and completely surpassed our expectations - to the delight of our fellow passengers.

If we can do it with our crazy bunch, five of us crammed into four seats for thirty hours... you can too!

Some airports are more kid-friendly than others. Some ground staff will kindly usher you to the express queue or allow you to board first if they see you travelling with little ones. Don't be afraid to ask for help. 

For the Lucky Ones travelling Kid-Free...

If you are travelling without kids and see someone struggling with theirs...?

Please offer assistance. Take a bag. Carry a child. Smile and play peekaboo.

Your kindness will make all the difference to harried and stressed parents.

Because after all, you have the luxury of putting on your earphones and turning up the volume to drown out their crying... the exhausted parents are the ones who have to figure out how to calm their little ones down, when their ears hurt from cabin pressure, when they're overtired from lack of sleep or frustrated from having to sit still.

So dear childless travelers... go easy on those of travelling with little ones and don't judge us too harshly.

Travel with Kids: Its not easy... but it is do-able (and worth it).

The original post over at Greatfun4kids is here.

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Thanks Simone for sharing your wealth of travel wisdom with us - you certainly helped this mama sleep a little easier before the big day having some practical advice to focus my pre-trip planning on!

Simone is a creative genius, storyteller and mama of 3 who blogs over at Greatfun4kids. You can also follow her on Instagram @greatfun4kids or on Facebook: Greatfun4kids.

Do pop on over and say hi!

Travelling with kids: How to survive seven hours in Sydney Airport

When we knew that we'd have a big wait travelling with kids after only the first leg of our journey, we racked our brains to think of the best way to survive the seven hour wait in Sydney airport.

To be honest we just couldn't look past Air New Zealand's option to turn up on the day and purchase a casual membership for their airline lounge in Sydney.

For $110 for the whole family ($55 each per adult and kids were free), we were able to get access to the lounge for the whole time we were in transit.

This meant resting our weary bodies (which had been up since 3.30am) on comfortable couches and gave us a serene and quiet space to relax away from the hubbub of the main airport.

If that wasn't enough of an incentive then unlimited food and drink sure was! Starting with a range of options for breakfast - cooked breakfast items, toasted breads, cereals, yoghurts and fruit so of course the first thing we did arriving in at 8am local time was indulge in our second breakfast of the day.

A couple of hours later, the morning tea services rolled out with mini tuna wraps, scones with cream and jam, toasted English muffins with cheese, a range of sweet and savoury muffins, not to mention a whole cart filled with hot dogs!

Just when we felt like we'd sufficiently digested morning tea, the lunch service arrived with a range of toasted sandwiches (including gluten-free bread - yussssss!) and salads.

I lost count of how many cups of green tea Mark made himself as well as a mocha, I definitely had at least two hot herbal teas, and being able to get soft drinks for the kids and access to unlimited filtered water for this water-crazy gal was so handy. Of course we could have gotten right into the wine and beer but with niggling headaches from the first flight and the thought of the 15-hour journey ahead this was not that appealing!

Also having access to free Wifi (during which time I wrote this post!), luxurious shower facilities (so refreshing when you know you've got another 15 hour flight ahead), and a kids play area was just the cream on the top!

If we'd been slumming it out in the airport, I think we'd have easily racked up $50 for lunch and another $20-$30 for snacks and water during that time anyway so in my opinion it was money very well spent.

Of course there is always the risk you turn up on the day and the lounge is at capacity so you do have to take your chances there, but on the whole it actually made the long wait a - dare I say it - entirely enjoyable experience.

Sydney isn't the only lounge on the Air New Zealand route where you can purchase casual access to a lounge. For more information check out the international lounge options for ad-hoc customers here.

Things I'm Loving: Guests and Hosts, Flips and Pranks, and Most Excellent Adventures

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something you can be thankful for..no matter how simple it is.

Guests and hosts
OK so listen up peeps! I have some really fun stuff planned for y'all while I'm away, cos well I wouldn't want you to miss me too much! First up I have the gorgeous Cat from Catalina's Cottage hosting Things I'm Loving over at her place, so for the next four weeks you can find Things I'm Loving rocking it out over there. So please be friendly and head on over to link up some of your weekly loves with Cat.

And with all this travelling we're going to be doing I thought it would be fun have a few guest posts on the subject. So for the next four weeks you're going to be hearing from some lovely peeps who've agreed to share their travelling wisdom. So stay tuned for some terrific Travel Tuesdays these next few weeks!

Mr Flip
Love seeing the little guy getting his confidence on doing flips on the tramp. They way he flings himself with complete abandon and no care for his safety is so cool, I wish I could be that physically free.

Lunchbox lad
Apparently it's a big deal turning 4. That officially marks the journey to big boy status at daycare which means you get to take in a lunchbox on a Wednesday and sit on the floor with all the other 4-year olds as part of their transition to school plan. The air was thick with excitement at our house last week. Each morning without fail Mylo asked Daddy 'is it Wednesday yet?' until the day finally arrived, and he walked into daycare with his lunchbox beaming and showed ALL the teachers.

Rocket men
That song by Elton John kind of sprung to mind when my two crawled inside this constructed rocket made by Noah's class on the last day of term.

Geek chic
I thought it would be fun to get a new pair of PJ's for the trip since most of my others are getting threadbare (read holes in the crotch that I cannot be arsed bothered to mend right now). Enter these Geek Chic pj's from Farmers. I feel so festive and happy wearing these. And there's another pair in my luggage winging their way to England with me for a very special gal - you can be sure there will be a twinsie geek chic pic Instagrammed in the very near future!

Before the darkness returned
I'm not complaining about daylight savings, really I'm not. I love the longer evenings and I know that it makes for even more photo-taking opportunities with the lingering twilight. That being said I have loved the last couple of weeks where on my early morning 6am walks it was light enough to capture the stillness and serenity of the dawn.

It will return, I know, but for now it's back to darker mornings so I feel blessed to have been able to get out and experience the light for those brief few weeks.

Cruel but funny
I couldn't believe how mean (though funny) this TV prank was on these poor unsuspecting interviewees. I'm not sure how I would have responded in the same situation!


Most excellent adventures
Right now, I'm hopeful we'll be winging our way across the Tasman on the first leg of our big adventure. You can be sure that we will be keeping you up to date with a plethora of Instgrams (you know it and I won't apologise for it!) and blog posts when time allows. As Noah is missing 3 weeks of school, I've made a little journal for him to capture some memories of the trip in to keep up with his writing skills. I brought it home to show Noah and the first thing Mylo said was 'where's mine?'. Ha ha, I should have known. So now we have Noah AND Mylo's Most Excellent Adventures to be recorded along the way.

So where-ever this post finds you on this middle weekend of the school holidays here in NZ, whether you're hanging out at home just chill-axing with a good DVD,  whether you're at the park, on your bikes, playing sport, on a big road trip or heading halfway around the world on a jet plane, I hope you are enjoying cherished family time surrounded by the dear hearts of those you love.

Here's how you can join in this week:

Link up below with your blog post telling us what you're loving, and grab the Things I'm Loving button below for your post too. Don't forget to share the love by visiting all the other lovelies who have joined in - the linky is open till same time next week!

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Going....going........

So tomorrow's the big day. At sparrow's fart (4am) we will be heading out the door and off to the airport.

It's pretty exciting/scary/awesome for us to be heading off on such a big adventure - the last time we went this far or for this long was back in 2008 with one 20-month old kiddy - so you do the math!

This day has been a long time coming given it was way back in December last year that we actually booked our flights. Sometimes it felt like the day would never come, and now all of a sudden it's upon us.

So I thought it would be fun to share a little of our planned itinerary with you here so you can keep track of us on our adventures:

First up a short hop over the ditch - Wellington to Sydney, followed by a 7 hour wait in transit in Sydney - and yes it's a poor connection but it's the only bad one we have on all our flights so we figured we might as well get it over with at the start while we're all still fresh as daisies.

Then we have what must be one of the longest airline legs ever - a straight 15 hours through to Abu Dhabi - phew! Although again I figure it must be better just to stay on the plane than the palava of having to get off somewhere else halfway there and get back on again.

We're staying 3 nights in Abu Dhabi - incorporating a day out at the world's newest ultimate water park at Yas Waterworld. We're all super excited about this - especially the prospect of being able to ride up to 40 hydro slides, and the fact that the temperature will still be in the mid-high 30's during the day makes me even happier!

After 2 full days in Abu Dhabi it's back on the plane with one short-ish leg of 7 hours to England. We arrive just after lunch and have hired a car to drive the 2.5 hours down to Mark's mum and dad's place in Somerset.

The rest of that week should be pretty relaxing while we get used to a whole other time zone and then we have some special family time planned for that weekend and an early Christmas celebration with Mark's brother and family coming for the weekend too.

On the following Tuesday, we're heading for London Baby! The Nikinator aka Nikki from Life's Wonderful Happenings has kindly agreed to let us crash at her place for 2 nights. On the first afternoon we've got plans to visit The Natural History Museum - I think the dinosaur displays are going to blow Noah's mind! The next day we're booked on a hop-on hop-off bus tour with The Original Tour - we figured it's a great way for the kids to see the sights of London without having to walk for miles and miles - it'd be naive to expect that little four-year old feet can walk all over the city without grumbling!

Then on our last morning we've also booked tickets to go on The London Eye - I never got the opportunity to go on it while living in London for three years so I'm super excited to take the boys and be able to get a bird's eye view of this glorious city.

That weekend, Mark is hoping to be able to take the boys to watch his local team Yeovil Town play football. Yeovil have defied extraordinary odds going from a non-league semi-professional club when we left England 11 years ago to now being a professional club in the Championship - only one division below the Premiership. That's 3 divisions they've climbed in 10 years - an incredible feat really!

The following week we've got an exciting mini-break planned at Legoland in Windsor - I think the kids are going to be awestruck at all the rides and cool life-sized Lego not to mention the parents!

We're ending our trip with a few days in Wales staying with Mark's brother James and his family. They're school teachers so their half-term holiday starts on our last weekend so we are trying to make the most of our last few days spending it with them at their home.

And I'm sure before we even know it, the time will be up and we'll winging our way home again, thanks to the kindness of Etihad Airways. Etihad have recently launched a Flying Nanny service which is meant to be operating on our London-Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi-Sydney legs to it'll be great if we can take advantage of this too to keep the boys entertained other than with an iPad.

So that was a bit of a whistle-stop tour for you through some of our travel plans. But......the thing I'm looking forward to most though......just having time to hang out with my wonderful hubby and these 2 little cherubs. 

I can't wait to show them the sights and sounds of our big wide world. To open their eyes to other cultures, and to see the world through the wonder and beauty of their young souls. 

Bring it on I say!

Petite Kitchen: My picks #3

The theme for this week's Petite Kitchen picks is honest to goodness raw goodness. All of these recipes are no-cook and keep for aaaages in the fridge which is a bonus if you're trying to eke them out over the course of the week

Raw apricot and coconut fudge slice
Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, egg free
This is a goodie if you love the taste of apricot (which I do!) and so so simple with literally 4 ingredients - dried apricots, coconut, coconut oil and ground almond.

Source: Petite Kitchen

Recipe here.

Raw ginger and cashew slice
Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, egg free
I'm a big fan of the full-fat version of ginger crunch like this one. So to find an equally tasty, much healthier version is a bonus in my books.  The ingredients for this slice of heaven are: cashews, dates, ginger and coconut oil, honey and ginger for the topping.

Source: Petite Kitchen

Recipe here.

Raw chocolate torte
Gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free

Lordy, this one is good. Like seriously good. Like no-one would ever believe there is no sugar or butter in it - I'm talking that kind of good! I made this for the first time the other weekend and I'm already trying to figure out whether I'll have time to make it again before we go away! Ingredients: dates, almonds, cocoa, coconut oil, vanilla extract and sea salt.

Recipe here.

I'm so looking forward to sharing more tried and tested recipes once we return from holiday. I know when we are away I'm going to miss my weekly time in the kitchen creating all these gorgeous and so good-for-you treats.

These past few months have been a real eye-opener for me, in particular coming to the realisation that cutting out dairy, refined sugar and gluten from baking doesn't mean you have to eat cardboard-tasting, bland and boring food. Thank goodness for Petite Kitchen is all I can say!