Tips for Traveling Internationally with Kids
by Jennifer Thayer
International travel can be stressful enough without the responsibility of caring for children. However, taking your children along for the journey is doable. With a little bit of planning and some foresight, taking your kids with you doesn’t have to be stressful. After all, navigating new cities and new languages can provide plenty of that already! Here are some helpful tips for traveling internationally with your children.
Get Your Children Passports in Advance
Passports for children under 16 years of age are good for five years. So even if you’ve already applied for a passport for your son or daughter, it doesn’t hurt to verify that the passport is still valid. If this is your first time leaving the country with your children, there are two different passports to choose from: a traditional passport book, or the less expensive passport card. Apply for the right passport for your journey! Note that a passport card cannot be used for international air travel, and is good only for ground travel to Canada and Mexico, or sea travel to the Caribbean or Bermuda.
Travel with the Seasons
Don’t get caught out by the weather. Not only can it ruin your vacation, if you’re caught too unprepared, it could even be dangerous. Research your destination ahead of time and see what the climate is like. Though climate and weather are not the same, it should provide you with a good idea of what type of weather you can expect. June may be summer in the northern hemisphere, but it’s winter in Australia! Likewise, if you live full-time in Florida or Hawaii, you may not realize that spring time in Iceland can be freezing. Keep things like this in mind.
Let the Kids Enjoy Themselves on Long-Haul Flights
Traveling from the east coast of the United States to Japan takes nearly a whole day. To help your kids cope with what will likely be the longest flight they’ve ever taken, do things to make the flight easier for them. Give them snacks that they might otherwise not have, and take advantage of airport play areas before the flight if your children are of a suitable age. And be sure to pack along a tablet or two to keep them occupied.
If you do plan on using your smartphone or tablet while abroad, be sure to also get an international cell phone plan; some plans, like GoGo by T-Mobile, provide an hour of free in-flight Wi-Fi, along with unlimited texting. Your kids can use this coverage to play games, view videos online, and stay engaged. Better yet, it will help ensure that when you get back from your vacation, there are no surprise surcharges or fees on your phone bill.
Use an App to Learn the Language
There are a multitude of language apps available (Duolingo and Living Language to name just a couple of examples) that can help you and your children learn some key phrases in the local language. Use an app to teach them how to say some basics in the local language before arriving at your destination – parlez-vous Anglais or habla usted Inglés are certainly good places to start! This will not only serve a practical benefit, but it could set your children down the road of learning a new language, which could benefit them tremendously later in life.
Travel Light
Pack as little as possible to make the journey easier for you and your children. Consider not packing simple things, like toiletries, as it’s likely your hotel will already be stocked with these items. And don’t forget that you can always buy these things at your destination as well. You will feel more mobile, less tied down, and have greater flexibility, especially if you plan on doing additional traveling once you arrive in country. It isn’t just the airplane that has to accommodate your luggage, after all. Think about all of the taxi rides and train journeys you may be taking as well.
Make a Kid-Friendly Itinerary
You may be dying to see Michelangelo’s David at Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia, but do your children have any interest? Especially when it means waiting in line for up to several hours? Consider researching your destination ahead of time using travel apps like Lonely Planet or Fodor’s to find attractions that are suitable for your children. Though you certainly don’t have to give over every minute of your vacation to your kids, it also doesn’t hurt to make sure you’re accommodating their interests and needs as well. They will appreciate it, and in turn, you will too.
Gear Up and Get Going!
Mark Twain once said that “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” To say that international travel can have a lasting impact on your children is an understatement. So don’t shy away from an experience that could form memories to last a lifetime. It may seem daunting, but taking your kids overseas is doable. Put these tips and tricks to good use, and you’ll find the journey is so much easier – and more enjoyable – than you could have imagined.
About the Author: Jennifer Thayer is a technology writer from Southern California. She is passionate about exploring new ways technology can be used to make day-to-day tasks easier. Follow her on Twitter.
