6 Helpful Tips for Any Parents Traveling With Their Children This Summer

We wait all year for summer to come. While your kids eagerly wait to be done with school, you as a parent can’t wait for sunshine and more time to enjoy with your family. And what’s the best way to get more time with your kids? Go on a family vacation!

Roughly 37% of families say vacations make them happy, so makes sense that you love getting the whole family together for a week of fun and adventure. Unfortunately, you also know that traveling with your kids can sometimes be challenging. Here are some great travel trips for you to pack with you on your family vacation this summer.

1. Rent a house instead of a hotel

When you’re staying somewhere with the entire family, a hotel room can get pretty cramped. While you’re not in the room all that much, winding down at night and getting ready in the morning can be overwhelming when everyone is on top of each other. Even if you get a split room or a suite, you probably won’t have everything you need for the whole family.

This is where vacation rentals come in. Everyone can have their own bedrooms (or at least their own beds), and you have enough bathrooms, kitchen space, and living room space to realyl enjoy your time off. Additionally, 71% of travelers with children agree that having access to a kitchen was a major reason they chose a vacation rental.

2. Let everyone pick an activity

Vacation is a great time for you to get away from work and do something you love. It’s also a time for your children too, and they probably won’t have a ton of fun if they aren’t involved in the planning. Kids can get irritable and sometimes downright impossible if you try to drag them around all week to sights you want to see. While you don’t want to pack the itinerary full, you can let everyone pick something they want to do.

If you’re going to a big city, let every member of the family choose one attraction they want to see or activity they would like to do. This way, your kids will enjoy the vacation as much as you will. Additionally, you might see and experience something you end up loving.

3. Get travel insurance

Vacation is supposed to be a fun time for everyone, and it’s easy to think (or hope) that nothing will go wrong. You would expect your flights to be on time, your vacation rental to be ready, and all your reservations to work out swimmingly. And while you may have never had a problem on vacation before, bad things can happen at any time.

You might be able to handle a six hour delay at the airport, but can your kids? Travel insurance can cover you in case of any kind of vacation disaster like that. While travel insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense, it's better to be safe than sorry.

4. Load up on sun protection

Even a mild sunburn can suck the fun right out of vacation. Whether you're going to the beach or climbing a mountain on your summer travels, you should still keep everyone protected from the sun.

Lather everyone up with sunscreen every morning before you leave your vacation rental. Even in the early hours of the day, the sun can start harming your skin. Make sure you and the kids all have sunglasses too. People have been wearing sun-blocking eyewear for roughly 2,000 years, so it’s not time to stop now! Hats, long sleeves, and sneakers with socks are also great wardrobe pieces that can
help block your family’s skin from the sun’s harmful rays.

5. Put your phone down

When you’re on vacation, you are probably going to want to take a lot of pictures. You don’t get to travel
with them often, and missing out on even one Instagram photo op can seem like the end of the world.
Fortunately, that's not true. Vacation is a time to get away from your daily life, and your phone counts
as one of those things.

More than two-thirds of parents are worried that their children spend too much time on electronic
devices. You would be frustrated if your kids were always on their devices while you’re on vacation,
wouldn’t you? Well, your kids might get frustrated with you for doing the same. Plus, there’s something
to be said for living in the moment and enjoying time with your family. While a picture might last forever,
the experiences are irreplaceable.

6. Don’t forget the plastic bags

This may sound silly to someone who doesn’t have kids, but as a parent, you know how important
plastic bags are. Garbage bags, grocery bags, and sandwich bags will all make your life so much easier.
Garbage bags can be used to transport wet towels, create tablecloths, or, you know, garbage! Grocery
bags can be used to conceal dirty diapers or easily transport shovels and buckets to the beach. Finally,
sandwich bags can be used to transport the most important vacation commodity: snacks.

Vacation is supposed to be fun, and it will be as long as you are prepared. Follow some of these tips and
do whatever you need to to get ready for a week away from home in a new place with your family.