How to create a STRESS-FREE family vacation
Post by Danielle Bagiardi
`Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no cost to you. From Momma to Momma, I thank you and know if I post the link, I believe in it. `
How do you feel when you think about traveling with kids? It sounds horrible right! Flying, horrible! Road trip, Horrible! Girls how can we make this easier for us Momma’s?! Come on, lets figure this out together!
How I learned that free isn’t always better
How to pick the right destination with kids
Must have amenities when traveling with kids
When it comes to traveling with kids, the thought of packing, planning and making it easy for the family can be so overwhelming right? Traveling with kids requires a specific approach to make it stress-free for everyone involved. Let’s discover the ease of traveling with kids, lets do this!
How I learned that free isn’t always easy or worth it
I remember when my husband and I traveled to Greece before we had children I saw a young woman with a baby and I thought how can she do this, she’s a saint. After we had kids even being in your own environment was hard and most of the time better yet venturing outside of it. We took many trips with our children and still do, but I will say traveling with one child was way easier than traveling with three. There are many perks that are free when you travel with children. You can overstuff a diaper bag (which is free to bring on a plane in addition to your personal item), carry blankets and pillows while carrying children, pushing a stroller and feeling insanely overwhelmed. My husband and I did this once. We took advantage of every free perk to pack more and carry more and girls did we regret it. I remember looking at my husband in the airport and thinking he slightly resembled a pack mule. It is not worth it girls. Check everything you can! Carry the least number of items possible on a plane, you will thank me for this. It is worth every penny you pay for the extra checked bag!
After we started traveling with the kids, we started to figure out what worked and what didn’t. I will say I started discovering things like hotels that had everything we needed for the kids. It’s so easy when you go to a hotel and they already have a crib or a pack and play for you. Those are the things that are important, We travel to the Keys with our family for a month each summer. As each summer has come and went, traveling has gotten so much easier. It’s so funny that when you first start packing for your kids you bring everything! And then as each trip comes and goes, you figure out that sometimes it’s literally just easier to get it when you get there,
Picking the right destination for kids
As you may know by now, we live in Southwest Florida so there are so many hotels that are kid friendly! Research, research, research! Check Pinterest and other sources and make sure your destination is kid friendly! A definitive vacation ruiner if not! Orlando is an awesome, definitely have to do with kids’ destination. Disney World is in Southwest Florida and is a great place to travel with a family even if you never enter the parks. There are so many hotels that are awesome for kids. We’ve traveled to Legoland, and this is an amazing place for younger children too. We recently took our kids there and stayed at the Legoland hotel and it was like a dream come true for them! The rooms are stocked with Legos, there is a treasure hunt and special free Lego builds but you must sign up before you go girls, the spots fill up fast! They also allow their guests to enter the park early. Super awesome perk! For Summer Legoland visitors, they have a water park too! Legoland is a must for small children!
The Florida Keys is another place that has endless adventures for the whole family. I’m going to do a separate post on the Florida Keys as this use to be my home, our oldest son was born there (on accident girls!) and I have spent every summer here most of my adult life! Look out for my future post on one of the most beautiful, historic places in Florida!
Must have amenities when traveling with kids
Sometimes it’s the small things that make the most difference when we travel with our kiddos. Things like finding a place to stay that have a kitchen even if it isn’t a full kitchen can be awesome. You know, when your kid wakes up so early and the whole world is still sleeping, you know a kitchen to make them breakfast and have a hotel cup of coffee screams a must! We all know how picky our children can be and to have the option to cook and store what they like makes our life easier.
Visiting Hotels and Resorts that decorate for Holidays and have activities on premises, will make for a perfect vacation. They have the greatest adventures for kids during the holidays, especially in Florida. When your kids are small, traveling can be so stressful! I found that when my kids were super small, traveling was easier and then they hit that toddler age, and it got so hard. You constantly have to stop in the car, they’re constantly crying and never enough snacks to keep them quiet, right?! Then they hit that age around three and four where they can be entertained in a car to travel for longer distances. It’s super helpful and way less stressful for that matter!
Each year we try to take the kids places for long weekends over the summer and winter (we have no in between seasons girl)! So I have the greatest suggestion! When it comes to the best family vacation experience, I am telling you Girls, if you are into Christmas like me, you have got to go to the Gaylord Palms in Orlando! So I know Christmas is not here yet but this is a great time to plan for it and I promise the whole family will have so much fun, Through the link you can purchase different packages through the Gaylord Palms Resort that include the most incredible amenities like tickets for ice snow tubing, gingerbread house making and Baking cookies with Ms. Claus. If you aren’t familiar with the ice sculptures they have there during the Holidays you have got to check the Gaylord Palms out! Don’t forget to book a room that faces the atrium. I promise it is worth the price, and you are going to make amazing memories with your family there! It truly is magical for the whole family! Are you ready to book yet?!
You can’t let children hold you back from traveling as a family. There are so many great resources on Pinterest for activities in the car or plane. We all know snacks are your best friend! Mine too! If you’re anything like me, your kids are eating snacks in the car that we may have never let them eat anywhere else. You can’t let the stress of traveling with kids hold you back from exploring and taking adventures with them. So together we can discover how to make traveling with kids a breeze. Plan! Pre-plan! Do not procrastinate. This can cause more unwanted stress than you can imagine. Snacks, snacks snacks! Don’t forget the snacks, girls! Make sure that you research the area you are going to be in, so you know what’s around you. There are so many small things that we can do to create less stress when we travel with our kids. It’s so easy to forget that it’s your vacation too because girls we know our kids come first. It’s also super good. Check to make sure to plan something with your significant other while you’re on your vacation. Y’all matter too girls.
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