Traveling with Kids

Photo of a waterslide on Penang Island, Malaysia.

I know some people may find traveling with young children daunting. I admit it isn’t easy, but it’s possible and even fun. We’ve traveled with young children at different ages, diapers, formula, nursing. We’ve done it all. I think the most important thing to a successful vacation with young children is being very flexible and open minded. Everything is different when you are away from home, you will have to change rules, bedtimes, routines. Your kids won’t always be as spotless as you wish they were in public. That’s ok. Try to go with the flow and have fun. Some structure is important; hungry and sleepy children will get cranky. (so will adults) In general, just have fun. Make lots of memories.

Before your trip, planning is so important. Young children (and older children) will get bored, you need to prepare entertainment for the trip whether its by car, plane, train. I like to give each child their own bag/ backpack, depending on their age and the distance of the trip.

Our first family vacation abroad was to Austria. My kids were 5, 3 and 9 months. I admit I was a little worried about traveling with young children. Especially since I had just potty trained my three-year-old. For the airplane trip I gave my two oldest a fabric lunchbox, it had snacks that weren’t too messy, a box of magnetic travel games (mostly letters and shapes) a coloring book with stickers and a small pack of colored pencils. I prefer colored pencils because they aren’t easy to break like crayons. I love these colored pencils by Crayola that don’t need sharpening. I also discovered these twistable crayons that don’t break.

We stopped at Jordan to pick up my mother in law, where I forgot the lunch boxes. So much for planning, hahaha, but that’s what I mean about being flexible and open minded. It was ok. We used them on our trip back home after dropping off my mother in law back in Jordan.  We were lucky were traveling on the Austrian airlines and they gave each child an activity book and colored pencils & the gave my 9-month-old a small plush toy.

This being our first trip I did my best to plan everything and not forget a thing. I did a good job if I do say so myself. I didn’t forget anything essential. Except for toys for my 9-month-old! I literally forgot to pack a single toy. I was very grateful for the Austrian airlines. Also, babies are easy to amuse with random objects, like an empty plastic bottle.

In general, we had a great trip. We made lots of memories. We managed to find lots of activities that were fun for the kids and my mother in law enjoyed as well. The scenery there is breath taking and just sitting and admiring the mountains and the lake (Zell Am See) was such a pleasure. We mainly stayed in Vienna and Zell Am See but spent a day in Salzburg which is my favorite city in Austria. We have special memories there from our honeymoon. Experiencing everything as a family was very special.

We did learn some things from that trip. My long head cover was a huge blessing. It made it possible to nurse my baby everywhere. No one could tell what I was doing. It was long and light so it was comfortable for both of us. I know there are a lot of nursing covers available now which I think is great. Find something that suits you and your baby.

We did wish we had a baby carrier or a double stroller. Sometimes our three-year-old would get tired from all the walking so we would take turns holding one child and pushing the other in the stroller.

When we went to Turkey in 2016, my kids were 9,7,5 & 2 (almost 3) I remember we suddenly decide to go and I didn’t do as much planning as I would have liked. Something I always do is take a roll of plastic garbage bags with me. They can be so useful. For dirty laundry, shampoo, or shoes. I also keep a small roll of diaper bags in my purse. They don’t take up much space and can be very useful. We brought duffle bags that are compact and open up into a big size. They came in very handy when we bought gifts for family & for the kids. I prefer to put dirty laundry in them and the new things in our suitcases. It’s a great idea because when you store them they are pretty small, and open up into a big size that carries a lot. Nobody wants to buy a new suitcase with every travel and this is so convenient.

One important tip is to always have a backpack with essentials for kids depending on their age. Formula, snacks, wet wipes, a change of clothes for the youngest or just an extra t shirt. The two times I forgot the backpack at the hotel we needed a clean t-shirt for my 2 year old! We ended up buying him a t shirt both times. Lesson learned…

We didn’t bring our stroller because our youngest was almost three and could walk, we realized our mistake soon enough and bought an inexpensive umbrella stroller for him, that our 5 year old sat in on occasion.

I’ve forgotten so many details in these trips but I remember the special moments. Like when we stopped at a rest stop in between cities in Austria and there was a park. The kids played and collected small pine cones for me. In Turkey, we went to a park with magnificent trees, we sat and ate ice cream and my kids collected big pine cones for me. I kept them and later made two pieces of art with them. I hung them on our living room wall for the longest time. Such a simple reminder of fun family vacations.

We went to the United Arab Emirates twice in 2018. In January as a family of 6 and in December as a family of 7. I actually found out I was pregnant with my youngest while we were in Dubai! I had a strong feeling that I was pregnant and so many “symptoms” My doctor was so supportive and actually prescribed the blood thinner injections so I had them just in case. She gave me just enough for the days I would need it after my period was due. I went to see her as soon as we were home to confirm that I was pregnant.

When we went in January, we went by car. It was our first long road trip as a family. My kids were 11, 9, 7 and 4. I took travel size games; Battle Ship & Guess Who. The kids had the Nintendo with them and of course snacks. We left early in the mornings in hopes that the kids would nap. They were mostly too excited to sleep! It’s about 10 hours from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi. The trip was fun and the kids were excited to go on a road trip. We checked in around 6 pm. The kids were older and so excited. Staying in a hotel is such a luxury and kids really make you realize that. Every detail is amazing to them. They remind you not to take any small details for granted. One of my favorite moments in Abu Dhabi was going to The Louvre by myself. My husband knew I really wanted to go and even encouraged me to buy tickets online before we left Riyadh. He knew the kids wouldn’t really enjoy it and wanted me to take my time. So, he took the kids to a nearby mall to play while I walked through The Louvre and enjoyed every moment. After Abu Dhabi we went to Dubai and stayed in a beautiful resort in the middle of the desert, It was so beautiful and peaceful and exactly what I needed. I was still grieving the two babies I miscarried and the peacefulness and slow-paced days were exactly what I needed.

When we went in December, my mother I law came with us so, we went by plane. I also had a three-month-old so traveling by plane was more convenient. We went to Dubai and then Abu Dhabi. We had a great time and made a lot of memories with my mother in law. My kids are always happy when grandma travels with us. It makes everything more special and I am grateful for that.

Our last family trip was in the summer of 2019. We went to Malaysia, which was a bit of a challenge. It is a long trip with one stop in Dubai. From Dubai to Kuala Lumpur is seven and a half hours. I packed silly face stickers, coloring pages, colored pencils & “I Spy” activity pages. I also buy new books for the older kids to read.

There is also a +5 hour difference between Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur. Not to mention not being able to sleep on the airplane. The jet lag was tiring for me. Luckily my kids slept on the airplane and my husband managed to sleep the first night, while I stayed up most of the night because my biological clock was still on Riyadh time.

My youngest was ten months old, he still nursed but also ate solids. He still hadn’t started walking. We took a plane to Dubai and rushed to catch our plane to Kuala Lumpur. Since our stroller was sent with luggage, I had brought my baby carrier which was a big help at the airports. Especially getting on and off airplanes. It helped me carry him in a correct position so I didn’t strain my back and it left both off my hands free to hold hands or pull our single carry on suitcase.

When I packed for this trip. (I like to pack our suitcases and I never accept my husband’s offers to help. I enjoy it to be honest. For this trip I kept in mind that since we were going to be visiting multiple islands it would easier if we didn’t have too much luggage. I packed two big suitcases ad a small carry on suitcase for the layover in Dubai on our way back since our big suitcases would go directly to Riyadh. It isn’t easy packing light when you have 5 young children. For this trip I used zip lock bags, I packed each child’s clothes by outfit and wrote on them the name and the clothing item; pajama, underwire, t-shirts, swimming. It made it easy to find things and it helped keep the clean clothes, separated from the, worn but clean, separated from the dirty. I also used a plastic bag for dirty laundry, (the roll of bags I mentioned) After our trip to Malaysia I did some research because I wanted a reusable option rather than plastic zip lock bags and found these great fabric suitcase organizers that I bought to try out, loved and bought more. I’ve used them on short trips to visit my parents and to organize my husband’s suitcase for business trips & son’s suitcases for educational trips. I can’t wait to use them for a family vacation.

For the carry on bag for our night in Dubai, I also packed snacks for the flight back from Malaysia to Dubai. I kept it in the suitcase and we left it at the hotel since we would be coming back again before we left Malaysia. I know I could have bought snacks from Kuala Lumpur but I like to be prepared nd have snacks i know my kids like.

I don’t pack towels since hotels and swim parks will provide them, except if I have an infant in diapers. I prefer to have their own towel for them. I try to pack bottoms that aren’t too light colored and shirts with multiple colors to hide stains. Not everything that has been worn once or twice is considered dirty. The only exception to that rule is underwear and socks!

This may sound weird but I always pack a rope, clothes pins and a small box of laundry detergent. We try to find apartments where they provide washers, I prefer to use my own detergent because I have very sensitive skin. I do sometimes need to wash things by hand, I usually hang things to dry in the bathroom, most bathrooms have a built-in clothes line but I have my rope just in case.

Our stroller arrived at Kuala Lumpur Airport so bent up you’d think an elephant sat on it! My husband managed to fix it so it was usable and we used it thought out our trip until our last flight from Johor back to Kuala Lumpur where they lost our stroller. In Kuala Lumpur we bought a great stroller that folds up and goes into a fabric bag so you can take it into the airplane with you like a carry-on bag. Very convenient.

We went from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, then to Langkawi. My middle son did get sick and develop a fever, which meant late nights on the sofa making sure his fever went down, but that was ok. It’s part of being a parent. That’s what I meant about being flexible and open minded. We had to change some plans but we still had a great time. We canceled going to an amusement park because my oldest twisted his ankle and my husband took him to get it checked while I stayed with the others at the hotel. We spent the rest of the day swimming at the hotel pool and relaxing. It’s all good.

From Langkawi we went to Johor Island. Our final stop was back in Kuala Lumpur at the same hotel where we had left our carry-on bag. We spent a couple of days there before heading home.

On our way home, we spent one night in Dubai which was easier than running through the airport trying to catch a flight. It was nice to go back home with happy content kids.

Of course, traveling with young children is exhausting, but it’s so much fun and definitely worth it.

I look forward to going on a new family trip now that my kids are older and will remember and appreciate it more.