For years I’ve dreamt about packing up the kids and going on a holiday. A big holiday. One of those ‘once in a lifetime’ holidays. Our family loves to travel, and we prioritise it in our budget. My dining room chairs are 12 years old, and you need a cushion to sit on them because the bottoms have pretty much given out. But I would prefer to spend my money on travel, than new dining room chairs (my friends have asked a few times now when we will be buying new chairs, but every time I think about purchasing new chairs I see the price and can’t help but convert it to a weekend away at the beach and just can’t bring myself to spend the money on chairs).  

So recently, we packed up our two kids (aged 8 and 10) and set off for a 6-week holiday around the world (well we bought round the world tickets.) We went to Cleveland USA, Orlando USA (Disneyland and Universal Studios), New York USA, Hamburg, Germany, Paris France and Singapore. It was wonderful and at some points, bloody awful but we all survived (and in hindsight enjoyed it)

Here are my top ten tips for travelling with children:

1. Don’t get into debt to go on holidays. As lovely as a holiday is (and I am a fan!!!) its not worth the credit card bill. Save and plan and come home debt-free. The holiday is so much more enjoyable when it leaves no long-lasting, bad debt after taste.
2. Start planning early, so you have time to save and prioritise your money. We started thinking about this holiday 18 months before we took it. Now I know that’s not always doable, but it meant we could buy for things slowly as we saved for them. It also meant we could be on the lookout for good deals. We purchased our airfares as soon as they were released and was able to get an excellent price on them.
3. Pay in full for as much accommodation as you can before you leave. Some places just want a deposit before you arrive, and this can seem like an easy way to lock things in. But it’s better to pay for as much in full before you go, as you can. When we left, we had our airfares, and our accommodation already paid for out of our savings. It meant all we had to cover while we were away was food, transport and spending money.
4. Give your kids spending money. To help fight off the ‘can I have’ endless conversations, every new city we went to we gave our kids twenty of the local currency (US dollars, euros etc). It meant that they were then responsible for whatever souvenirs they bought and once the money was gone, it was gone, and they lived with their decision. (warning: this is not a tear-free strategy, but I think we saved money and came home with less stuff).
5. Focus on the experience, not the stuff. This holiday was not a shopping holiday. I had people tell me that once I was in America, I really should take the opportunity to shop but honestly, I can buy cheap clothes in other places too. I wanted to go there to see and do the things that you can only do there (it also helps with living out of your suitcase and not wanting to pay for excess baggage). Things wear out and break, but memories don’t. The truth is museums can be expensive too, but I would prefer to spend my money on the experience than on the stuff.
6. Speaking of museums before you go google and see if they have free days to go to the museum or if there is anything the city of putting on free of charge, while you are there. We were lucky enough to be in Paris for Bastille Day, and on that day all the museums in Paris are free. So we choose Bastille day to go to the Louvre. Sometimes there are things like festivals and fireworks that are free while you are in town, google and see what the city is putting on.
7. You don’t need to do everything. My kids are so full of energy. I forgot that they are kids and have little legs and can’t actually walk as far in a day as I can. We couldn’t see and do everything we wanted to do in the places we visited. Our kids just didn’t have the stamina or sometimes the inclination. (There are only so many galleries they would put up with before they had had enough art!!!!). We focused on spending time and having fun together, and I just had to let some things go… next time…..
8. Schedule in rest days. Travelling for 6 weeks is a long time. We were planning on taking it easy in Singapore, but that was the end of our trip, and honestly, we should have taken a couple of days somewhere in the middle and just rested. By the time we were in Paris my 8-year-old was exhausted and wanted to spend the day in bed, napping and watching Netflix. 5 weeks on the go, was just too much for her.
9. It doesn’t have to be lots of money or a long period of time. We have spoken about this trip to our kids and called it an adventure. But honestly, adventure is just about stepping out of your every day ordinary and adventure can be found everywhere. Spend a Saturday with your family doing the things tourist do when they visit your town, instead of the grocery shopping.
10. Commit to it and go. There will always be something else you can spend your money on but travelling with your kids is worth it. It’s expensive, and kids are painful, and hotel rooms are small and my god they whinge A LOT about things, BUT in the end, they loved it. I hear them talking to their friends now we are home about things they saw and experienced, and I know that at the time they were in that moment, they were complaining, but in hindsight they loved it. It has brought our family closer. Travel is an excellent thing to invest in with your family.