Travelling with children

 Having three children, two of which are now in their teens, I have managed to pick up quite a few tips over the years. We have been on holiday's all over the UK which have involved long and short car journeys and train journeys. We have also holidayed in France and Spain which have involved plane and ferry journeys.

One year when we went to Spain Faith was only four months old and I must admit that I was pretty nervous about that trip! It turned out to be a brilliant holiday and Faith was a little angel and I was very relieved that all our planning had paid off.

Here are my top tips for travelling with children.

1) Plan ahead. Planning ahead to make sure every thing goes as smoothly as possible is always my number one tip as I am a strong believer in the old saying 'failing to plan is planning to fail'! Try and think about the trip in stages and work out ways to overcome any foreseeable problems.

2) Pack your child a travel bag. I have always done this for my kids and they love it almost as much as actually going on holiday. The idea is that you pack things that will keep the children occupied for the duration of the journey. Things that I have packed in the past have included; snacks and drinks, pens, paper and colouring books, reading books, puzzle books, travel games, simple craft sets, playing cards, home made bingo sheets for spotting things on car journeys, DVD's and portable DVD player and CD's/ipods.

3) If flying, weigh luggage before getting to the airport so you can avoid any extra charges or having to unpack and rearrange things in the queue at the check in desks!

4) If flying with babies give them a dummy or a drink in a bottle when taking off to avoid problems with ears. For older children, getting them to suck on a sweet can also help.

5) For long car journeys try to plan in ten minute stops every hour for toilet breaks and to give everyone a chance to stretch their legs. It does add time on to your journey but it is worth the extra time to help keep the children happy.

6) Don't be late and having to rush as you will be stressed and the children will pick up on this and react accordingly. Instead set out earlier then you need to so you can be relaxed and enjoy the journey.

7) Finally, chill out! You need to remember that not every thing will go exactly as you have planned and your children will not be perfect the whole holiday and take things in your stride with a smile on your face. After all, holidays are suppose to be fun!

This is my entry into the Mark Warner blogger challenge.