Flying with Kids

Traveling with little ones can always present a challenge. Here are some of the things that I have found to be helpful when flying to and from your travel destination. 

1. Bring plenty of tried and true snacks and treats.  

Ready to fly!

Children are adaptable, and if you can make travel easier on them by giving them suckers or candy on takeoff and landing, go for it. Your children and the rest of the plane will thank you. When you get home, it may take a while to get back into a healthier routine, but as adults, I know I certainly indulge, no reason to stress yourself out by keeping strict dietary guidelines. I love to bring a bag of suckers, and things that will not be offered on the plane.

2. Bring toys.

As a parent, one of my pet peeves is children plugged into technology, technozombies. However, on a plane, this is a lifesaver. Don’t forget those chargers! Make sure your kids' tablets are loaded with apps that do not need WiFi to work, music and ebooks. Maybe even some titles that will build interest for the location you are traveling to.  Pre technology and for smaller kiddos,  I like to bring little toys like silly putty, puzzles, dollar store games, McDonald's toys they had never seen. In toddler years, I would actually individually wrap each of these up like presents. That prolonges the interest. Other items could include a deck of cards or Spot It.

Big kids sitting all by themselves

3. If you have to bring your own car seat to your destination, don't check it, use it on the plane. 

Make sure yours is approved by FAA laws, boosters are not. You can check here to make sure your

s won't be rejected as you're boarding. In my experience, even though a car seat is not required by law, children behave better in a car seat. I know that my kiddos have an expectation of being restrained in a vehicle, why should a plane be any different? Like all airline passengers, they will need to wear a seat belt in the air, why not something more their size? In addition, I have always limited the amount of walking around time to just bathroom breaks, sometimes when they get  that tiny taste of freedom, they may not want to return to be buckled in, which is safer for everyone.

4. Ask for help when your children lose their minds

On our way to Thailand!

Kids are unpredictable, and you never know when they will lose it, and they will lose their minds at some point. Half way through our journey home from Thailand, our 20 month old youngest son hit a wall while boarding our 9 pm 13 hour flight from Narita, Japan to San Francisco.  He was inconsolable, and we were going to have to sit separately on the plane.  I sat with the then 5 year old middle son, and my husband was across the cabin with our youngest screamer and oldest daughter (we switch off who gets to sit with the most difficult child, he was up).  Mommy instincts switched on and I stood up to fix it (probably not possible). The flight attendants on this particular flight knew what was going on, told me to sit down and they would take care of it. Across the cabin, they moved passengers around to accommodate our screamer. I don't know what they did, but between my husband and these ladies  they pulled out their bag of tricks. I swear it was voodoo. As we were taking off, I heard quiet and looked over to see he was laid out on three seats and snoozing away, my husband taking care of our oldest! Bless you United Flight Attendants and my proactive intuitive husband!!! The moral of the story is, ask for help when you need it, flight attendants can be incredibly helpful when you are struggling.

5. If you have a kicker, be gracious, and try not to allow your child to kick the seat in front of you.

Luckily, there are 5 of us, and we usually don' t fit in a standard row of seats, so we book and sit two behind three. We put the youngest behind one of us so that if we do get a kicker, it's not a random passenger, but one of us. I am not about to annoy people during travel, which is a stressful time. If this isn't possible for you, please remind your little ones to stop or scoot their seats back. If possible,  seat your child behind and empty seat, flight attendants can help with this as well.

6. Cherish these stuck-together times

Travel is easier when the kids get a little older

Please don't underestimate the amount of time you may have with your kid(s) one on one. These plane rides can be an opportunity to connect and talk, especially as your kids get older. One of my favorite things to do in planes, trains and automobiles is to play the ABC game. We will go around to each player and ask what was something we did today that starts with an "A"? Then the next person will say something that begins with a "B" and so on. My kids claim to hate this game now that they are older, but really, this is how we cement our memories which make our travel unforgettable .

Remember, travel is stressful and taxing for everyone. Even more so with little ones. If you keep a smile on your face and be gracious, people respond to that and I guarantee that your travel will be smoother.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

One of my most memorable quotes learning from high school, 20 years ago, is from Romeo and Juliet. "A rose by any other word would smell as sweet." Well, here, "A blog by any other name would stink!" I wanted to go into the title of my blog, A Biennial Breather.

I had only traveled to Mexico prior to meeting my husband in 2000. It wasn't that I wasn't interested, I just had never been exposed to anything but road trips withing the United States, more specifically, throughout the west. In my senior year of high school I was given the opportunity to go on a 3 day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico for a graduation trip. My eyes were opened, and I was less than a 100 miles from the US, I knew I wanted more. A few years later, my roommate and I took a Memorial day weekend road trip to Ensenada again. Then through that roommate I met my husband.

In 2000, Jeff had just returned from living in China, having traveled all of his life, born in Spain on an Air Force Base. He had been all over Europe and had spend a total of two years in China, one year as a student, then returning as a teacher later. Things got pretty serious quickly, and we moved to San Diego together just one year later so he could go to Law School. His second year, there was an opportunity to take a month long summer course in Florence, Italy. So he took out more student loans, and I worked two jobs while paying my way through community college, studying Art. Money was tight, but we made it work and in 2002, we were on our way abroad, for my very first time.

I'm very nostalgic about Florence, having spent so much time there, and it being my first experience in Europe. We stayed in a flat near the Duomo with a classmate of Jeff's, and his family, wife and 7 year old daughter . So every afternoon, the boys would head off to school, while the wife and daughter and I would explore the lesser known museums and gelaterias of Italy. I was in love. Also, experiencing our friends traveling abroad as a family, I knew that this would be something I wanted in my future when we became parents.

Our first trip together abroad

I knew I was head over heels, but I found out later that Jeff was thinking about proposing, but didn't want to take the leap unless he knew we could travel together. After the month long stay, we parted ways with our Florentine family roommates (until we were all back in San Diego), and headed off to explore on our own. We hit the Vatican, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria and the Czech Republic. It was a once in a lifetime trip. 6 months later, on Christmas morning, Jeff proposed. We were married 8 months later, then parents 2 years after that to a beautiful baby girl.

Exhausted parents enroute to Barcelona

When our daughter was 20 months, we decided it was time to try out traveling as a family. We prepared the best we could and planned 2.5 week trip to Portugal and Spain, making a few reservations, never staying in any place longer than 2 nights. We wore ourselves out. An we learned a valuable lesson. Although we had planned and were anticipating the vacation of a lifetime, we didn't make the distinction between travel vs.vacation. 11 years later, I am convinced that short of an all inclusive with child care or a cruise with childcare, vacation is not possible with any amount of children. But that is for another post.

We got a little gun shy after our Iberian trip, and a second baby boy two years later was the perfect excuse to put off international travel again. And we realized how much we missed it, and that we were not traveling as often as we anticipated. So Jeff and I made and important decision. We wanted to travel abroad on a big trip every 2 years. A Biennial Breather.

Giant's Causeway

So we planned a trip to Ireland in 2011. This time we decided to choose a home base, and travel out of that place most of the time, and we went with several other families, including our friends from Florence. The 7 year old daughter was now much older and in high school. This trip was still not a vacation, but it was fantastic and we were inspired, planning our next trip on the flight home. This Home Base thing made traveling easier, and inspired us to travel more often. 

From there, we had another baby boy in 2012. This was a decision we did not take lightly. Another kid would mean we were outnumbered and would not be able to squish into economy sized rental cars. Our daughter was now 6, and a huge help with her brother, and our boy was now 4 and out of diapers. We figured it was now or never and we took the plunge.

At Aytthaya Historical City, Thailand

When our youngest boy was 19 months we took a trip to Thailand in 2014. We thought we were so clever, booking flights before age two when you have to pay for a seat for your child. We were saving ourselves over $1200 on airfare. What we didn't realize was that now we had a wiggling walking toddler on our laps for a 24 hour travel time back home. Humbled again with another valuable lesson.

Plitviče Lakes National Par, Croatia

Our next trip was in spring 2016 to Eastern Europe  (just slightly over our two year goal) which included Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Monte Negro and Amsterdam. This trip was much more dialed in and while we still used the Home Base system, we did end up frequently switching hotel rooms. But our experience had taught us so much, and we were really prepared. Not to mention, everyone was out of diapers.

Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Hungary

And now we are heading off on our 2018 adventure, Paris, Bordeaux, and Scotland. In total we will have spent the 2.5 weeks with three different families, including our friends from Florence again. This trip is completely planned out and I have set a goal for myself to pack the 5 of us in just two carry-on roller bags and two 55 liter backpacks. I think this will give us flexibility and enable movement, these bags should fit comfortably in our rental cars. It will be a challenge, but I have been plotting for months.


I am sure that this trip will be amazing, and that we will have an idea where we will discuss where to  travel in 2020 on our return flight. This travel stuff is sure addictive.

A Welcome and a Why

At the urging of several friends, I’ve decided to begin another blog. Welcome to my newest venture, a travel blog geared toward traveling families! What qualifies me as a advisor to those looking for advice for familial travel? Experience! In our first attempt at family travel, my husband and I backpacked across Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco with our then 20 month old daughter. To say this was a success would be slightly delusional, but in the past decade or so, we’ve picked up a few tricks, as well as two more kids! In these years, we’ve added many more stamps to our passports, and consider ourselves to be savvy travelers. I know my way around packing a suitcase, maneuvering public transportation, and keeping kids occupied and happy in less than family friendly environments. So thanks for your support and readership as we embark on this next journey together, to enable young family travel, and embrace realistic expectations.