Friday, May 18, 2012

Traveling with kids?

The topic for this week's post is to discuss what type of traveler you are, do you have everything planned out or are you a last minute person.

I grew up in a family that traveled a lot.  When we would go on trips, my Dad would study guide books and research everything.  He would then plan every single day.  We would know before we left exactly what we would do every day.  I still remember his calendars, created on a piece of paper from a legal sized yellow tablet.  He would turn the paper so it was horizontal and use a ruler to draw out the squares.

So, based on that, you would think I was an anal planner.  Ok, also based on the fact that I am an anal planner in my regular life, but in reality, I tend to try and figure out what we are going to do once we are there.  After spending my childhood trying to see everything, I have come to learn that sometimes it is best to leave something unseen.  You can always see it when you go back.  It really is more important to enjoy the time you have than to try and achieve some sort of plan.

My kids have been traveling since they were infants.  We have gone on so many road trips, airplane flights and vacations that travel isn't a big deal for them.  They are pros at the security check points.  Traveling with very small children (18 months old is the pinnacle of horrible on an airplane), requires a certain amount of planning.  When Mac puked all over me and himself on a flight back from Oregon, I was pretty happy to have a change of clothes for both of us.

I was the mom who pulled play doh out of her bag when the pilot told us to put the tray table up and turn off the electronics.  That meant no more coloring, no more dvds, no more video games, what to do with restless kids?  Play with play doh.  I have had more than my fair share of adults ask to play with some too.

Now that they kids are older, they pack their own stuff.  I don't have to plan so much about the getting there part.  In fact, I can pack us up for a trip to where ever in little more than a couple of hours, less for a plane ride, more for a car trip.  We have done it so many times, we have the drill down.  Everyone knows what to do.  We know how to handle what ever might come up.  Delays, snow storms, vomit?  We got it covered.

I travel based on a very simple philosophy, I am never going to see these people again, so fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

Want to see how the other ladies take off?  Check them out at: Froggie, Momarock, and Merrylandgirl.

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