by Indie Travel Podcast

Travelling with children can be a fantastic or difficult experience – one Linda and Craig know very little about! So we called in the professional – Nick Bowditch, Australia’s Family Travel Expert.

Preparation

Preparation is important when travelling with kids. You need to consider how far you can get each day, or even each hour – it might be a shorter distance than you think. Also think about where you can stop; fast food restaurants and schools with playgrounds are little oases. Wear the kids out. But don’t wear them out with driving around a deserted town at 11pm – avoid this eventuality by pre-booking your accommodation.

Packing

A few tricks up your sleeve can make life a lot easier. Pack a bunch of simple toys like tennis balls and footballs to wear the kids out with when you stop at parks and playgrounds, and audiobooks or a portable DVD player will give you some peace and quiet on the road – as long as you pack the all-important headphones!

When choosing snacks, low-sugar is good, but also pick the least crumbly snacks you can find, the ones that are less likely to make a mess. Make sure drinks have resealable lids. And pack baby wipes for the inevitable spillage. A stash of plastic bags have a myriad of uses (chuck the used baby wipes in for a start), and stock up on pillows and quilts for a comfortable back-seat experience.

Crowd Control

Let the kids sleep but wake them up on purpose every so often rather than surprising sleepy kids when you arrive somewhere. Every time you stop, encourage everyone to take a leak, whether they need to or not. And don’t be afraid to bribe the kids. “If you just stop singing that song/punching your brother/farting for one hour we can stop and get a drink” etc.

Do you have any other tips for road trips with kids? What little tricks can you share? Please let me know in the comments below.

About Indie Travel Podcast

Think of podcasting like an internet radio show — but we answer your emails! We’re on demand too: you can choose any topic and listen to it any time.The Indie Travel Podcast is all about travel, especially independent travel.It’s run by Craig and Linda — full-time travellers — and aims to bring you some tips and topics from the world of independent travel. We normally give some travel advice, but each month we also review a product or service that we’ve found useful or we bring you an interview from someone we’ve met along the way. Link to Nick’s interview is HERE.