Kids are great to travel with, they see everything, it's an adventure for them and they add so much to the journey. So let's not make it a misery for them, of course there is a lot of extra work when you travel with kids, but with some early preparation and planning it is well worth it for us and them.
Now my son is fairly relaxed and easy to deal with, so traveling with him was pretty easy. I would rather poke myself in the eye than travel with some children I know! If your kids are on the wild side, I would suggest you get some control before you go. No, I don't think kids should be seen but not heard, but for an enjoyable and safe trip you can't spend all your time worrying if your kids are still with you or are if they likely to be into some sort of mischief. They will miss so much if they are spending all their time racing off or tumbling around the ground. I did wonder near the end of our trip, "did my son learn anything?", but then after our first walk around Glasgow he said, " There is a lot of modern architecture here." He really did learn a lot!
After making the decision to do this trip, we decided we needed to be fairly fit as we would be doing a lot of walking often carrying heavy bags. Fortunately we, are both good walkers but we put quite a lot of extra miles under our belts before we went (and very lucky we did!).
The other thing we did early was look for suitable clothing, and very warm clothing. During our summer I kept an eye on shops such as Rays Tent City for any winter clothes on sale. We found everything we needed, including a very nice pair of children's snow boots for only $20. Socks, gloves, scarves, hats, thermals and a very good coat each were all found cheap in the off season. There is one thing worse than being really cold and that is traveling with a child that's really cold, or tired or hungry.....
For the plane trip I probably over packed, only a book for myself, but all the gear for my son. Pencils, paper, book. Nintendo and games, teddy bear, activity book etc etc; and for the whole trip he played with the on board entertainment and watched movies, never opening the damn bag I had so carefully and thoughtfully packed. My suggestion is to check what entertainment your airline has and you will probably only need a book and perhaps a comfort toy.
We didn't have a stopover on our outward trip, saving it for the return, and I am quite glad we did. For some reason that I know not, the return trip is always harder and more exhausting. The homeward stopover also slowed down the journey home, giving us a few more days before our holiday was over. We also flew with Emirates which were very good, just remember to take all the magazines out of the seat pocket and throw them up into the overhead locker, ( not sure if your allowed to do it!) I am sure any extra leg room you do get with Emirates is taken up with those bloody magazines, plus you need to have a place to stuff all those little bits kids seem to collect, like little toothbrushes in purple plastic tubes and the strange little toys that come in th
e kids packs.I always included my son in the nitty gritty of traveling like checking gate numbers, departure and arrival times, looking for gates and terminals. If they're focused you can focus too, and my son became a whiz at reading timetables and information boards. He was always included in decisions like where we would go and where we would stay. He was a real help to me, and with an excellent sense of direction he was the one that usually found our way.
Now we are back he often starts a discussion on something he saw or something we did. While traveling he did miss about four weeks of school, so as a little homework he made a fantastic diary and he collected iron/sew on patches. We bought a piece of tartan and made a wall hanging with them.
Yes, it is a lot of work traveling with kids but it's a whole lot of fun too!
Oh and remember, always pack a day bag with drinks and snacks. We stuck to water and fruit, especially bananas as they come in their own wrapping and they're full of energy, and a little chocolate for those desperate moment.
