Top 5 tips to ensure a successful family holiday

Guest blog from our lovely Digital Mum, Kate

Travelling with young children certainly has its highs and lows and at times can feel like an emotional rollercoaster for the whole family. With three young children of our own we can often be found discussing the merits of staying put, getting the sprinkler out and having endless garden picnics to avoid the inevitable packing crisis and toddler meltdowns on the Tarmac ahead of our “holiday”.

But, that wouldn’t be in the spirit of this post! And, after all, we’re all for making memories with our kids because you only remember the good stuff anyway. With this in mind here’s 5 top tips to ensure a successful family holiday.

1. It’s all in the preparation. After we’ve been on holiday we’ll always carry out a post-mortem of what worked and what didn’t and use this to guide our next adventure. Kids loved the pool but didn’t appreciate sandy pants – let’s skip the beach next time. In Spain we couldn’t have a family dinner before 8pm – let’s go self-catering with an onsite restaurant to split the burden.
2. Pain free packing. Lists are your best friend. For a 7 night holiday I pack 8 outfits for each child plus a couple of spare undies. Don’t be tempted to throw random items in a bag – this will only guarantee you spend a morning trying to navigate the mall. When packing tick every item off the list as you go.
3. Accommodation set up. We’ve got 3 kids but the baby doesn’t need his own room yet. Let’s pop the travel cot in the very large bathroom. I’ll always take my BlindSides to ensure the room is just like home and dark at naptimes and in the early hours of the morning as good holiday sleep = a happy family.
4. Carving out some down-time. With 3 little people to think about it can be hard to schedule in downtime. What works for us is putting the baby down for a lunchtime nap (usually in the bathroom) whilst the girls chill out on the terrace. One of us is then free to go for a bike ride or have swim on our own. Alternate this each day.
5. Try something new. Don’t be afraid to try something new with the kids. Whilst routines are important at home, skipping or delaying the odd nap on holiday might allow you to visit a city you’ve not seen before or conquer a coastal bike route with the kids in the trailer. If the kids are sleeping well at night they should be happier to go with the flow during the day.