Taking your kids on a long haul journey might sound hellish to some, but it can be a fairly smooth and straight forward chain of events! As long as you know what to pack, when to go, and how to handle any potential meltdowns, you’ll be just fine!
We’ve touched a little on this topic before, but it deserves a revisit. More and more children are going round the world now, seeing as us adults want to explore the beautiful world we live in, and your little ones deserve to get a look in during the planning stages.
And to try and help you with these matters, we’ve listed some things to keep in mind below, to hopefully go some way towards helping you keep your sanity in tact when flying for 6 hours or more.
Leave at the Right Time for Your Kids
Vacations can start at very inconvenient times. If you’re someone who likes to wake up in the middle of the night, so you can get to the airport in time for the earliest flight on the clock, it’s important to remember that your children will not be so happy to do the same thing! They’re kids, and sleep is important, and that’s something you should definitely take into account when planning to book your next flight or train ticket.
If they’ve got a long haul flight ahead, you might just think they can eat and sleep on the plane, but that’s bad for both their internal body clocks, as well as their energy levels. So instead, try leaving at later times. Aim for a mid morning or early afternoon flight that your children will be a lot more ready for; they will have had time to get a good night’s sleep, wake up properly, as well as eat something, and that’ll make them far less cranky in the long run.
Specifically Book Your Seats
If you’re about to take your children on a long haul flight, no matter what age they are, makes sure you specifically book their seats to ensure they’re with you at all times. Don’t let the seating arrangements on an airline be up to chance!
At the same time, try to ensure there’s a spare seat nearby for you to make use of; in short, book an extra seat that you don’t really need. This will help you to keep your children comfortable and calm, if they’re of a younger age, and will help you to take care of that squirming and fussy baby that’s tired of being held in your lap for hours on end. All in all, a good buffer seat is a great way to keep the rest of the public at bay, and give your family a little island to make use of.
Make Sure You’ve Done the Right Paperwork!
Kids can have some special travel requirements, can’t they? Depending on their age, and how much they like climbing into a metal shell that’ll soar them through the sky, they’re going to need a few special accommodations here and there. Most importantly, you’ll need to ensure your children have the right vaccines for travel; these are often an entry requirement round the world these days. Medical paperwork can be a lot to get through, so it’s key to get the ball rolling on this process early.
Not only that, but you’ll need to ensure you have the right travel paperwork on you, to make sure you fit the entry requirements for any and all long haul country you’re planning to enter. You don’t want to sit through a 14 to 16 hour journey, only to discover you need to apply for something like a visa at the entry gate on the other side.
For example, if you’re going somewhere like China, even the kids are going to need a visa in order to enter. And if your children are under 18, you’ll have to sign an application form on their behalf! Of course, if you’re in need of more details, you can visit a website like https://www.evisumservice.be/visum-china/ just to check out the online process for application. It’s a lot easier than having to file with an embassy in person, especially if you’ve got kids to drag along with you!
Keep Some Surprises in the Bag
Your kids are going to get bored, there’s no doubt about that. As adults, we get bored on long haul flights, and wonder how we’re going to pass the time it’ll take to get to our destinations. Why should your kids not be afforded the same feeling? They have a naturally lower attention span, of course, and they need a bit more stimulation than you do, but that’s perfectly OK!
Which is why it might be of use to you to keep some surprises stored in your carry on. A coloring book and crayons here, a mini games console there, or even just a favorite book they’d love for you to read them, etc. If your kids get bored, and start to fidget and complain about that, you can pull out an object or game like these they can make use of, that they didn’t even know they had the option of using until now.
And keeping these kinds of items as a surprise for later is all a part of the attraction. When something fun to play with is unknown, it means they won’t be constantly asking for it, and they won’t get bored of their other items so quickly. Simply put, they won’t know there’s an alternative, so they’ll stick things out for a little bit longer.
Ready to Get Packing?
If you want to be able to survive a long haul journey as a family, and you want to be sure your kids will feel the same way on the other side as you will, it’s important to keep ideas like these in mind. Kids want a good vacation, just like you!
