Travelling abroad with a child

Travelling abroad in itself requires a lot of energy and patience, and when you factor in a child, it requires a whole lot more plus a couple glasses of complementary aeroplane wine courtesy of that good old drinks trolly.

Let’s take a moment to thank the person who thought of placing TV’s on the back of every aeroplane seat. Even if you aren’t all pro technology for your kids, you all of sudden support the idea that watching Garfield is beneficial to your child’s health because let’s be honest, you probably won’t be able to entertain your little jetsetter with colouring in and sticker books for the entire 16 hour long trip. But hey, if you’ve ever been able to achieve that then I completely admire you and you rock.

A few tips I have for travelling abroad with a child:

• Pack spare clothes for both your child and most importantly, you. Accidents happen; drinks spill, food drops and the side effects of travel sickness are a real deal.

• Snacks. Enough said right? If you have a grazer like mine you’re almost always guaranteed a more pleasant time when there are snacks around, but let’s try and make them healthy ones; sugar and a confined space on a plane probably will not go down so well.

• Communication. Unless you’re halfway through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it’s generally helpful for your child to understand your plans so that they can grasp what is actually happening and what’s up next on the agenda. During your flight, watch the gps provided on the TV’s; it maps out the route of the plane in the air and is a great topic of conversation. On the plus side too, you’ll probably fly over a place that you’ve never heard of and learn that Kazakhstan does actually exist and isn’t a fictional place from the movie Borat.

• Try your best to travel as light as you can. It’s just so much easier in general having less hand luggage. Also when you have an exhausted child who is refusing to carry their own backpack during a layover, you’d be wishing that you’d just packed all that unnecessary hand luggage in one of your main suitcases. Less is more, trust.

• Remember to make the whole trip an adventure. It’s not everyday you get to experience this with your child so try your best to really make the most of it.

• Also if you haven’t already bought your child Trump cards do so. They’re light to carry and an absolute lifesaver for any child at any point during your journey, except if you beat them.