Preparing for your Family Tour in Europe
We’ll look after all the details of planning your vacation itinerary and logistics, but there are some excellent things you can do back home to prepare your family for the practical realities of traveling as a family, as well as to get everyone ready and excited for your adventure psychologically.
In the Trip Planning Stage
- Before you finalize your itinerary with me, try to have a brainstorming session with your entire family and listen to their input. Your teen may surprise you with some of things he or she might like to do on vacation. Including toddlers as well as teens in finalizing your trip will help establish a feeling of ownership and investment. Young travelers may be more inclined to participate in activities they might not otherwise have enjoyed if they are balanced with excursions that came from their own ideas.
- Can your children prepare information for the trip? This will get them involved and interested in the trip early. Older children may enjoy trying their hand at some family history research on the web or collecting and organizing regional information from guidebooks and the web – they could even put this all into a newsletter to be mailed off to all your other group members prior to your departure date.
In the Preparation Stage
- Start a countdown to your trip a couple weeks before you leave by marking the days off on a calendar. The anticipation can be very exciting.
- Have a safety talk - the night before departure, discuss safety and security rules, like what to do if you get separated while traveling and who to call for any kind of emergency. (Obviously when you are on trip with me, you’ll have the support and security of being with an “almost local” who knows the regional hospitals and emergency services, but it never hurts to be prepared to be independent as well.)
- Set a daily allowance for each child for their own spending and let them know before you leave.
- Provide friends or relatives with phone numbers and addresses of hotels where the family will stay, transportation information and emergency contact information. Also, give out little contact cards to each member of the family – these should list your Terrestra guides’ cell phone numbers in the region (we’ll send these in advance), your own, if you’re taking an international cell, and an emergency contact number back home. Giving or renting a cell phone with international roaming capabilities for each older child in the family isn’t a bad idea either.
- Make a list and bring along needed medications. Diarrhoea treatments (although these should not be given to very young children), pain relievers, insect repellents, antihistamines and adhesive bandages are good staples – bring the children’s versions along, since these may not be available where we travel. Create a list of any allergies on separate piece of paper for your child to keep on their person at all times.
- Get an required immunizations. While there is no particular immunization you or your kids need in southern Italy that you wouldn’t already have or need in the US, it is a good idea to make sure these regular immunizations are up to date before you travel.
- Make copies of medical insurance cards and information and passports.
Packing the family
- Plan your packing. Begin by asking yourself the who, what, where, when, why and how of your trip. Consider the climate, activities, lodgings and transportation involved in your journey. Also consider the people who are going and the purpose of your trip. The next step is to make a list of everything you will need for each person. A safe bet is to pack one outfit for every day of the trip. This does not mean that you need 7 shirts and 7 pairs of shorts for a 7 day trip. Mix and match clothing to make different outfits and lighter suitcases. When you are on the road nobody else will know you have worn those shorts 3 times this week. Laundry is also available wherever we go. Bring several big plastic bags for dirty/ wet clothes and shoes. The best clothes to pack are wrinkle-resistant and wash and wear. They are the easiest to care for by far. Choose bright colors and patterns to hide stains. Avoid black and white as they will show even the smallest specks of dirt. Pack comfortable, all purpose shoes for everyone.
- Consider making your children’s packing list with them - you decide the type of clothing, but let them choose their favourite items. A week before departure day, go over the list and clothing choices with them to make sure everything fits and is in good repair.
- Let each child have their own bag, such as a back-pack or a small carry-on with rollers – this can be their personal bag for the whole trip. A couple of days before the big day, let them pack these bags. Let them include a small favourite toy and book to read.
- Keep everything to a minimum - when in doubt, leave it out. If you will need dressy clothes we’ll let you know before you leave. Do not pack something on the off chance you might need it. Also, do not duplicate items. One bottle of shampoo and one tube of toothpaste are plenty. If you run out you can always buy more. Over-packing is frustrating and burdensome.
- Plan on having as many hands free as possible for the travel over - you’ll need them! In airports, train terminals, and ports, you’ll be asked to present documents at every turn. Passports, tickets, boarding passes, and birth certificates should be kept in a safe, easy-to-reach place such as a “fanny pack” or travel pouch. Small backpacks and shoulder bags work best as carry-on luggage, and, if your child is young enough, a baby carrier which leaves your hands free will be invaluable. Always make sure that you have a pen handy to fill out any customs or immigration forms.
- In your carry-on bag: tickets, itineraries, cash and travelers checks (NEVER check them in your suitcase); prescription medications; guidebooks and maps; extra glasses; camera; identification (use business address) and insurance information. It is a good idea to carry deodorant, toothbrushes, medication and clean underwear in the event that you are delayed or are separated from your luggage. Also pack some hard candies, gum and wet ones for the kids and a surprise toy for each child in case of unexpected wait times at airports or train stations.
- Traveling with a baby will require some additional items. If you let us know in advance, we can make high chairs, portable cribs and crib supplies available at your destination, so you don’t need to bring them. But a lightweight, durable stroller is a must for European cobblestone streets. And for toddlers, a baby backpack is a good idea, especially if we’re doing a lot of walking on your trip. Infants and toddlers need extra protection from the elements so always have a hat, sunscreen and insect repellent on hand. Pack food, formula and diapers lightly and buy more when you get there.
- You won’t need any special equipment for your recreation (bicycles, golf clubs, etc.) since we or the hotels will take care of that.
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Pack a bag of tricks for each child under 16. When unexpected circumstances (like flight delays, missed connections, three rainy days or a bedridden child) occur it pays to have a goodie bag to help everyone cope. Anticipating these exceptions makes them less exceptional and easier to deal with – because if they occur, it is often in airports or train stations, not places designed for family fun or domestic tranquility! A small backpack is a convenient, lightweight, easy-to-get-to container to keep everything. What’s in the bag? Basically, distractions, stress diffusers, boredom eliminators and surprises - the contents depend on age and the interests of the child. Some parents have one bag per child while others use one for the whole family.
Some ideas for a preschooler:
- Finger puppets
- Discarded film cases with colored fabrics inside
- Matching games. (Like felt squares with large buttons sewn in the center.)
- Crayons and plain paper. Print lots of coloring pages off the Internet - try fisherprice.com and crayola.com.
- Stacking containers.
- Three to six beanbags.
- "Old Maid" cards.
- A book with several stories to be read by an adult.
- A Richard Scarry book for the four-year-old.
- Headphones and a new, but familiar, read along book and tape.
For a 5 to 12 year old:
- A new book. (Often parents buy two of the same to read and discuss together.)
- Storytelling Hand Puppets
- Plenty of doodle pads.
- Some story tapes
- Cards of any type
- Non coloring book and markers.
- Trivia cards or current card collecting craze.
- Magnifying glass and slight of hand tricks from a magic store
- An old toy, whose rediscovery can be entertaining
And for teens - even they enjoy surprises:
- A new and wanted CD - something cool and current
- Copies of the same book, one for each and one for you. Reading the same book might allows some neutral conversation.
- A phone card to call friends back home
- Lap top with modem for the e-mail connection
- A book with blank pages to write a journal
- Batteries and more batteries for all their electronic devices
- Language tapes if your destination requires
- Your own sense of humor, when things are out of your control!
- A disposable camera to document the voyage might also work
Above all... maintain a good sense of humour while traveling to give your children a vacation to remember in spite of any unforeseen obstacles.
Flying with the family
- Get to the airport early!!!! They’re not kidding when they tell you to get to the airport, station, or port early. And don’t linger in the airport Disney stores too long!
- Spend the money for a seat for your infant. You can, of course, hold him or her on your lap during the flight, but buying an extra seat and bringing along a (lightweight) car seat will make the trip a great deal more comfortable for both of you.
- Plan for ear pain during takeoff and landing. Try to nurse or bottlefeed your baby at both times (so that he or she keeps swallowing), or, for an older child, have a drink on hand.
- If you’re bringing a stroller on a flight, check it at the gate. You’ll leave it just outside the door to the airplane and pick it up as soon as you get off.
- Make sure that you have the documents you need. You, of course, will need photo I.D. and/or a passport for yourself, but in many cases you’ll need documentation for your child too. Always carry a copy of his or her birth certificate (check with the carrier to make sure that they don’t need an original). Also, if both biological parents are not traveling with the child, you may need a letter from the other parent stating that you have permission to take your child out of the country.
How to book a Terrestra Family Heritage Tour