Prepping for a Big Trip

Six months before trip

Requests

It is good to contact your air line with anything that needs prep time or to which there might be queues. Any Christmas-time flight is likely to have 4 or more babies onboard and only one or two bulk-head seats. 

I always have success if I contact the airline before the 24 hour cancellation window runs out - that is, as soon as the tickets are booked but before I can't change them if the airline isn't helpful.

Things to request early

• any special meals on flight - kid meals, gluten-free, etc
• a baby bassinet in bulk head row if needed
• transport assistance if say you're traveling alone with a baby and a toddler

Stocking up

check everyone's passports are in date!!!!
hit the after school sales to find special pens and pads for distracting bored kids while traveling
start saving money
think about changing to the currency of the destination country - sometimes exchange rates are better at certain times of year. For example British pounds tend to be stronger in the summer against dollars.

Two months before trip

• don't be tempted to put off dental and doctor appointments till you get back, you will thank me on the other end! There's nothing more wearying than coming home to a slew of appointments.
• check all the essential-to-pack items to ensure they are working - your portable charger, your ipod (if you're antiquated like me), your kid's earphones. If any of these items are not working, it can take two weeks to get replacements so start early!

  

  The thing that sets apart families that travel frequently from first-timers is prepping the fine details like safe ear phones!

• buy magazines for your kids, preferably different ones - say the October and November editions as the December edition is always too extra-y and makes it unfair.
• decide whether to begin getting everyone to stay up a little later to get onto U.S. time. We aim to be at least 2.5 hours ahead before we travel.
• speaking of sleeping - sleep-train the baby and toddler. See my method here.
• if part of your travel plan is getting your baby to sleep in the front carrier, practice getting her to sleep in the front carrier at least once a week for four weeks in a row (not like once)
• avoid getting germs and esp ear infections - buy orange juice, add vitamin c tablets to your water, limit play dates, avoid soft play centres, don't go to the pool, etc. Don't care what it is, if it works, do it! 
• check passport expiry dates if you haven't already but do it again anyway
• arrange for gifts, homeschool materials, etc to be sent to your destination preferably or to you so you have time to pack them
• clean out your bag(s) that you are taking. It can take days for a backpack to dry out so don't leave it till the last minute. If your bags need cleaning that is - we always seem to have crumbs and muddy trousers in the bottom of all our bags.
• start stocking up on snacks to take on the trip - experiment and see what the kids will eat and won't cause diaper disasters. Also locate/purchase and hide the mini water bottles. You have to take them empty through security before filling them up at the water fountain, remember! 

  

  fountain in Amsterdam in 2016

• I get the kids to help me research books and apps they might enjoy playing. We spend about 10 minutes a day trying them out - more if I'm scrubbing out backpacks or packing.
• write list of goals for the trip so you can edit and hone the list and then work your plan
• if you plan to see friends, write to them all to let them know your dates of arrival and departure and ask them when they're available.
• if you plan to shop, check previous shopping lists and/or write a new one

Setting low expectations in your children

On one flight my little brother who was on his first trip abroad burst into tears.

'I thought it would be so fun, having a tv on the flight,' he wept.

In reality he couldn't hear the movie because of the roar of the engine, he was cramped into a tiny seat and for a high-energy kid that can be difficult, and there was nothing to eat that he liked.

My sibs and I had bigged up traveling to him to unrealistically highs. If we had told him how awful it could be, he might have been pleasantly surprised.

I also:

• start prepping the kids on the differences between American and British English
• drill them on facial recognition of relatives and friends they might see
• discuss house rules or hotel etiquette in advance

Two weeks before

• Hair cuts so everyone looks good in photos by the time you travel
• Pack bags for the first time
  

A few days before trip

• Try to use up perishable food
• Try to do all the laundry so you don't come back to piles of it
• Try to clean the house or at least leave relatively tidy
• Back up all the data on your phone and make space for new pictures - I have lost a mobile phone on a trip once and it's not nice!
• Install an app to trace your phone if it does get lost
• Install at least one app the kids will enjoy playing. If you have multiple devices, download the same app to prevent quarreling over special kindle.
• Install the app for the airports and airlines you will be using
• Make sure you are well stocked on toilet paper, toothpaste, etc - it's awful coming home and being out of essentials
• Write out numbers for American/British consulates/embassies in locations you'll be on all legs of trip
• Ask your neighbor to keep an eye on the house and give number to call if see anything suspicious
• Set up grocery delivery for the day or day after your return
• Freeze an easy dinner - chicken pot pie or just a pizza. True confessions: we eat butter toast and cereal on the first night back, and my wonderful mum-in-law generally comes in the day before to leave us fresh milk and homemade bread!
• call 72 hours in advance of flight to make sure all is well with airline(s) and make sure loyalty club numbers made it, special meal requests went through, and everyone is sitting together or where they need to be.

The night before a trip

• lay out clothes for everyone - if you have more than one kid, try to match them in one color so you can tell at a glance if everyone is together and/or pick out your kids in a crowd (I usually go for neon orange). 
• As for shoes, I wear my oldest pair of shoes which are easy to slip on/off at airport security, and comfy so I don't get blisters, and loose so when my feet swell I can still wear them. And if someone vomits on them, I don't feel bad throwing them away because they're old. 
• check passports and other travel documents - insurance cards, driver licenses 
• make sure husband has drivers license, passport, any doc that he might be carrying or needing to hand over to you to carry. Nothing ruins a trip so much as flying 4,000 miles and arriving at the car rental place to discover your husband left his drivers license at home.
• check money - for taxi to and from in current country's currency is most important
• charge phones including foreign phones if taking those
• lay out Super Daddy Pack
• lay out Travel Vest
• check packing list
• check the not to pack list
• sign in to flight online if asked
• ensure everyone gets a good night's sleep
• use up any perishable food - but nothing to weird or borderline out of date for the kids
• empty bins/trash cans
• lock all doors and windows except one you're exiting out of
• discuss whether turning heating off or just to low while gone with spouse
• pre book taxi if getting a taxi (if your taxi company hasn't failed you in this department. We often call an uber or gett the morning of now.) The bus/tram often isn't working at the early hour we depart for the States.
• shave and shower
• make sure the kids have identification bracelets or that your name and mobile number are written somewhere on their person - some people recommend writing in biro on their kids' arms - this is effective but a bridge too far for me.
• charge phones, kindles, etc

The last minutes before trip

• use up or freeze any milk/other food that would go bad while away if didn't do that last night
• turn off all electrics at the wall
• check all doors, windows still locked
• wash any dishes you used at breakfast (disposable bowls/cups might be the way to go)
• close blinds/curtains
• set thermostat if you have one
• give travel sickness medicine to the child who threw up on the taxi to the airport last time

At the first airport

• Check in - you have to if you are traveling with a lap baby even if you don't have luggage to check but it's also a good opportunity to do these important checks:

• Did our skymiles/loyalty point numbers make it on the tickets?
• check if bulkhead seating available (though should have done that 4-6 months ago if serious about it) or even just are we all sitting together as a family
• get boarding passes all the way through - we have almost missed many a flight due to waiting in lines/queues to get a boarding pass for the second leg of their trip
• Go through security - but NOT during normal breastfeeding time, unless you want to repeat the waterfall breastmilk let down attack that I had once in the middle of security. Go find a seat and breastfeed the baby first, or get to the airport early enough to get through security before the let down occurs.
• Let the kids run off steam at the airport play area if there is one (Edinburgh used to have a good one and now only has the small one; London and Amsterdam have great ones!); breastfeed baby if baby is desperate, distract otherwise till airplane take-off which is the best time to breastfeed to help with their little ears popping

  

  soft play in London

• Two hours and/or ten minutes before getting on the airplane: give travel medicine or travel sickness bracelets to kids. That way if sticky medicine gets on hands, it can be washed in the bathroom rather than making the seats you'll be on for hours sticky
• Encourage everyone to use the toilet one last time
• We usually take the pre-boarding for young families opportunity for short flights, but not long flights unless we need to get on early to jockey seating so we can sit together. Otherwise you're often stuck on the airplane an hour or two longer than need-be whilst everyone else is boarded.
• everyone gets travel sickness bracelets and a chewy lollipop when it's time to take off; the baby gets a bottle or breast. Once we're in the air we hand out magazines and books.

And you're off!