Best Travel Tips Shared by the Mom Central Community

Who knows better about the stresses of travel than other mothers like you. Here are the best mom-to-mom tips for to make your July 4th fun!

Image from: CHP 

Getting Organized to Travel: Top 5 Tips for Picking an Itinerary

Base your itinerary on the ages and attention spans of your children and the amount of travel-related stress you think they can sustain. Take into consideration your commute time and whether you will be traveling outside of your time zone.

Are there enough activities to keep your child engaged? What type of child-friendly adventures, detours, and exploration does the trip allow?

If you are doing a lot of sight-seeing or traveling, try to stay in the same place for at least a few days and use that as your base of operations. Every hotel change will feel like a major pack and unpack extravaganza.

Don't go to the most popular places at the most popular times of year. Visit Theme Parks or National Parks during the school year, or go skiing mid-week. You'll find fewer crowds, cheaper flights, and better rates on hotels.

Leave a day early and come back early or late to avoid the heaviest travel times on roads and planes during holidays.

TOP 5 WAYS TO INVOLVE YOUR KIDS IN PLANNING

When sending away for travel information, use your child's name for all the brochures, maps, and itineraries coming in the mail. He'll get the thrill of receiving mail, as well as flipping through pictures of hotels, sites to visit, and other information.

Solicit your child's opinion when thinking through the finer points of your trip, such as deciding which places to visit at your destination and the order in which he would like to do some of those things.

Go to the library and find picture books about your destination. Look on the Internet as well.

Rent movies about your destination or the types of things you will see on your trip (such as a working farm.)

Show your child a map of where you are going and the route you will take to get there. Mark sights to look for along the way and fun stops to make.

TOP 5 BENEFITS OF TRAVELING WITH FRIENDS

It offers an extra source of companionship and amusement for everyone. Having kids who play well together cuts down on TV and video time, complaints of boredom, or seeking out adults as the singular source of entertainment. Only-children will have playmates besides their parents.

You can break into smaller groups when everyone cannot decide on one activity. This way, more people's preferences can be accommodated, rather than dragging one or two people along to an activity that holds no interest for them.

The trip can be more affordable than with one family, particularly when you share the rental price of a house, condominium, or campground. Especially in resort towns, the cost of renting a house for two families is far cheaper than hotel rooms for the same length of stay.

A house or condo offers the benefit of a full kitchen, more privacy and independence, and a place for the adults to go in the house after the kids have fallen asleep.

You can swap babysitting for outings or dinners out without the kids. Even during the day, adults can share or rotate responsibility for keeping an eye on the kids, allowing each other to take a walk, play tennis, or do some sightseeing that would bore the kids. After the kids go to sleep, you have theoptionto play games, cards, chat, gossip, enjoy a grown-up dinner or drinks, and unwind with friends.

TOP 5 TIPS FOR BOOKING AIRLINE TICKETS

Sign each of your children up for frequent flyer programs. Every seat you book for them starts earning points towards a free ticket, and you often receive significant miles just for joining. Some airlines offer additional bonus miles for signing up at their internet sites.

Ask for electronic tickets instead of paper. It's one fewer thing to remember, and you can go straight to the gate after checking your luggage curbside, avoiding long, winding lines at the ticket counters. Be sure to bring a copy of your electronic ticket reservation along with you in case of any computer glitches.

Schedule flights that coincide with your child's nap or rest time schedule. This gives you the best chance of having your child asleep for part of the journey.

If your flight includes a meal, order a kids' meal or fruit plate for your children instead of the heavily-sauced regular meal. But bring snacks in case the meal is delayed or declared inedible by your child.

Try not to get seats in the rear of the plane, as the noise of the engines can be unbearably loud for young children, and the last row often has no window and is close to the toilets, which can smell unpleasant.

SUGGESTIONS FOR VACATIONING AT HOME

If you don't have the time or money to get away this spring, and if you feel guilty about depriving yourself and your kids of a fun escape, there's still time to make a quick getaway.

The key to it all is keeping things simple. One of the biggest reasons many of us never actualize our dreams of a whirlwind European tour or a cross-country drive is because when we think vacation, we all tend to think big. For now anyway, you'll be most likely to follow through if you take trips that require little planning, packing, and money.

Even an evening spent just a few hours from where you live will help you get away from things. Book a hotel room in the city and order room service, or call a real estate agency in a local resort town--near the ocean, a lake, or a state park--and find out if there are any last-minute, weekend rentals available.

If you can't leave town for a night, pick a day or a week to stay home from work to turn off the phone, avoid the mailman, garnish your lemonade with fresh fruit and paper umbrellas, laze around the kiddy pool pretending you're at a far-away resort, or make a fire in the fireplace to toast marshmallows and s'mores. A small break from the ordinary will make the day special.

Or just jump in the car and go, using your kids as your co-pilots, and make the adventure of driving take the place of your destination.

No matter what you for travel this spring vacation, don't let it leave you with regrets. It's important for you and your kids to head into their regular routine feeling good about the time you've had (or at least they've had) to decompress.

Image from: Visit Southwest  

Fire Safety Plan: Do You Have One?

PROTECT YOUR FAMILY

With a little preparation you can help ensure your family’s safety in the event that there is ever a fire in your home.  Material possessions can be replaced, so the most important thing is that you and your family are able to safely evacuate the building.  Use the ideas below as a guideline for creating your own fire safety plan.

Map a simple, efficient route that gets everyone out of your home as quickly as possible. Include an alternate route in case your primary path becomes too dangerous to follow.

Emergency Telephone Sheet

Create an emergency phone list to provide everyone involved in your home with instant access to critical information and phone numbers. Leave a copy by every telephone, in your car, and in your diaper bag. Hand a copy to every new babysitter and every family member who watches your child. Your emergency sheet should include:

Keeping the Kitchen in Order

By Stacy DeBroff

Put kitchen items you use all the time in easy-to-get-to places. If you rarely use your blender, don't bother leaving it on the counter. If you find yourself using the same saucepan for every meal, keep it near your stove, or if it's a pasta pot to which you always add water first, near your sink.

Organizing Toys

Many of you have probably experienced the frustration of telling your child repeatedly to pick up his or her toys. Follow these simple rules to organize your kids’ toys and ensure that they will put them back where they belong.

Store your child's toys on shelves instead of in toy chests to allow easier access to the toys and to keep her from pulling everything out in an effort to reach a favorite stuffed animal.