posted by Travel Cat on Jul 24
Travel With Kids Series - Part 1
Lets start at the very beginning here - it really is the best place.
Step 1:
So, you have the idea of a vacation with your family, but you are not sure how easy it will be to make all the arrangements and to get the best package for your needs and for those of your children.
Quite rightly you should consider the health aspect of your trip - is where you want to go someplace with excellent health-care? It’s ok getting the travel insurance package that covers the best treatment where you are, but what if there is no way to get to that health-care, or what if the best available just isn’t good enough?
In addition, what if your baby needs specialist care, or you older kids have special needs or specific medication that you might not be able to receive in your destination? Even apparently silly things like your preferred baby formula or children’s glasses prescription can become the biggest hurdles to you well deserved vacation plans.
Tropical diseases shouldn’t be ignored either, and local crime and the countries political climate are also very important - and the same goes for very warm, very humid or very cold locations - they all have their good and bad sides - but which can all be researched prior to making a decision.
Risks from too much sun are probably more of a risk than any other - but all things should be considered when young humans are involved - they certainly know how to create something from nothing from a very young age!!
What First Then?
So before you start with your packing, get some destination guides out from your library of the places you would like to go - and start noting down the small print for each vacation spot, narrowing down the different pro’s and con’s for each and deciding with your partner or family where seems the most suitable destination.
If the question ‘where do aye-ayes live?’ or ‘ where is Myanmar?’ appear in school projects - maybe factor those in when selecting locations. Maybe the answer to the seasonal classic ‘where is Santa Claus right now!!’ is a great place to travel with your family - with regular family orientated vacations to Lapland - with reindeer and sleighs a popular choice!
Sometimes vacation packages can be just as much fun for you as for your kids - little to worry about for yourself, but maybe a reduced amount of adventure. But if you want more adventure - you have to do most of your own cooking and cleaning - and there will be no ‘kids clubs’ in the jungle or desert……..
Ask The Experts.
Visit your local Travel Agents and find out the best times to travel to your favourite locations and see if these fit in with your preferred vacation slots. If it’s winter in New York, it will be winter in Canada, China and most of Europe - but summer in South America, Africa and Australia.
The Tropics are generally warm all year - but they have different seasons - the hurricane season in the Caribbean, monsoon season around India, rainy seasons throughout Africa. The list is endless as nearly every vacation spot has a down side - and you need to know about these way before you start to make plans.
Travel agents also know about local information in worldwide destinations like festivals, religious holidays and other specific factors that could make your destination more crowded and more expensive just because of the dates you needed. You need to decide how flexible you can be with dates as these can really help with finding the best deal and the best weather across the globe.
Confirm Your Choice with All Involved:
If your child is in education, you will need to make sure that their school will allow them time off - some UK schools now ‘fine’ parents who take holiday in term time - and older children cannot normally miss lessons close to exams.
If you are pregnant or your kids have medication or special needs - will your doctor approve their travel and write letters for insurance companies and airlines for your travel.
If you are travelling without your childs other parent - will they consent to their travel and give written documentation for this? Adopted children also need certain written details for travel to some locations, as will nephews, cousins and grandchildren travelling abroad without either parent.
When you have decided on location and time - you can move on to Step 2 - making sure all the documentation is correct for travel.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 am
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