Travelling Abroad With Children

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T R A V E L L I N G  A B R O A D

W I T H  C H I L D R E N

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

I travelled abroad for the first time earlier this year and if i'm honest I was pretty scared but I was more scared about the fact of travelling abroad with my two children and how it was going to be in the Airports. I had never experienced what it was like to be in such busy airports but if i'm honest it wasn't as scary as I thought. To go to Thailand it was a total of 13-14 hours to get there and that is without time change. We got the first plane from Manchester to Abu Dhabi then Abu Dhabi to Bangkok then an extra 2 hours to get to where we wanted to go so in total it was around 16 hours.

Manchester airport wasn't too bad but Abu Dhabi airport was a nightmare. The part that we were in was so small, hardly no seating and everyone sitting on the floor. On the way back home Bangkok airport was HUGE and if i'm honest I really can't remember much of it because I was so tired probably. We had a 2 hour delay in Abu Dhabi so instead of the 4 hour wait we had to wait 6 hours for the flight which obviously made us arrive home much later than we thought. There are a lot of things that go through your mind before travelling with children.

 

--------------------

S A F E T Y

--------------------

Always make sure that your children are stuck by you. Some airports provide prams for you to use but if your child is too old for a pram then you could always use some wrist/backpack reigns but if your child was anything like Mia who just would not wear the wrist reign I just made sure she was always to hold my hand and if she was not to hold mine then she was to hold my partners or my partners parents hands.

Never leave your child unattended. Airports can get so busy at time especially when you are queing. It might be best if one person sorts all the luggage out whilst the other person keeps an eye on the child/ren because in busy airports you don't want to leave a child unattended for a second because you really don't know what will happen.

When you're at your destination it is still very important to make sure that your child stays close to you at all times. Your child isn't used to the place that you're at so will not know their way if they get lost, plus the people are more than likely to speak a different language so it's very important you keep your children close by at all times.

 

--------------------

W H A T  T O  P A C K

--------------------

When travelling abroad it is always best to make sure you pack the right things. You don't need to arrive at the airport and then remember that you have forgotten something. The best thing to do is write down a list and tick everything when you've packed them and then going through the list atleast 3 times before leaving the house.

You can bring hand luggage onto the plane with you and in ours were mostly things for the children. We weren't sure how they were going to on the plane but surprisingly they were really good. Before the plane started to fly one of the crew came around to each child with an activity pack which was great. The only thing we used from our hand luggage was the iPad. We did pack a few notebooks, story books and crayons but because the plane had TV's and they were given the activity packs the other things weren't used. Plus both girls were asleep most of the way there and back which was great for us.

We also packed some toiletries but make sure that you are to pack them in a clear bag or clear make up bag and have travel sized products otherwise they are more than likely to be taken off you.

 

--------------------

V I S I T  T H E  D O C T O R S

--------------------

Before travelling you may want to take a trip to the doctors for yourself and your children too see if you will need any injections before you go on holiday. I had to have one injection and one set of tablets. The doctors will know what tablets/injections you will need for which place you want to visit.