Kid Travel Essentials

Traveling with your kids is just about the most rewarding and all together important thing you can do for them as they grow up. It fills them with wonder about the world around them. It instills in them empathy, it vanquishes fear, and it provides perspective on how others live. But it also may just be the hardest thing you do as a parent, especially when they’re young. Never fear, I’m here to help. As I write this, I have a 7 year old and a 3 year old. My 7 year old has flown with us 45 times, and my 3 year old has flown with us 28 times. We’ve taken countless road trips. We’ve traveled with our kids to dozens of destinations both domestic and international, and these are some of the travel essentials that have saved our behinds.

Now, keep in mind, this is mostly geared towards kids under the age of 9 or so, because those are the ages of my children. As they grow, I’m sure I will either add to this list or create another one. But let’s be honest - once they hit 10 years old, all they need is an iPad or a Nintendo Switch and you won’t hear from them for 8-12 hours.

Finally - one quick note…can we just talk about how good kids have it these days when they travel? I mean, really, back in my day, all I had was a backpack full of CDs (that skipped, I might add) alongside cask strength hardcover books that easily weighed over 100 pounds. They’ll never know.