Smart Travel

A year ago, I decided to share some travel tips which I would like to revisit again as summer is coming near. There were quite some successful tips and some not so successful ones.

The two most successful ones were the ready to eat upma and powha cups and mosquito patches which come in handy especially traveling to any Asian countries.

One not so successful tip for me was the malaria pills. This is a very debatable one because some may find it works, but for me it became a task. For myself, I was able to take the pills everyday. However, to have the kids take it, it was a headache because they hated it and it was very bitter. Moreover, having kids take the pills everyday was not practical for me and I was struggling with my kids to have them take it. It was not as successful for me, but as a prevention for malaria this is one of the only measures which some might prefer to take it.

One new thing that I ended up taking was kids neck pillows. Yes, they are bulky and take up space, but it saves them from neck cramps. It also allows them to sleep comfortable for a long amount of time.

As school is ending, lot of us are planning our summer breaks. Some of us have short trips, some long trips. But at the end, we want to make our travels hasslefree, smooth, easy and have a memorable trip.

This summer, the kids and I have embarked on our journey to India.

I wanted to share some travel tips especially with younger kids and your inputs and tips are most welcome.

In flight travel:

1. Medicine pouch in handcarry – I learnt my lesson the hard way. I was travelling with my father -in-law and the girls when they were around 9 months. So, the day of, I had packed their medicine pouch, but for some reason, I put it inside the check-in bags. The girls ended up crying half the flight due to ear pressure. Aarav never had ear pressure problem so I was trying to figure out why they were crying. And to add to it, I learned that airlines do not carry any kids or baby medicines. I ended up borrowing baby Tylenol from another parent traveler. Thereafter, my medicine pouch is always ready.

• Tylenol (kids & adults)
• Ear ache drops
• Peptobismil for kids ( best medicine for any stomach issue – even for adults)
• Orajel (incase if toothache)
• Neosporin (spray)
• Small lotion (airplane air leaves your skin dry a lot of times)

2. Food – Keep a good amount of their and your like-able food in the hand carry. You must agree airplane food is not as appetizing as we wish it would be.

• I like Lunchables – the pizza flavor and nacho cheese.
• Cup noodles the Nissan company are life savers and yummy!
• To go upma and powha cups (from MTR brand – indian food). Just put water and in 3-minutes it is ready to eat.

3. Ear Pressure – Especially when landing and take-off, I keep gum and lollipop as it helps children ease their ear pressure. It is said that by continuously moving your mouth, it helps alleviate ear pain.

4. Headphones – You may want to carry children headphones with you since they are very comfortable, cushion – proof and easy on the child’s ear. You can find them at amazon, target for under $20 and they last a long time. The flight headphones are not so comfortable and for my girls, they keep slipping off as they are quite big for their head. So, this investment is definitely a successful one. It is very optional if you want to carry headphones.

5. Be very minimal – When you are with children of any age, I feel having less luggage is the best because this way you constantly don’t have to worry about luggage while taking care of your child.

• I prefer to have a backpack – It has my passport pouch, medicine pouch and any other essentials. You want to make sure it has a lot of pockets and sides and main is that it is light weight on your shoulder when you carry it.
• The 2^nd piece of luggage is my 1 hand carry bag – it has their food, clothes, toys etc.

Initially, I used to take a purse but it would get too heavy and I could barely stuff much in it. Plus, my shoulders would hurt. After a few trials, I realized backpacks are the most comfiest, it has a lot of space and does not strain your back or shoulder. Last thing, I prefer is to be hands free so I can attend or run after my child.

India travel:

During the months of May through August it is very hot weather and the monsoons start. Ideally, December through February is the best weather to go, but 15 days of Christmas break is a very short period of time to go for.

One of our main goal with children is to make sure they do not get sick. It feels like we are fighting a battle – kids vs. getting sick.  My children would no doubt get sick as soon as I reached India despite taking all the precautions.

However, 2 years ago, I took care of 2 most important things and they barely got sick. The trick is to watch for water and food.

1. Water – This is the key for not getting sick. Within India, there are so many different types of water. Even when you go someone home, they have different filters and so water quality is different. I started carrying my own water for my kids and myself. Even at movies, restaurants, relatives home and everywhere I went.

Also, when you order bottled water, always make sure the seal of the cap is not broken. It happens more in smaller towns where they refill regular water into the filtered water bottle.

2. Food – That is the best part we are all waiting for to have, especially street food. I mostly have restaurant food I but if it were to be street food, I prefer having hot foods. Hot foods have less chances of having any germs or bacteria in them because they are killed so there is a less likely chance of getting sick. With cold food, there is a risk of getting sick and I do not want to take that chance.

3. Medicinies – Take few extra medicine bottles for all of you because in case you get sick, the medicines are very bitter and not pleasant to have. Especially, kids dislike Indian medicines and then it becomes a task to feed it to them. So I would take like 5 bottles of children Tylenol and 5 bottles of cough medicines for kids. I would also suggest taking a bottle of  Tylenol or any ibuprofen for us adults.

4. Malaria pills – Do take your malaria pills from your doctor before travelling.

5. Mosquito proof – You can also carry Benadrayl itch relief stick for any mosquito bites. They also have mosquito repellent patches which you stick onto their  clothes like stickers. You can get them on amazon or walmart. Even if you forget to get them, you can buy them at the pharmacy stores in India. Most stores carry mosquito patches for kids.

Hopefully, these tips help you in your travel. These are all compiled from my trial and error over the years with kids. I am always looking for other alternatives.