When we were on holiday recently I finally felt like I had a bit of a chance to relax finally. With a 3 and a half year old and 19 monther and a third due in October this is rare. By the end of the holiday I felt a little like my old pre-child self which was fabulous and a feeling I thought I'd probably lost forever. One of the main things I found restful about being on holiday was how little stuff the kids had, and therefore how little tidying I ended up doing. The weird thing was that if anything, the children played better on holiday that at home. And they played together a lot more. Having fewer toys...
Once you have a child travelling becomes a very different experience. Gone is relaxing with a book and even a glass of wine on your way to a week in the sun. Many families decide to avoid air travel where possible and opt for domestic holidays. It can be easier to pack up the car and just drive to the door of your holiday. It's often a "low" stress and low cost option, especially for bigger families. We're spoilt in the uk and have some lovely places that visit, most of which aren't "that" far away. The Scottish highlands, Yorkshire, the Lake District, Peak District and Cornwall to name just a few. Here are our trips for surviving car journey with...
Pack as lightly as you can! With some help from my mother we jettisoned a lot of our stuff. We washed clothes and I think we still had more with us than we really needed; especially since we needed space for the collections of toys we'd been persuaded to by for the kids in Spain. Hypoallergenic suncream! Our two got heat rash recently in Scotland in a warm spell. I'd been worried this would be the case in Spain but had invested in hypoallergencic sensitive soltan factor 50 and their skin has been fantastic (and not at all burnt either). Jelly shoes! I optimistically packed a pair of canvas shoes for each child and smart wedding shoes. Said canvas shoes...
A luggage allowance of 40kg seemed reasonable for two adults and two young children heading off for a fortnight in Spain. With fond memories of relaxing holidays, pre-children, still fresh, it was a shock to see that the vast majority of the contents of our overfilled and overweight suitcases belonged to the two smallest members of the party. That evening I enlisted the help of a well-travelled third party from the older generation (my mother!). These are some of her comments: “They sell nappies in Spain” “Clothes will dry in a couple of hours. You don’t need six of everything.” “They’ll roast in towelling ponchos – yes I know you bought them especially.” “You’ll be far too busy watching them...
