Traveling abroad is a great learning experience for kids and parents, although it can be expensive.  Many carriers will charge an adult fare for children over the age of 12, so make sure you hunt about to find the best cheap flights if your voyage involves air travel.  Here are 10 tips to help keep your family safe, and ensure everyone has a great time.

1. Fill out all emergency information on your passports. Make sure family members wear their passport on their body at all times. Children should carry the phone number and address of at least one trusted adult back home.

2. Read, understand, and follow all travel warnings issued for the area you are visiting. Do not travel to unsafe areas.

3 .Make two copies of everyone’s passport id page and airline tickets. Carry one copy with you in a separate place from your passport, and leave the second with a trusted friend or family member back home. Parents should carry additional copies of children’s passports.

4. Always carry current photos of your children with you.

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After a long drive, a nice, quiet night in a hotel room sounds perfect.  Unfortunately, after that long drive, the toddlers might not see it the same way.  If parents don’t want to wake up in a room decorated in Early Baby Wipe with Hotel Shampoo accents, a bit of baby-proofing might be in order before settling down to sleep.

First, take anything that can be opened and sprayed or spilled, like the tiny hotel soaps and shampoos, and move it out of reach.  You might leave the bar soaps as a distraction, since a couple of scattered soap bars are a cinch to pick up compared to finger-painting in conditioner.  Likewise, move any toxic or messy substances you brought with you out of reach, as well.  Check the dresser drawers, too, for things left in the room that could be torn up, or for helpful items like pens and notepads that could be used for redecorating.

Bring along a pack of baby electrical outlet plugs, so that any free electrical outlets can be locked down.  Check for lamp power cords that reach out where small fingers can yank on them, and double-check the settings on air conditioners and heaters. Read more »

The thought of air travel can be overwhelming and scary for children. The idea of putting some of their things in suitcases and getting on a huge airplane, leaving their home, pets, and everything that they love behind can invoke terror and insecurity. They wonder what will happen to their things and their friends when they come home. They wonder if they will come home.

Take the time to explain to your child where you will be going and how you will get there. Whatever the reason for your trip, talk to your child about why you are going. If possible, let your child help decide what they would like to do at your destination. Your child will be much more enthusiastic and cooperative while you do the things you have to do if they get to choose things they want to do.

To help relieve fears that something will happen to their home or things while they are gone, play a pretend game with your child. Tell your child the two of you are going to tell a story about all the fun things your home and belongings will do while you are away You start the story by pretending to be a toy and say, “Wow, my little girl (boy) has gone on a trip. Read more »

Staying in a hotel with your children can be enough to frazzle any parent. Close quarters with not much to do and neighbors on the other side of the wall can be a recipe for disaster. Especially if the kids get loud and restless.

But, it doesn’t have to be all bad. You and your kids can make the best out of hotel travel with a few simple ideas.

Before you leave home, call several hotels in your destination area and shop for the best price. Many hotels offer “kids stay free” weekends. Some have even adopted the policy for all but their busiest times. Also, if your children are older, check into the availability of adjoining rooms. The kids will be close by, but mom and dad can get some privacy as well.

Not all hotels offer cribs, so be sure to ask when you call. Read more »

If you’re looking for destinations in Europe, Paris should be near the top of the list.

Like any trip, be sure to plan ahead.  September is the busiest month for tourism in Paris, so book your hotel room well in advance.  You can visit after September, of course, but if you do, pack extra raincoats and umbrellas, because you will definitely get rained on.

Upon arrival, kids with any sense of Europe are going to want to see three very important sites.

First, the Eiffel Tower.  Hated when it was built as an ugly monstrosity, it’s now one of the most famous landmarks in the world.  There are four lines to get onto the tower, so look for the shortest one.  Don’t be afraid to haggle over souvenirs underneath it, and make sure to go to the top of the tower at least once.

Second, thanks to Victor Hugo (and Disney’s) famous Hunchback, don’t miss Notre Dame Cathedral, where Napoleon took the crown out of the Pope’s hands and crowned himself.  If you don’t mind a bit of a wait and a climb up 386 stairs, the view from the bell tower is worth it. Read more »

If you were traveling with children in Europe, wouldn’t it be nice to have a “home base” to start from?  That place would need large, family friendly lodging, with plenty of activities for both kids and parents for those “stay in the hotel” days, and a staff fairly fluent in English.  It would also have to be affordable, and located pretty near the spots you’re thinking about visiting.

Amazingly enough, such a place does exist.  Center Parcs has a chain of twenty locations spread across Europe, with resorts in France, England, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.  They haven’t done much advertising in the United States, so most American travelers don’t even know they exist.

The distinguishing feature of each of these resorts is the big dome that houses the kid’s activity area, restaurants, shops, spas, and pool–though “pool” hardly does it justice, since it has water slides, kiddie pools, wave pools, and more.  The restaurants cover the full range from fast food to gourmet specialty, and there’s even a supermarket.   Read more »

Sometimes the kids have to fly alone.  Maybe because it’s too expensive for the parents to fly a round trip to drop off the kids with grandma, or maybe there’s an emergency where the parents have to put the child on the plane by themselves.  Regardless, there are times when the kids have to fly by themselves.

Fortunately, the airlines recognize that this situation happens, and they do try to assist the parents as best they can.  Most airlines will assign a flight attendant to the child, and that person will make sure the child is comfortable on the flight, makes his connection to the next flight, and will hand the child off to the responsible adult at his destination.

If you need to send the child on his way, think ahead.  Don’t saddle the kid with carry on baggage that weighs as much as he does.  Try to pack light, with perhaps just a backpack containing a change of clothes and some favorite books and toys.  Don’t forget medications and contact information, either.  The child shouldn’t have to remember the name, address, and phone number of the relative he’s going to visit; he should be able to just hand over a sheet of paper with all of that information.

Think about security, too.  You might want to establish a code word, a secret password that only the relative on the far end will know.  Besides the obvious—“yes, this is the right grown-up”—the code word will also help to comfort the child, as a link to his parents (“My parents really did talk to them and give them the secret word, that means they know where I am and everything is going to be okay.”).

Most of all, reassure the child that they will make it to their destination safe and sound, and return home when the trip is done.

Disneyland is a very popular destination for families, and there are an incredible number of things to see and do at the park.

For many young children, the highlight of the trip is the chance to shake hands and pose for pictures with a favorite character, like Mickey Mouse.

Some of the first things that come to mind in Disneyland are the rides.  Disney rides range from extremely tame, like the Bug’s Life play area in California Adventures, to the unusual, like “Honey I Shrunk the Audience,” to the really fast, like the Matterhorn Bobsled and Space Mountain.  Read more »

Sometimes it’s necessary to allow your child to travel with a close friend or family member. Maybe Grandmom is spending the summer in Europe and wants to take the grandkids along for a trip of their lifetime. Or, perhaps your child’s best friend is going to the beach during a school break and have invited your child along. These kind of trips are usually more stressful for parents than children.

To alleviate your concern, speak to the adult who will be in charge during the trip. Be clear on any conditions you may have regarding the trip. Maybe Grandmom can take Suzie to Europe to visit family, but you want to her to be with Grandmom the entire time, no babysitters, even family, allowed. Make these kinds of wishes clear.  Read more »

Traveling with a mentally or emotionally challenged child has it’s difficulties. Your child may not understand why you are traveling, or may be bothered by the sights and sounds of the road or airport. Other people may react poorly to your child or be less than sensitive to your child’s condition.

Take extra care in preparing you child for the trip. Start at least one month in advance by talking about places far away. If going to visit family, play tape recordings of extended family talking to your child. Familiarity with the voices will be reassuring when you arrive at your destination. Talk about the upcoming trip, even in you’re unsure how much your child understands. Read more »