7 Must-Read Travel Tips for Families – from a Road Warrior

This post was written by Kathie, a USI Affinity employee.

Let me first start by saying that I’m a seasoned business traveler. However, all of that experience left me unprepared for the first family vacation with my newly blended family - which includes three children. I lived and learned and hope you’ll benefit from my experience.

The security line on the outbound flight was just the beginning of the adventure. Grandma had very kindly packed the kids up for the trip. I made the completely off-the-mark assumption that she was up to date on security protocols. Each child had a minimum of one item that flagged their bags in the security line – juice boxes, plastic bottles with Snapple, and a water bottle to name a few. All of these items were lovingly packed with the best of intentions by a Grandma just wanting them to have their favorite beverages available to them on the trip.

As it turned out, I was the worst offender of all. My purse got the dreaded “bag check.” As each item got pulled out, I wondered what in the world that I, the road warrior, could have possibly missed. As the sleek black case got removed from the bottom of my purse, I gasped in horror. “Oh no, I left my darts in my purse from dart team last week,” I exclaimed. My face turned shades of red that I didn’t even know were possible.

This trip was off to an interesting start for sure.

When we finally arrived at our destination in Sunny California, 6 hours of flying were behind us. And so was our sanity. The kids were unprepared to now have to hike another hour and a half in the rental car. So began the choruses of “he touched me” and “shut up.” On top of it all, we had completely failed on our food intake. Not only were the children cranky, but so were Mom and Dad.

We crammed a lot of activities into our trip – typically more than one in a day. For example, it seemed like a great idea at the time to combine seeing Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive and the Griffith Observatory into one day. After all, who wants to drive in L.A. traffic twice? It seemed like such as efficient plan. If we had a dollar for every time we got short with one another that day, the trip would be paid for and we could probably afford a small vacation home in Southern California to boot.

So, what tips do I have for your family travels over the holidays?

1. Do a quick check of all of the carry-on bags right before you leave the house. Kids have a funny way of sneaking things into their backpacks when you’re not looking. Grandmas are equally guilty.
2. Plan activities for the car and plane rides. If you don’t have room to pack actual games, you can make games out of seeing how many different state license plates or certain restaurants you see. 
3. Check online to see if there are area passes that you can purchase for multiple activities. As it turned out, we could have saved about $50 a person if we realized these passes existed for our trip.
4. Don’t pack your bags too full on the way out the door. As much as you say you’ll resist the temptation to buy tchotchkes, your children will look at you with those big eyes and you will fail. Miserably. Leave room for these lovely treasures to get packed in your suitcases for the trip home.
5. Bring way more batteries than you think you’ll need for the camera. Don’t forget an extra large storage card or a laptop and camera cable.
6. While you can’t bring your favorite drinks onto planes, you can bring snacks. Pack plenty of snack bags for your entire trip so no one gets cranky due to hungriness.
7. Grin and bear it. While you’re sure to drive each other nuts on your trip, as soon as you get home, only happy memories will remain. Studies have been done that show that as adults, we rarely remember the presents we were given, but almost always remember family vacations. You are giving your family the best gift of all as you create these memories that will last a lifetime. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays on behalf of all of us at Travel Insurance Services and USI Affinity. Enjoy your trip – whether it is across the country or across town to Grandma’s house.

Survive the Holidays (and maybe even enjoy them!)

It’s that time of year again when families gather together. While seeing the whole gang can be enjoyable, it can also bring its fair share of stress – especially if you’re the one hosting the party.

Here are some tips to make your life easier as your loved ones descend upon your house: 

• Make a list of all of the things you have to do before everyone gets there, as well as a list of everything you need to buy. It helps to envision the event from the time guests arrive and think of what activities will be taking place. This may help jog your memory to buy toothpicks for the appetizers or other items that are easy to forget.
• Complete as much as you can the day before – set the table, lay out the serving dishes, chop up and measure your ingredients
• Clear out your coat closet so you can hang your guests’ coats. This means your living space such as bedrooms won’t have to be impeccably clean because guests have no reason to be in those spaces.
• Aim to be guest-ready about an hour and a half before they are supposed to arrive. This gives you time to fix any disasters (such as forgetting to buy milk for the mashed potatoes) and a moment to sit down and catch your breath.
• Make sure you plan something to keep your children busy while you run around and make preparations. That could be a special toy or movie, or even give them a special cleaning task. Even if you have to touch-up what they have “cleaned,” it still keeps them occupied.
• Divide up your cleaning plan into small chunks. Do one room a day and it won’t be so overwhelming.

Have more ideas to make hosting the family a more enjoyable experience? Post them in the comments section.

 Happy Holidays from the USI Affinity family to yours.

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