Holiday Travel Survival Kit

When planning a family vacation whether it be in the car or a train, a bus or a plain, you will need this holiday travel survival kit! Some or all of these items will help to make the difference in enjoying this part of your holiday too!

Designate a bag to keep most of these items in as they have to be fairly handy.

YOU WILL NEED:

- A small Esky with drinks and a variety of snacks and an ice pack. I also take a thermos of coffee and plenty of bottled water to help keep the driver revived. Keep this near a door for when you stop or in-between your chairs for easy access while you are travelling along!

My favourite holiday travel snacks are:

Fruit and nuts and malteses all mixed together

Large dried fruit like apple and apricot and pear

Cheese sticks

Muesli bars

Bullets (chocolate coated liquorice)

Jersey caramels

Plain potato chips (the best chips if you have to have some because they have less additives

Mintees or other very chewy lollies. These are perfect for take offs and landings on planes. Or when you are climbing or descending steep hills in the car. They help unblock your ears.

- Packet of wet ones to wipe sticky fingers and dirty hands

- Music to listen to along the way. CD’s for a car stereo, MP3 players with your pre-recorded music

- In car DVD players are LIFE SAVERS!! We don’t have one yet but have used our laptop for long family vacation journeys. After a movie, a sleep and a snack and toilet stop, you’re almost there!

- Sun shades for the windows. Even with car air-conditiong, it can get very hot when the sun is shining directly on you for long periods of time. You can still get sunburnt through the window too!

- Have a plastic bag handy for any rubbish you accumulate. You feel a lot less grotty when you arrive and the car isn’t full of wrappers and half eaten food.

- Hang a back-seat organizer over the two front seats and pack them with little surprises for your kids. A puzzle book and pens, stickers, a story book, a pack of lifesavers and a travel game. A friend of mine used to have fun preparing these packs for her kids. On the day they left for their family trip, they would always leave while it was still dark. The children always had to wait till after sunrise before they could explore their goodies and new toys. It was a great way to have a surprise after a couple of hours of travelling had already been done. With regards to travel games, here is a list for you to choose from.

- The feeding & nappy changing essentials. Holiday travel is a lot more pleasant when you don't have the small of dirty nappies in the car! Remember nappies, wipes, a change mat, spare set of clothes (for those accidents that go everywhere and you can guarantee it will happen at least once!), bib, spoon, sipper cup, bottle of water, prepacked food that can be eaten cold like fruit jelly or custard…

-Change seats. If you don’t need baby capsules or booster seats, organize a rotation system for the kids in the car for different parts of the journey. Gives them a different perspective and stops arguments about the perceived ‘best spot’!

- A Gameboy or similar hand held video game. This is a lifesaver for when you have older children. The only problem it will cause is fights over whose turn it is if you only have one between more kids! Our family did a number of trips across Australia growing up and our best trips were when my brother and I had the Gameboy to share. Time limits work very well.

- Maps for the regions you are driving through. Even if you are sure of your direction, it’s always important to have them there in case. Unless of course you have the GPS in your car. Just don’t get lost while you are on your family vacation!

- Your child’s comfort item. My son has a blanket that he takes to bed with him so for us it would be that. Sometimes it could be a teddy bear. Whatever is familiar and loved by your child that will help them settle and sleep in the car and new environments.

- A spare change of clothes for everyone. You never know who is going to spill their coffee, be vomited over or get covered in grease after changing a flat tyre

This holiday travel survival kit has certainly made our journeys more comfortable and less prone to hours of whining and screaming. When you are organized and prepared before hand, you can tackle the different circumstances that arise.

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