Family Holiday Travel: 7 Thoughtful Tips for a Happy Holiday

Family holiday travel luggage | O'Phalen Adventures

It’s that time of the year when visiting loved ones or taking a special trip often requires family holiday travel. It can be daunting taking small children on planes or a long road trip, but I promise you can do it!

After over three years of fulltime family travel with small children, we’ve learned a lot about how to maximize moods and minimize meltdowns. We’ve also learned a lot about setting our own expectations of ourselves and others appropriately.

Here are our 7 best tips for smooth family holiday travel:

1. Start small, practice now.

If you have young kids who have never traveled before or haven’t made a long trip in awhile, find ways to practice the skills they’ll need ahead of time. If the trip will require a long car drive, try to find a short weekend day trip to take now. Parents will get the chance to practice packing (and patience!), and kids will get the chance to practice their travel skills, too. Kids are remarkably flexible learners, and giving them the chance to get used to travel before the stakes are high for the holidays will set everyone up for success. We have some ideas for kid travel items linked here if you need some new options!

2. Download some family-friendly audiobooks.

We often start our long drive days listening to an audiobook together as a family. The Libby app on a smartphone connected to a local library will give you instant access to thousands of audiobooks that the whole family will enjoy. Bluetooth-enabled vehicles will allow you to listen through the car’s speakers, or pack headphones for a plane journey. We LOVE our Yoto players so each kid can listen to their own audiobook, too. Bonus points for audiobooks set in the place you’re visiting or written by a local author (we listened to Anne of Green Gables when we visited Prince Edward Island, for example!). Family-friendly podcasts are another great option, and I’ve written a list of our favorites.

3. Let go of some of the normal rules.

We’re generally a pretty low screen time and sugar family (no judgement, that’s just what works for us!). But we are way, way, way more flexible with the rules on things like screen time and sugar on long travel days. If an extra holiday movie on the iPad or a well-timed secret stash of lollipops helps everyone make it to their destination with less stress, go for it. It’s okay to abide by certain ideals at home for 98.5% of your kid’s life and let them go in high-stakes moments.

4. Plan extra time for every transition.

Nothing makes parents and their children more stressed than trying to get out the door or through an airport security line too quickly. Leave earlier than you think you need to for any flight with kids so that a blowout diaper doesn’t derail you. Add in extra time to cushion when you’re expected to make it to that second Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone will be more relaxed and regulated if there’s no need to rush.

5. Let kids have autonomy whenever possible.

There are some parts of family holiday travel that are non-negotiable — flight schedules and inclement weather, for example. Some things that may *feel* non-negotiable might have wiggle room that helps kids have some control over their own holiday experience. Consider allowing a tired child to skip out on that late night event that’s “tradition” if it helps everyone enjoy Christmas morning together more. Bring a safe food for selective eaters to have alongside an unfamiliar holiday meal. Schedule in quiet time for a sensory sensitive child who feels overwhelmed. The more a child can feel their own needs are respected and prioritized, the happier the whole family will be all season long.

6. Build in movement breaks for everyone.

Long holiday meals or formal family occasions might have everyone extra antsy. Add in intentional movement for everyone as a way of staying level-headed and sane. Maybe everyone takes an afternoon hike after opening gifts or maybe there’s a special playground that can be added to the itinerary. Little bodies will be grateful for the chance to be wild little kiddos, but don’t forget about the grownups, too. Even adults benefit from a quick walk outdoors in the fresh air, especially if family tensions are running high.

7. Prioritize family relationships, not others’ opinions.

It can be so easy to let cranky airplane neighbors or a judgy aunt affect the way we parent. Overstimulated and under-rested kids are more likely to have meltdowns or not be their best selves. But our job as parents is to do the best we can for our kids and tune out the societal noise. Our family dynamic and kids’ self-esteem are more important than avoiding that snarky comment.

If you’re traveling to a new state, consider printing out these kid travel journal state worksheets! They’ll be a beautiful memento of your trip and keep little hands busy:

State Worksheet / Travel Journal for Kids

$2.00

If you’ve ever wished for an easy way to capture what your kids learn as you travel, this is it! Forget other state worksheets that require boring, irrelevant details like the state flower. Let’s write about what we learned and experienced! This state worksheet digital product includes leveled worksheets for kids: one two page log…