Well there is an all expenses paid holiday to Dunk Island up for grabs on kidspot for it’s top 50 bloggers and I just have to enter and win because our last family holiday was back in 2007. You see having 3 children in less than 3 years means that just the thought of a holiday sends us into a panic…..and just when we thought ‘OK, we can do this’, we discover baby number 4 is on board (but what a nice surprise that was!).
Shibuya
So our one and only family holiday was to Japan when keira was one and it was definitely an amazing experience. I learnt so much on that trip about travelling with children (ok well ‘a child’) and she was just adored by the japanese people. They would spot her a mile away and pinch her cheeks and call out ‘kawaii’ to us. They were oh so forgiving of her behaviour and as soon as we’d enter a restaurant our shopping bags were taken, a high chair was produced with a little fork and spoon and bowl and she was patted and stared at.
We spent most of our trip in Tokyo and then headed to Kyoto for a few days. Kyoto is such a pretty city but not so much when you get rained out and then have a typhoon on the day you should be taking the shinkasen (super fast train) back to Tokyo. And do you think there were english messages on what time the train would leave, oh no, so we spent 1/2 a day at the train station with miss keira and kept her entertained with food, toys, more food and more toys.
Nikko
Here are my top tips I learnt on that trip which I hope to put to use again….
– plan, plan and plan again. With the internet you can do so much research now on where to stay, where to eat, where to go with kids so put in the time at home and be rewarded while you are away. Be sure to include your children too and make sure that each day there is an activity they will love. In Japan this was as simple as taking keira to Tokyo’s largest toy store (7 storeys high!) and buying her a toy from there, the acquarium or park.
– pack new books, toys and favourite snacks for the flight. For the kids not you, let’s not kid ourselves, you won’t have much time to read a book on the plane. A bag of jelly snakes or something to drink for takeoff and little ears is also essential in your bag.
keira eats up in the first class lounge before boarding the plane
– Don’t rely on food being provided on the plane, we had a stuff up with keira’s meals so she needed to share ours and I was so glad I had packed plenty of baby food, formula and snacks for her.
– Share the load – make sure you fully brief daddy that he is not to put on his headphones, drink beer and watch the movie the entire flight. Don’t laugh, on the flight home retro daddy saw we had the bassinette so settled back in his seat and put on his earphones – fear not I quickly reminded him I wasn’t doing this solo…………….
– eat lunch and dinner early. Everywhere in Japan has lunch specials which were really reasonably priced so we’d eat lunch in restaurants and for dinner we’d have sushi train as there was no waiting for food or we’d bring food back to the hotel room. Eating early means beating the crowds and avoiding long waits. By the end of the day the little people can have the crankies and sitting around waiting for food in a restaurant when they’ve been out all day can send them over the edge. Trust me, been there.
– always pack something special from home like a favourite soft toy or comforter for night time. We found getting a 1 year old to bed in a hotel room was challenging and often we’d fall asleep while getting her to sleep. Double check cot bookings – we arrived to find that in Tokyo the hotel room wasn’t big enough for a cot and that was that, no cot our entire stay.
– pick up a lightweight stroller for the trip. Don’t assume that your toddler/preschooler will walk everywhere just because they walk at home. I also recommend getting something reliable not just the cheapest on the market, this one reclined, had a great big basket underneath and was comfortable so keira would often nap in it while we were out.
– If you can afford a room that has a separate bedroom you will be thanking yourselves the entire trip. There is nothing worse than sitting in a barely lit room, volume on the tv down low and whispering to each other while you try to keep the little people asleep. This has driven retro daddy nuts so he insists on this from now on even for just one night away.
– if breakfast isn’t included in the room rate just stock up on some juice boxes, muffins, bananas and yoghurt. You’ll save money and the kids can eat breakfast while watching cartoons and there is no waiting till everyone is dressed and ready to go down and find some breakfast.
– room service can be a blessing. I know it’s expensive but when we go away for a night, keira just loves when the man delivers dinner to the room and sets it all up for her. Pizza and chips have never tasted so good.
– Make sure both mummy and daddy get some time to themselves. With shops open late in Japan we’d take it in turns to duck out and do some shopping or walking at night while the other was in the room babysitting. No surprises that I went out shopping.
Well weren’t those photos a trip down memory lane- keira and I have been in hysterics over these photos. She sure was a chubba bubba and it brings back a lot of memories of when we were a little family of 3. So please let me know when your last holiday was (was it 3 years ago??) and your top travel tips too as I’m always learning. Now that the twins are 2 and can have their own seat on the plane we are looking forward to taking another holiday some day….and maybe it will be dunk island?? It won’t happen overnight but it will happen…..our next family holiday that is.
And if you haven’t voted for me yet (you know you want to!) you can just go here and help me win a lovely holiday to dunk island ………….
12 years and 3 kids and we have NEVER been on a family holiday. Sadly I think our first one will be a week away to north qld next month to visit my elderly grandmother.
Wow, your photo’s seem like so long ago! I bet you never thought then that you would be doing what you are now!
we have no kids and still hardly ever go on holidays! I don’t know why since we’re totally free to! but they sound like excellent child friendly travel tips. Practical and common sense!
Voting now……on the condition you take me as your nanny!
You’ve got my vote…. dunk island is on our holiday list but way down it… hope you win…
Hugs Dawn x x
Fantastic tips, hopefully one day I will have need to use them. We have had a couple of weekends away as a family and that’s about it. I dream of a nice big overseas family hoilday but its not in the budget at the moment. Love the pictures, they grow up so fast don’t they.
Wow looks great
I went to France in 2006 and it is SO exciting
First of all, you crack me up with the ‘seperate bedroom’ thing as our children were asking where they were ‘made’ & to our eldest daughter’s horror, she realised she was IN THE SAME HOTEL ROOM when we made the twins on a trip to Kakadu one Easter!! Too funny.
Our guys are great travellers & my big tip for babies is to breastfeed for take off & landing, this was before you had to put the in ridiculous seat belts of course!!
Forget the bassinette – travelling with 4 under 5 means some children may not have the right number of oxygen masks (if they are on your lap, as is the case with twins) & one poor young guy had to hold one of our children 2 rows back on one trip due to the mask allowance. Clearly our children will go to anyone, he didn’t want to give her back as she turned out to be quite the chick magnet.
QANTAS club etc are the best investments in the world, from showers to non stop food, brilliant!!
Forget headphones, i’ve been left with 4 children while my husband has been upgraded to first class!! Seriously!! Never phases me, he eats all my food & wriggles about more than children with his extra long legs anyway.
Final tip – your children will behave beautifully when they know they are heading to Disneyland!!
I’m amazed at how many mums haven’t been on holidays for years! 😮
Hawaii – a month ago!!!!
So warm, lovely hotels, lots of space and staff who loved kids. Our best family holiday so far and so good we plan to go back next July.
I pack lunch boxes for plane rides with lots of little compartments – the kids love looking in each one and it keeps them amused for ages.
We also did a travel diary that Ally filled in which she thought was great. It was from Kiki K
Ohh I should add that I have been to Dunk Island though! Not as a holiday. But as a teenager I lived at Kurramine Beach, 1 block from the water actually. We use to take our tinny out to all the islands and around the reef… beautiful! If you win you will just fall in love with the place. Should try to get to Magnetic Island as well!
LOL — great post Corrie:)
Our holidays are yearly and often invole alot of travel interstae to visit family (you get that when a Mackay girl falls head over heels for a Victorian) We do always try to make a little time for us though and this is why Tim made s the campertrailer last year.
Ou most memoriable holiday with the kids though would have to be when w first moved to QLD and we took a few days and went up to the Sunshine Coast and stayed in an appartment not far from the beach – we all had a great time and have been speaking of doing it agan soon.
I’m very fortunate to have done a lot of travelling with my kids. Earlier this year I travelled back to Australia to visit my parents with my five year old and my two year old twins on my own. From Montreal that’s a 30 hr trip and I tell you, even as a pro and being in premium economy it can be hell. I love iPods with tv shows loaded on them for waiting in terminals and delays, special kids headphones that you can’t turn up too loud, using seatguru.com to make sure I get the best seats in the house, snacks, bribes and in the end a positive attitute that it does end and I know noone around me…
Went to NZ 2.5yrs ago with 2 under 4yrs and stayed in a variety of accommodation – inner city hotel; 2 bedroom cabin at a campsite; motel; B&B; and I can safely say the 2 bedroom cabin was the best option – self catering – tick!; separate child bedroom – tick!; DVD player -tick!; giant jumping mattress, swimming pool and trampoline outside the front door – tick!
We learnt that even on holidays our kids needed regular daytime naps, and some ‘normal’ mum-prepared meals some of the time!
NZ is extremely child friendly – most restaurants seemed to have high chairs and kids menus, and they had great playgrounds and free child-friendly areas everywhere we went.