Wanted: Clever Travel Tips!

Old Apr 30th, 2016, 07:06 PM
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Wanted: Clever Travel Tips!

Hello!

So, I will be travelling with my two young boys, 6 and 8, by car through Benelux countries, Germany, and Austria for 30 days this summer. I have travelled internationally many, many times, and my boys have spent a month in Germany two years ago.

I feel like I have the basics down; itinerary, transportation, friends to visit, but I would love to hear some tips by veteran travellers that will make my trip even easier. I am thinking along the line of extras to pack that I wouldn't think of, games or things to keep kids interested besides the usual car games, toiletries worth bringing and those worth leaving at home, more efficient ways of packing, etc

I've decided that while I LOVE travelling, I do find a lot of joy in the actual planning. Thank you!
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Old May 1st, 2016, 03:05 AM
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Eagle Creek make line of "cube" organizers in various sizes. They zip shut and are netting on one side so you can see the contents easily.

A cube holds a day's clothes, maybe two for a kid or a small adult. Other sizes are larger (coats and sweaters) or smaller (toys or toiletries).

I use these as the core for "bundle" packing, and there is lots of room around the edges of the suitcase.

Maybe black for you and blue and green for the boys keeps everything organized and easy to spot.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 03:12 AM
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Or just large heavy duty 2 gallon plastic bags with names on them?
For a 6 week western trip we took when our kids were tweens, I gave them mesh bags (actually the kind supermarkets use for produce) to keep underwear or other things in and "corralled" in their bags.
We were also travelling in a car and we packed in soft duffel bags and had one for dirty laundry. So, as their bags became "smaller" because dirty clothes were going in the duffel bag for laundry, packing in the car was easier. Whether this works for you, I don't know, but the duffels with a separate zipper comaprtment in the bottom are really nice for travel. You can keep some clothes folded and flat away from chaos in the top.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 03:30 AM
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Bring enough shampoo/shower gel for a couple of days, then buy what you need here, or just use the hotel stuff. There is no point in lugging stuff across the Atlantic when you have plenty of shops available to you. Same with sun tan lotion.

Buy a cheap football (soccerball), or a frisbee, when you get here to give the boys a chance to let of some steam occasionally.

Pack some puzzle books and/or colouring gear to give them some quite time too. Maybe a couple of National Geographic kids magazine or similar too.
You are unlikely to find English language ids magazines and the like here, so any reading matter needs to come with you.

Maybe encourage them to keep a diary, either on paper with drawings and some writing or on a tablet with photos, or a combination of the two. Have a map so they can see where they are, and where they have been.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 03:47 AM
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at 8 more than 6 we asked them to find the letters of the alphabet on trucks, houses, ads, direction signs.

It kept them busy for a while ;-)

Pay attention to traffic jams around big cities during rush hour.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 05:43 AM
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Thank you guys! That's what I'm looking for...I will check out the cubes and consider duffle bags....I find trying to keep clean vs dirty clothes separate mid-trip a pain. A ball is a good idea...I usually have items to keep them busy, but I always forget that a ball is like magic. The boys speak German, so maybe I will bribe them with earning souvenirs by reading signs and menus and doing their own ordering.

Maps are a good idea. I forget how confusing travelling can be. I remember the last trip after we landed in Duesseldorf and then took off again for Berlin, my 4 year old burst into tears and shouted "I thought we were going to GERMANY!!!" on the plane. Lots of laughter broke out!!
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Old May 1st, 2016, 05:53 AM
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Give them some spending money of their own. Let them spend it on whatever they want. It may seem a load of tat, but it is theirs. If they speak German then so much the better - they can do the whole transaction for themselves, (assuming they are in Germany at the time of course!)

My grandsons (6 an 9) buy postcards, friendship bracelets, keyrings, ice creams - they love being able to treat Mum and Dad to an ice cream! Another time they will just buy another Lego kit, which also gives them something to do in downtime.

I am sure you will have a great adventure together. They may enjoy visiting Muiderslot in the Netherlands if you are in that area.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 06:24 AM
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Yes, money of their own to spend is a great idea....will hopefully keep them from asking for stuff once their daily allowance is gone. Also making them do their own transaction is good because if they want that candy or ice cream or key chain they can have it, IF they take care of it on their own.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 10:05 AM
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Take photos of your travel documents, credit cards, children, etc. It will come in handy if you lose the originals.

You can also email your travel plans, passport #, important phone numbers, booking confirmation numbers to yourself. Again, very handy if you lose the originals.

Have your alibis prepared ahead of time. I can't stress that enough.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 10:09 AM
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I love cubes because I can just take them out and pop them into drawers. They also make it easy to see how much of whatever I have left.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 10:25 AM
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>

Huh??? Is that in case she loses the kids??? Won't the pictures she took of them be enough??? LOL!
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Old May 1st, 2016, 11:16 AM
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That cracked me up too! I hope I don't lose the original kids, but maybe for just an hour, time enough for a quick beer by myself.

I always plan to make copies, but that did not make my final list this time, so I probably would have forgotten! Thanks for the tip! Itinerary and contact info is good too.

Now I have to check out the cubes.
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Old May 1st, 2016, 07:52 PM
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Pack washcloths. Sounds like a fun adventure!
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 01:38 AM
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If you are a postcard-sender (I am not, though when a novice at European travel, I was), make out address labels ahead of time instead of lugging people's addresses with you (probably easier these days with computers/androids, but still...)
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 03:17 AM
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I see one problem with the packing cubes. My main strategy for packing light is to make sure everything matches, and to plan to wear things more than once. If I pack "one day's clothing" in a single cube, what do I do on the second day if I want to wear the same slacks I wore the day before, but with a different top? It seems I'd be constantly repacking the cubes. Also, the cubes themselves do take up space.

I lay slacks and trousers on the bottom of my suitcase, legs hanging out, one on one side and the next on the other. Then I roll pajamas, sweaters, and knit tops and place them on top of the slacks. Then I put anything that needs to be folded (usually just my husband's shirts) on top of those, and finally I fold the trouser legs over the whole business. Then I stuff underwear and the like into all the spaces around the edges. I can get enough for several weeks into a carryon-sized bag, but I don't wash everything as soon as I've worn it once, and I don't change during the day unless I've irreparably soiled what I'm wearing.

I carry extra shoes, umbrella, rain jacket, toiletries, in a second smaller bag, which can be my personal item. I stuff socks into the shoes.

My granddaughter is very easy to amuse in the car. Just give her a book or her Kindle. She isn't bothered at all by reading in the car.
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 08:21 AM
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Packing cubes would never work for me for the reasons bvlenci mentions. I pack the same way he/she packs and it works fine for me.
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 10:51 AM
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As far as postcards, download a postcard app before you go and preload the names/addresses you wish to send to. The kids might get a kick out of sending a picture of themselves at various sites/landmarks or even while dining on interesting/foreign dishes. And the grandparents would enjoy receiving them even more.
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 11:41 AM
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I've not used packing cubes to make up single outfits. That seems as if you would really be wasting space, as the cubes are bigger than just a single day's clothing.

I used the cubes on a trip to central Europe last spring, as well as on a month-long visit to India this past winter, both trips consisted of only staying two or three days in each city we visited.

I packed all my woven blouses and t-shirts in one cube. Then folded cotton pants (mostly capris) in another. Sweaters in a third. I packed undergarments and socks in a couple gallon zip-locks, as they don't take up that much room.

I found the cubes really helpful for packing and repacking when changing hotels often. I didn't have to rummage through a messy pile of clothing in my suitcase, as is usually the case after the first few nights - regardless of how careful I try to be.

This spring I was on another trip - to Amsterdam, where we stayed in one place most of the time, and I didn't use the cubes, as I unpacked only at the beginning, having the use of a dresser.
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 07:31 PM
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I second the idea of a football/soccerball. Our kids loved that and occasionally found other kids to play with. Make sure it is deflated when flying if you take one with you.

A pack of playing cards got a huge workout when we travelled with the kids.

A roll of sticky tape is useful so they can tape tickets, receipts, brochures, postcards, etc into their journal.

I would get the kids to carry all their own stuff in a day pack with a hip strap (e.g. school bag size). My kids were responsible for packing up their stuff when moving onto the next place and carrying it themselves and it worked a treat. Even if they needed a bit of help with the packing they felt a sense of responsibility. Having a backpack was better for their backs and meant they had their hands free.

Probably not necessary but consider slipping your mobile phone number into their pocket/purse/pack in case they accidentally get separated. Maybe the hotel name/number?

Wish I were doing it all again.
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Old May 2nd, 2016, 08:31 PM
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Good tips all! I like the postcard app idea, having addresses available, also good, like the idea of tape to tape items into journals. I dragged all of that back the last time and still have a pile of stuff. Yes! Deck of cards.

Washcloths also good! I will play with packing. We have a suitcase waiting for us over there, so I'd like to pack small on the way over, so that we have plenty of room for souvenirs in the extra pack. I am lugging booster seats still, so that's a real pain at airport time.
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