Single parents traveling with kids: Remember, you will be the one packing the car each day and handling the luggage when traveling with children. Make it easy on you!! More
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Over the years, single parents have sent SOLO many hints for traveling with children as a single-parent family. We have gathered a few tips to make your life easier and lighter for car or other kinds of travel. Less Is Better Even when traveling by car, less is better. A few days before your trip, make a list of everything you "need" on the trip. Go back and reduce that list at least once before actually using it. Then take the list with you to get everything back in the car each morning of the trip and for the return trip. Remember, you will be the one packing the car each day and handling the luggage. Make car travel easy on you!! Carry Less Clothing It sounds like you will have lots of room when traveling by car. But even the largest van can get crowded in a hurry, especially when the travel is lengthy. Plan the least amount of clothing for you and your children. Start with easily laundered knits, then let your young child wash daily clothes along with his/her body in the bathtub. Make it a game. You rinse briefly and hang on plastic hangers to dry overnight. If not dry in the morning, one of you should use the hair dryer to finish the process. Children think this is fun. Clothes continue to dry on bodies--as long as they are only slightly damp in weather that is reasonably warm, this is one solution. Warm with hair dryer first. Help Children Plan Some children are very organized travelers. Others can barely remember to bring shoes. If they are old enough for a list or checklist, have them use one. After they have the essentials, let them pack a few things "just because" they wish to have them. Limit the size available for these special items, though, as some children would like to bring along everything they own. Use Small Backpacks Let each child pack a small backpack of that special stuff that will entertain them or make them happy on the trip. Let them keep that in the seat with them or on the floor in front of them. Even small children can carry their own backpacks. Single parents are wise to let them do this. Plan Ahead Remember that you will probably come home with more than you took with you. Planning ahead for this and carrying one empty suitcase is a way to handle the excess, even when traveling by car.
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