International Travel with Kids: An In-Depth Guide to Planning Family Travel Abroad

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Thinking about International Travel with Kids? 

Planning travel abroad for two can feel overwhelming, but even more so if you’ll be traveling with little ones. Check out our tips and reminders to help you prepare, get the whole family excited, and enjoy the most of your trip!

We recommend you keep in mind a few things as you prepare for the trip and while traveling:

1. Like most things in life, you’ll never feel ready. Travel is an adventure – Jump in and go for it. It’ll be an unforgettable experience for the whole family. You won’t regret it!
2. Be flexible and expect the unexpected. Things will not always go as planned. A flight could be delayed, the weather could change and foil original plans, someone could lose a carry-on, get a stomach bug or need stitches (all of which has happened to us!). Being flexible and maintaining a good attitude helps keep the trip enjoyable for everyone. Oftentimes, we’ve found that something unexpected can actually end up being a wonderful surprise!
3. Immerse yourself and savor each place, day and activity and appreciate each. For this reason, we highly recommend use of private local tour guides (when budget allows) and audio guides. You may not remember every fact or all the stories told, but you’ll remember the magic you felt as you learned about the fascinating places you visited.

Fun story: Children are amazing at finding the beauty and magic in everything as they are often seeing something for the first time. Once we went on an easy jungle walk to see if we could spot any wildlife (we had already spent a few days on a river safari seeing pygmy elephants, orangutans, crocodile, monkeys, birds, etc) but we didn’t manage to see a single thing on this walk except getting freaked out about a tiny leech that was crawling on my back. 

As we climbed back into the boat, our daughter exclaimed “That was the coolest adventure ever” and I asked her why since we hadn’t seen anything. She responded “because we got to see leeches and they were cool!”

Choosing where to go: Considerations to take into account

Number of days available, including travel days

Having trouble picking your next travel destination? Before you begin researching and narrowing down your top choices, first consider how much time you have. 

If you only have 1 week, depending on how well connected your home airport is, you could end up spending up to a day (or more if you choose a flight with long layovers) on either end of your trip traveling which would leave you with only 5 days at your destination. Depending on where you’re headed, you could end up not enjoying the first few days due to jetlag. 

If you’re in the US, with so few days, we’d recommend you consider traveling within a few hours of your timezone – e.g. north, central or south america, and choosing a destination around a major airport for ease and to cut down on time spent traveling.

Have 10 days or more? With 10 or more days, this opens up more possibilities, allowing you to thoroughly enjoy one destination or take a few short stops in 2 or more places in the same region.

If flying from the US, with 10 days, anywhere else in the world is possible, though again, we recommend a destination with easy access to the airport to cut down on time traveling.

With 2-3 weeks or more, pretty much any destination is possible, it just depends on how much travel your family can tolerate, all at once or staggered, across multiple flights or other modes of transportation.

Keep climate and weather in mind

If you’re new to traveling abroad, we recommend choosing a destination with temperate weather during the time period you want to head there. Pick a country that isn’t too hot and humid, nor one known for an icy cold winter. If you had to choose, hot and humid vs winter cold, we’d highly recommend trying a hot and humid (with AC!) location with your children first (unless your children are already accustomed to moving around in icy cold weather!).

Booking affordable flights for a family

Booking international flights (especially for a family!) is often the most expensive part of a trip. 

Traveling with a <2 year old

TIP #1 – If you have a baby/toddler who won’t be 2 yet when you travel, you have the option to select a lap infant ticket instead of purchasing a full priced ticket (you’ll need to call in to request it, but they’ll only charge you for associated taxes and fees). 

If you’re willing to have your baby/toddler on your lap, it’s worth saving upwards of thousands of dollars. The flight attendants will provide you with a special extension seat belt that connects your lap infant to your own seat belt for use during take off and landing. Otherwise, for the rest of the flight, we used a baby carrier for when the baby/toddler was sleeping (which was most of the flight if we were able to time it for a night flight), entertained them with toys and books or walk around with them in the plane (it’s nice to stretch our adult legs too!). 

Tip #2 – With a lap infant, you can call in ahead of time and request a bulkhead seat (and on some airlines like british Airways, you can also request a special baby cost) free of charge. This coveted row of seats, like the emergency row, boasts significantly more leg room as there are no other row of seats in front of you (this is typically where standard class is split off from business/first class or where bathrooms are located). This gives you more leg space and your kids can play on the ground and move around more freely.

Carseats, booster seats and Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) harness

If you purchased your child their own seat, you are allowed to bring on an approved carseat, though due to our travel style, we only recommend this if you have a baby, you have an easy way to storage it/ travel with it AND there’s no way you can get one to use while in your destination (airport transfers and car rental companies can provide you with one in advance upon request). If you absolutely need or want to bring your own, we recommend looking into carseat travel carts like the Chicco keyfit caddy frame stroller** (needs a compatible Chicco key fit carseat) or this Britax one** that also fits in the overhead bin and is compatible with many carseat brands.

If you don’t need the carseat for where you’re going, you could also opt for a convertible backpack like the Trunki booster seat** (this goes to the Amazon UK website since it’s not available on Amazon US. It’s the only portable seat officially approved for use as a proper carseat booster in the EU). Though it says it’s for children 3 and up, we found it was a bit big for our 3 year old to carry on his own, but it fit our 5 year old well. We still use it even when not traveling as a spare third child seat in our car in case we need to transport a friend. 

For an even lighter, travel friendly option for children aged 1 and up, consider an officially approved Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) harness** to help make sure your child is securely fastened to his/her seat. For set up, it requires looping behind the seat so we recommend setting this up as soon as you get on the plane (you can always buckle in the child later). We’ve found that it required us to pop down the food/drink tray belonging to the passenger seated behind your child.

Though this has been approved for use by children up to 44 pounds or 40” in height, now at age 4 and 6, we are comfortable with our children using the regular seat belt along with the Trunki booster seat** so they can better see their screens on long international flights (otherwise, at the angle they are at, the screen appears dark/black).

Carry-on Stroller

If your child still needs help and isn’t used to walking much on their own and you don’t want to use a carrier, we suggest taking a carry-on stroller as it is lightweight and folds up small enough to fit in the overhead bin and is easy to lug around in taxis and other public transportation when needed. 

Unless an airport you’re going through has strollers available for use, it’s nice to be able to put your little one into the stroller right after exiting the plane and carting them to the next flight for a connection (if you haven’t done it before, believe me, it’s a bit of a nightmare, especially if you have one than one and you’re traveling alone without a partner to help!). Important to note, this is different from a stroller that you gate-check because it is too large to store in the overhead bin. 

The most affordable carry on stroller we’ve seen is the Baby Jogger City Tour stroller** (at the time of publishing, it was going for only $139.99!). We got this in the cobalt color when it was available. Looks like it also comes in a beautiful deep red and green (Garnet and Juniper). It also comes with a carry bag to put your stroller in before putting it into the overhead compartment.

There’s also an updated version, the Baby Jogger City Tour 2 stroller** (I’ve linked to the seacrest color which looks like the beautiful cobalt color we have). It looks like there were only a few minor updates, so I’d pick up the older, discounted Baby Jogger City Tour stroller** instead.

Consider flying in and out of different destination airports 

Once you’ve decided where you’re headed, consider booking a multi-city itinerary (flying in and out of different destination airports) to save time and money if you are visiting more than one region. If you are visiting only Paris for example, then it makes sense to fly in and out of Paris. But if you are visiting Paris, Rome then London, consider flying into Paris, and flying home out of London. 

Most people believe this could be expensive since it looks like you’re booking two one-way tickets, but when you book them on the same itinerary, sometimes, it can be even cheaper and you save the time spent flying back to your original airport just to catch a flight home, especially if you don’t intend on continuing sightseeing there.

In areas like Europe or SE asia, it’s much easier to do this as everything is closer and a multitude of affordable transportation options are available (flight, train, bus, private car, etc). We’ve taken a very cheap bus between Thailand to Cambodia before that was much simpler and cheaper than flying. 

Price out a couple different itineraries and see what works best for your family.

Open to any destination? Check “fly anywhere”

If you’re on a budget and are completely open to any destination, try using Skyscanner, Kayak, or Kiwi and use the “anywhere” option.

1. Enter your home airport for departure airport.
2. For arrival airport, choose “anywhere”. 
3. You can then pick the dates you want, and filter the results by price to discover great deals to locations you may not have considered at first!
4. You’ll see I mention it elsewhere below but I always use search engines to see what’s available but always book direct with the airline if you can for the best price, service and guarantees (especially in light of COVID and post-COVID travel).

Layovers: Consider location and duration along with budget

With kids, ensuring you understand your layover location, timing and duration are just as important as saving money on the tickets. Airports with great kids amenities like playgrounds and strollers will be easier to spend time in as is landing at a time when things are open (and not the middle of the night).

Personally, we don’t mind long layovers, IF the conditions are right. For example, on our way back from Borneo, we stopped in Amsterdam for 12 hours. We fully enjoyed ourselves! 

We had looked into it before committing to the flight. We saw that the flight landed in the early morning. Right from the airport terminal, you can access a train that goes directly into the city center (it was about a 20 minutes ride, about 20 euros each adult roundtrip, and our kids were free). We bought a hop on hop off boat and bus tour so that we could do a whirlwind tour along the canals and streets of Amsterdam. We were able to walk the streets, take some landmark photos and enjoy a meal before heading back into the airport with plenty of time to spare to go back through security. 

It was a perfect way to help our jetlag flying back to Europe from Asia as the kids spent the whole day on CET time. When we got back to Spain that night, the kids were exhausted, fell asleep at their normal bedtime and we sent them to school the next day without any issues!

NOTE: You may not be able to do this type of half day visit to every country you stop through on a layover. Unless visa requirements change, if you hold a US or European passport, it won’t be any issue to do this same Amsterdam half day excursion we did. We recommend that you look into the visa requirements for any country you’re headed to (or stopping in if you’d like to leave the airport and take a look around) as they may require a visa and you’d need to arrange it in advance unless they allow you to get one upon arrival.

Be flexible on travel dates

To score some really great deals on flights, consider flying out on different dates like Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. In our experience, we’ve found that flying on these days (days which  business travelers are least likely to fly on) are the cheapest and can add up to thousands in savings.

Various search engines, sometimes even on the airline reservation booking system themselves, will offer a flexible search option with an ability to see +/- 3 days difference based on the dates you entered. Kiwi and Norwegian air for example, show up to a month’s view of the lowest fares you can find on each date.

I love using Kiwi to quickly see what’s available as the search gives you an easy 1 month overview of the cheapest flight combinations including low cost airlines I love flying with to and from Europe, like Vueling, Level, and Norwegian Air. If you decide to book with them, they also provide a Kiwi guarantee for missed connections (I’ve used this before and they put me up in a hotel with transportation and a meal voucher). That being said, I recommend using search engines and then booking directly with the airlines versus using the search engine when possible. These search engines act like travel agents and if you have an issue, airlines are much easier to deal with directly.

Try pricing out on separate itineraries

If you want to save even more (especially if you are traveling as a large family, extended family, etc), try pricing out your family’s tickets on separate itineraries. For example, instead of booking 6 people on one ticket, book it as 2 separate itineraries of 3 family members. 

Often, there’s a slight savings, but sometimes, you may notice a significant increase, especially if you’re traveling as a bigger group and booking multiple flights. This was clearly evident when I was booking multiple flights for two families. We weren’t big enough to qualify for a group booking (if we were 10+ people, I would have called the airline directly or used a travel agent).

Once I was browsing flights and noticed that after I changed the desired quantity to 8, the price per person went up significantly. This makes sense since prices are dynamic and can change based on demand. I’d check out the various scenarios and make a decision based on how much you’re willing to pay, in order to be together on the same itinerary.

NOTE: The downside about separate itineraries is there is a possibility that they may not be able to seat you all together, unless you’ve reserved and paid for assigned seats. In addition, if your flight is overbooked and no one volunteers to wait for the next flight, it’s possible your parties could be separated because airlines only guarantee to accommodate passengers that are all traveling together on the same itinerary. Though not impossible, this scenario is very unlikely as I’ve found that all airlines have been very accommodating for families with young children (even when my husband was booked on a separate itinerary).

Tips for choosing activities and excursions with young children

Choose some in advance, and allow free time. Some activities you can only do on certain days so you may miss out on something because an attraction or restaurant you wanted to try is closed or is booked out weeks or months in advance. Discuss as a family and commit to the activities that most excite you and make sure to plan around those. 

This process will sometimes make me reconsider the order of the places we want to visit, or how long we will spend in each place. If we want to do enough in one place (usually bigger, interesting cities), we will also consider purchasing a citypass to get better discounts on entrance tickets, especially if it includes public transportation (usually will include those double decker bus tour + audio guide pass that allows you to see the whole city).

Tip #1: Always check if the city you are headed to offers free walking tours. We’ve been on several and they’ve been fantastic. The guide makes money off of tips so make sure to show them some appreciation!

Tip #2: If you love just walking around exploring and trying local delicacies, save time for that (make sure to ask someone local for recs!) and/or try a food tour!

Consider the interests of the group, especially your children

On our trip to the Canary Islands, we traveled with 4 generations. We had to consider our toddlers, my husband and my interests, my parents and in-laws, and my husband’s 95 year old grandmother!

Young children love exploring new places and seeing new things. We always find that going anywhere with animals, fun transportation options, water (pool, beach, lake, river) and/or a park is all they need – they could care less about the museums/monuments/attractions we visit!

But they also need downtime. We’ve found what works is resting while traveling in between places (e.g. bus, train, taxi, private car etc) and/or going back to homebase for a breather before heading out again. With kids, a mix of adventures and relaxation will keep the whole family sane!

Check for local holidays and festivals

Make sure to look up any local festivals, especially upon arrival. Sometimes you don’t know about them in advance and you could be pleasantly surprised as we were when we realized we had gone to Seville during their famous 6-hour Three Kings parade. It was an unforgettable experience and the children still talk about it. (Join our Grow Adventures Community and we’ll let you know once our guide to Seville is ready!).

Allot time to just walk around and soak in the culture

Take the public bus, sit in a local park and people watch, try local cuisine, check out street markets and local shops for unique souvenirs. 

Need help finding the right place to stay for your family?

Depending on what kind of adventures your family is looking for, your budget, and how you’ll be moving around, different types of accommodation may suit your family better. Check out this blog post where we give you a quick run down of the pros and cons of various family friendly hotel alternatives.

Remember to consider not just pricing, but location in relation to markets, groceries, and other amenities, transport style, travel times to attractions, condition and size of accommodation, parking situation (if you have a car).

Get your children excited and involved with preparations and planning

Are your kids excited for your upcoming trip? Include them in the planning activities! Here are ideas of things you can do with them:

Show them where you’re headed (on a map, on a globe, on the internet, etc)

What continent is it on? What city/country? How long will it take to get there? And how will you travel? How many stops will you make?

Learn a little (or a lot!) about where you’re headed. 

Learn a little about the culture and city/region you will be visiting. What are the people like? What do they eat? What do you plan on visiting? What will the weather be like? What kinds of animals and plants will you see? Look things up together on the internet, check out guides, books and encyclopedias and find something your child is excited about and add it to your watchlist to keep an eye out for when you go on your trip. 

Try Lonely Planet’s Travel Book for kids, a journey through every country in the world** or Amazing World Atlas: Bringing the World to Life**. Our kids love encyclopedias, picturepedias and these are no exception. They have fun colorful illustrations and quick snippets of information.

Let them work on their packing list

Give your child the option to pick out some of the items to bring on the trip. For example, if you have 3-5 t-shirts on the list, allow them to choose which ones.

Let them help you identify missing items that they need to be picked up before going.

And for fun, we also let them choose a passport cover so they feel special, like this moon monster** or unicorn** cover. If you want to make it extra special and include your child’s name, try a customized one like this**.

If you want something very specific (like I did!), check out Etsy and request custom made ones like this Marvel superhero one I got for my son and this Harry Potter one I got for my daughter on Etsy where you can choose your theme (don’t forget to customize it with your child’s name).

Let your children help plan some of the trip.

Discuss possible activities and ask which seem most interesting to them. Since they’ll be more involved, it’ll help build up more excitement leading up to the trip.

Gift your child a travel journal.

It’s never too young to keep a journal, especially to keep track of an exciting trip abroad. For kids 5+, check out this bright orange Lonely Planet kids journal**, fun blue kids activity journal**, or enjoy Wee Society’s whimsical Go! Travel Journal in red or blue.

For younger ones, we suggest just getting a simple notebook like this** with a plastic cover and elastic band, or this** and they can decorate the kraft cover themselves. At age 3, our daughter loved drawing animals and things she saw in her journal and at age 4, she asked us to spell out the names of the cities and places we went so she could write them down. We bought her a simple lined notebook with a sturdy plastic cover to protect from potential water damage.

Or if a journal isn’t up your child’s alley, try a small accordion file organizer**. Encourage him/her to start a traveler’s collection. You could collect things like transportation/attraction tickets, sugar packets or stamps.

Whatever option you choose, it’s fun to go through the contents together at the end of a trip, a few weeks, months or even years later!

And finally, remember that this trip is an adventure! You should remind yourself as well as your children well in advance of going that this trip will be tons of fun, but it’s possible that things may not always go as planned…and that is 100% OK! Stay flexible, don’t be afraid to play things by ear and change things up.

Passports

• Make sure there is at least 6 months validity still on your passport during your travel dates. Many countries won’t let you enter if there is less. If not, get your passport renewed before heading out.
• Make sure to scan your family’s passports and save the photos on your phone, on the cloud and/or print out copies to carry with you in case you lose your passport.

Visas

Make sure you understand the visa requirements for your specific circumstance. Best place to check this is at your country’s embassy online in the destination you are headed for.

Health checks and immunizations 

Talk to your doctor in advance and book a health and immunizations checkup as early as you can for the whole family. You want to make sure you are able to complete all recommended immunizations before your trip begins.

As mentioned before, talk to your kids in advance, especially if they are little ones, so they know what’s up and why they need the immunizations to protect them while traveling. 

Travel Insurance

We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance to protect yourself in case of medical emergencies, baggage or personal belongings theft or loss, travel delays and cancellation. For US residents, here are some recommendations:

1. When I owned my own travel concierge company serving US clients, I always recommended and used TravelGuard** (voted best travel insurance by Forbes in 2020) and my clients were happy with it. 
2. I also recommend checking a reliable comparison site like Insuremytrip if you’d like to shop around. 
3. Worldnomads** is trusted by established companies like Lonely Planet and unlike many other competitors, Worldnomads offer great coverage for adventurous activities that aren’t typically covered under other policies (e.g. hiking, bungee jumping, skydiving, paddleboarding, kayaking, etc). Especially since we now live in Europe, I also love that they are able to offer travel insurance to people living all over the world. If you are going to do some adventurous activities, definitely consider Worldnomads. It’s likely they cover it.
4. As a supplement to, and not as a replacement of the above travel insurance, we recommend checking the coverage offered by your credit cards (e.g. Chase) for things like lost or delayed baggage, missed flights/cancellations, lost or stolen personal items, etc. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, it also includes comprehensive theft collision damage cover for rental car insurance (but you must decline the rental car company’s collision insurance). Note that the charges must be charged to the card in order for it to be covered. Again, it’s a wonderful add-on insurance, but does not cover medical emergencies.

For EU residents, we recommend:

1. Globelink’s annual multi-trip policy. They are underwritten by Lloyd’s. Coverage limits are high, kids under 18 are covered for free, and they have an affordable worldwide option including travel to the USA and winter sports. There is also the ability to remove the excess/deductible for a low fee. The cost of our family annual, multi-trip plan (2 adults, 2 children) cost the same as what I have paid for a single trip abroad for individual coverage when I was living in the US. That being said, Globelink customer service is quick but the claims handler is slow!
2. Worldnomads** for the same reasons mentioned above.

Currency Exchange

Don’t worry about exchanging all your currency upfront 

When I first began traveling on my own, I was always concerned with going to my bank ahead of time and trying to figure out exactly how much US dollars I’d need to exchange for an upcoming trip. I was most concerned with falling short. I also didn’t want to end up with too much extra foreign currency – not necessarily a bad thing as I love donating my leftover currency at the end of a trip either before I depart, or sometimes airlines like British Airways will collect spare change to go towards a charity. 

Now we have the perfect set up for 0% foreign transaction fees and $0 fee atm withdrawals! Check out some recommendations below (Note: none of these credit cards are affiliate links – I just linked to them for ease. We just want to share what has worked for us over the years).

0% foreign transaction fee credit cards

Though cash is still used widely in most of the world especially in less developed countries, more and more vendors now readily accept credit card/debit payments. 

So before you head out, make sure to check all your current credit cards and identify which have 0% foreign transaction fees and which you want to take with you (we don’t recommend bringing more than 2 credit cards with you while traveling anyway). If you don’t have one, apply for one so you don’t get charged an additional 3% for every purchase you make (this adds up when you’re on vacation!). 

Make sure that when you are paying while abroad, to ensure that you or the vendor selects the local currency when prompted (on occasion, I forget to mention it and the vendor picks USD without confirming with me). You will get a far better conversion rate with your credit card (as they have 0% foreign transaction fees) doing the conversion than allowing the vendor’s processor to determine that rate (they often charge you high commissions).

Due to the rise and affordability of international travel, there are now many 0% foreign transaction fee card options available including $0 annual fee cards with cashback. We love the Capital One Quicksilver 1.5% Cash Back Rewards card for everyday spending while living here in Spain (when we are in the US, we use the Citi 2% Double Cash Card). 

For higher level travel rewards, we love the Chase Sapphire family of cards for its many perks and Ultimate Rewards earnings and redemptions. 

While the Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, the Reserve has a hefty $550 annual fee. The bright side is the fee is reduced by a $300 annual travel credit, a $100 credit for Global entry and TSA precheck, and a slew of other perks like car rental insurance, Priority Pass airport lounge access, etc. 

At the time of publishing, you can earn an additional 50-80k bonus points (depending on which card you get) if you meet the spending requirements. The bonus points alone could be worth up to $1,200 (assuming you redeem them on their portal). 

If you decide to cash them out at 1 cent per point, it’s not the best use of your points (up to $800 value plus any additional points you earned on spending on the card), but it would still outweigh the first year annual fee. 

You’d need to do the math to see if it’s worth it for your family. We definitely recommend trying it out for the first year for the bonus points and downgrading or cancelling it it’s not for you. We signed up for it the year we had multiple international trips planned but wouldn’t keep it in our wallet if we don’t have heavy travel planned.

$0 fee ATM withdrawals

After using your credit card, the next best option is to withdraw cash from the ATM with a $0 fee debit card. Try not to use those exchange bureaus inside airports! You’re better off withdrawing cash from an ATM in the airport or at a bank when you get into town.

If you are a US resident,

Charles Schwab

We recommend opening a no-fee Charles Schwab account (you can easily open one online here – make sure to select “Banking – Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking® Account linked to Brokerage Account”) for free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world. 

When you open an account, you actually get two linked accounts, a brokerage account (you are not required to use it) and a checking account with no account minimums – the latter is the one you’ll withdraw from while traveling. 

They charge $0 fees for withdrawing cash from any ATM anywhere in the whole world. They even reimburse you for any charges made by other ATM’s because you are not in their network. Even if a charge appears and they have missed it (this has happened to me), you can reach out to customer service and they’ll take care of the reimbursement for you.

Again, Charles Schwab didn’t ask me to write this. I received no compensation, no commission. Charles Schwab just makes everything so easy, it has become my primary bank for everything. I have my checking, brokerage, savings and multiple retirement accounts here (all transferred from reputable companies like Fidelity and Vanguard). I even once had a business account with them, before they added a $250k balance requirement! If you do a search on Google, likely any savvy travel focused blogger will recommend Charles Schwab.

TransferWise

If you’re traveling often, have a second home/bank in another country and/or are looking for ways to pay / transfer / convert money between accounts (your own or other people’s), look into Transferwise**. I’ve been using TransferWise for at least once a month for years (even for large amounts for when I purchased my first home in my life with my husband here in Spain) and they have amazing rates! 

A Transferwise multi-currency account includes a mastercard that you can use to make free ATM withdrawals, but it’s limited to $250 USD or 200 GBP per day. After $250, they will charge a hefty 2% fee. If you know you’ll be using your credit card most of the time and don’t anticipate needing to withdraw more than $250 USD in cash per day, this is a great option.

How to stay connected (cell and internet) while abroad

Easiest but expensive option – if you’re from the US, add international coverage on your phone by contacting your carrier. Usually it’s a $5-$10/day surcharge but you’ll need to check your specific plan limits so you don’t get hit with overage charges. 

T-mobile. Though I always used AT&T while living in the US, a friend we’ve traveled with had T-mobile’s unlimited rMagenta plan which includes unlimited data (a set amount of 4G speed then is reduced to 3G speeds for additional usage) and unlimited texting and a low per minute rate for calls. They even include unlimited free texting and an hour’s worth of data on GoGo enabled flights.

If you have an unlocked phone, we recommend purchasing a SIM card upon arrival. Many airports have carriers selling them cheap onsite as you pick up your luggage and exit. You can definitely purchase one in advance on places like Amazon, like this one**, but I’ve never done it before and find that it’s way cheaper to just buy it locally when you arrive (We spent <$10 on sim cards for two phones while traveling in Borneo for 3 weeks that included phone and internet usage).

Download a free messaging/calling app

And if you have been living under a rock (like me before I came to Spain) and don’t know what Whatsapp is (FB owns it now), please download and set it up before you head out on your trip. Even if you insert a local SIM into your phone for use while traveling, you can still use your Whatsapp account as it’s linked to your device. It’s not big in the US but it’s extensively used all over the world. Often the only way to contact a vendor or tour operator is using their Whatsapp number! It’s also great for messaging and staying connected with loved ones without texting and confusing people with a new number.

International plug adapter for charging your battery powered devices

We do our best to travel light, often with just one carry-on bag (to go in the overhead compartment) and a backpack (to go under the seat in front of you). It makes it easier and faster to move around without the need to worry about luggage. We find that we always overpack anyway! 

For powering up and charging your electronics, we recommend bringing along a portable all-in-one adapter unit with multiple sockets/slots like this** (includes 1 traditional socket, 3 regular usb and 2 usb-c slots) so that you only need one adapter to charge multiple devices.

If however, you know you won’t be traveling with any electronics that need a traditional socket, you could just bring along several cheap adapters** and plug in a small USB wall charging unit like this** (you likely already own one, but this one is fun because you can choose a different color for each member of your family!).

We love our Brookstone set** we bought over a decade ago (and it’s still going strong!). It has a handy map inside the case that shows us what adapter we need depending on where in the world we are traveling and includes a converter (though we never take it because we never travel with electronics that require one!).

If you need a converter, I’d recommend this** as it includes traditional sockets, 4 usb slots and is a converter all-in-one. It’s bigger than any of the options we’ve recommended above, but if you need a converter, that’s going to be the smallest you can get.

Should I bring a camera?

Gonna be straight with you. If you haven’t heard it before, I’m letting you know now. The best camera is the one you have with you. And the one you most likely will have on you at all times is in your cell phone. 

All the photo canvas prints we have hanging up in our house were taken on our many adventures with one of our cellphones (iPhone or Samsung galaxy) or a little point and shoot. My old go to was my Canon Powershot s90**which took incredibly beautiful landscape photos, though it looks like they have updated the line with newer models like the s95**, s100**, s110**, and s120** though it looks like some of those are now only used listings.

A mid-range, easy point and shoot travel camera with a fantastic zoom that we took with us to Borneo, Malaysia was the Panasonic Lumix**. As you’ll see in the reviews, it’s amazing on safaris to grab up and close shots and videos. In fact, according to some, it was able to capture shots that dslrs were not.

If you want to move beyond point and shoot photography and want your first dslr, I highly recommend a SL1 rebel** (the newer models like the SL2 or T7i are slightly bigger). The SL1 rebel** is the smallest dslr available and the package of camera and two lenses cost me about $600 during a Black Friday sale.

I also added on the “nifty-fifty”** canon lens which is well-known as the perfect travel lense (small, lightweight, BUT no zoom requires you to get creative about your shots). That being said, even my SL1 rebel, especially with my favorite new lense, the Canon EF 24-70mm**, makes it much bigger than point and shoots and mirrorless cameras, are harder to lug around, and make you a target for pickpockets.

I’ve never taken my dslr on any trips abroad and most of the photos taken of us while on vacation were taken with my iphone, my husband’s samsung galaxy, or a point and shoot like the cameras mentioned above. My SL1 rebel is mainly used when we venture out locally or to capture moments at birthdays and other get-togethers.

Safety traveling tips

Traveling is an adventure! As it is whenever you do something new, along with the fun and excitement, there are also things that will feel foreign, strange, and overwhelming. We share some tips below on how to navigate this and prepare for your upcoming trip. 

Give your kids a heads up

Especially if this will be your first trip abroad as a family, leading up to the trip, it’s important to help your children understand the family’s safety rules while traveling. We are very cautious and haven’t had any scares (yet!), but it doesn’t hurt to be proactive. It’s important to prepare ourselves and our children so they know what to do if they find themselves lost and scared.

Every family should set up their own guidelines according to their needs, but here are some we recommend:

• To prevent getting lost, 
  • Assign a travel buddy, whether that is a parent, other relative or sibling and they are responsible for each other (depending on the size of your family and who’s traveling with you, you’ll want to pair a younger one with an adult one).
  • Never wander off without your travel buddy AND letting your parents know
  • If your child is very young, consider using a carrier and/or a harness so they can’t wander off out of sight. For travel, we recommend something super lightweight like the Boba air carrier** that packs up into it’s own pocket. 
    • For additional carrier suggestions based on age and comfort, check out our travel gear recommendations.
    • Here are some fun and adorable animal stuffy harnesses by Goldbug your little one may enjoy. Our kids had a cute lamb one.

• If you have opted for a GPS tracking device, remind your child how important it is to not remove it (or turn it on/off, depending on how the device you’ve selected functions). If you want to look into some options, consider the Jiobit (US residents only, though it works worldwide up to 14 consecutive days, and requires a monthly connection fee) or the Liltracker which has both a chip option and a kids watch option (this can be used by anyone worldwide – you only just need to add a SIM card into it).
• If your child gets lost,
  • If the child is older (your judgement call on age) agree on a meeting spot in advance, in case you get separated. Many cities and towns will have a main church, square, or other major landmark. Also consider providing a phone with a working SIM card. You can use location sharing apps, or if you installed Whatsapp, you can enable live location sharing until you are able to reunite.
  • If your child is young, let them know that if they find themselves lost or out of line of sight, that they should stay in one place, and should not walk around looking for you and you will find him/her.
  • If your child does not have a tracking device nor phone, we highly recommend the old fashioned way – write your phone number on their arm or give your child a little card with your contact information to carry in their pocket in case they get lost. Let them know to ask a store owner to help call you, NOT a stranger on the streets.

Protect yourself from pickpocketing 

My parents began taking us on trips all over the Americas (the US, Canada and Mexico) as toddlers and as teenagers, we started going overseas. Though my dad is overly cautious, sometimes we forget that as tourists, we are prime targets for pickpockets. Once my dad put down his video camera to take a picture of us and it was swiped before he realized it was even gone. Another time, my mom was holding her wallet while riding on the back of a motorcycle in Vietnam (doh!) and had her wallet swiped from her.

For the next 20+ years, I’ve traveled plenty alone, with friends, with my husband, and with my young family since then, and I’ve never feared for my or my family’s safety. 

Here’s what we recommend:

Leave your valuables at home

You don’t need your wedding ring, valuable stone earrings or anything of the sort when traveling. I just swap for a pair of bohemian bronze leaf earrings I bought off a street vendor while traveling over the years. I wear them on every overseas trip I’ve taken since then and if they ever did get stolen, I might get a bit sad since they now have sentimental value! If you want some inspiration, check out this pair**. 

If you want to wear some kind of jewelry, we recommend taking the opportunity to purchase yourself something small from a local vendor while traveling, like a leather bracelet. It will have more sentimental value and remind you of the trip every time you wear it.

Protect the valuables you do bring: Do’s and Don’ts

To avoid being targeted by pickpocketers,

• Don’t put your valuables on display. Don’t wear them or take out wads of cash when paying for things (remember to get a free, or low fee ATM card to get cash when you need it)
• Don’t store valuables in outer pockets or wear them behind you (e.g. outer luggage pockets, jean pockets, outer backpack pockets). We once boarded a packed train in Rome and when we got off, a father of a family of tourists was wildly searching for his wallet that had been pickpocketed out of his pants back pocket. 
• Do store valuables conspicuously under your clothing or choose a cross body bag that you can wear in front of your body that you can see at all times. Wearing a crossbody or a waist belt is harder for someone to steal than a shoulder bag (see below for recommendations). 
• Don’t trust anyone approaching you off the street offering you free or cheap products, services, etc. Just say no, thank you and walk away. There are a lot of really good people we meet while traveling, but there are always those who want to take advantage of gullible travelers. Unfortunately, most of these people are trying to rip you off or scam you. 
• While visiting Bangkok, we had read about common scams in advance but were sucked in anyway by a friendly tuk tuk driver. We were just walking around trying to figure out if we wanted to grab a tuk tuk and one stopped us explaining it was a national holiday and that it was going to be hard to find one available but that he didn’t have anyone and he could take us around for free. We explained the few places we wanted to see and we were off. He then proceeded to stop at several shops and we were ushered in to look through catalogs of tailored clothing (!). We explained we didn’t want anything and walked out, to the dismay of our tuk tuk driver who asked why we didn’t buy anything. We told him we didn’t have any money and I think he realized that he had picked the wrong travelers to go after! He did finally take us to the temples we wanted to visit but since we took so long exploring inside that by the time we came out, he was gone. We were happy to be rid of him (as likely he was of us!). We then flagged down an official taxi to head on to the next destination. It’s hard to remember that not everyone has your best interest in mind!
• Do use the safe in your hotel room and carry only what you need on you. For example, if you’re going snorkeling and you want to bring a few things with you, buy a waterproof sleeve** for your phone and you can also slip in a credit card and a little cash. That being said, when we’ve gone on snorkeling tours, we’ve checked with the tour company in advance, and they recommend that you do NOT bring any valuables on board with you. You are able to pay for everything in advance, and they provide food, snacks and refreshments. 

Check out our travel gear recommendations for ideas on good crossbody bags and low-profile waist belts to travel with.

Packing tips

If possible, pack just one carry-on per person

I remember when I took my first overseas trip back in the early 90’s. There were no luggage restrictions and I think I must have stuffed what felt like my whole closet into my checked suitcase. Traveling back and forth between college on the east coast and home on the west coast, I remember we were able to take up to 3 checked pieces of luggage for free! Fast forward 20 years and long gone are the days of free checked luggage (unless you’re paying for a long haul international on a major airline, or for a premium ticket).

But honestly, who cares?! You don’t need to take your whole closet with you. It’s heavy to lug around, makes it difficult to pick what you want to wear (too many choices!), and with young children, you gotta be able to manage moving their luggage around as well if they decide they are too tired to do it themselves.

We now travel carry-on only. It makes everything easier. From choosing what to wear, moving through the airport and between different destinations (we don’t worry about bags missing a connection or getting lost), and even enabling us to fly reliable, low-cost airlines.

If you decide to go carry-on only, here are some packing tips:

• Make sure you check what the weather will be like in your destination(s). It may differ from the weather you have at home and will determine what type of items you’ll need to pack.
  • When going somewhere temperate/cold, choose layers, versus bulky/thick items to help adjust to possible weather changes throughout the day and during the length of the trip. It’s much better to pack a shirt, a long sleeve thermal (we recommend merino wool), a thin fleece and a warm, but lightweight, waterproof/resistant jacket than to wear a long sleeve shirt and a thick jacket that may make you feel overly hot with the jacket on, or cold with just the long sleeve shirt on.
  • When going somewhere warmer/hot, make sure to pack synthetic items as well as cotton to allow your body to cool down. We always recommend bringing one lightweight, water resistant jacket in case you get caught in rain (you could also just hide out somewhere until the rain passes, or pick up a cheap poncho while there!).You’ll also want to make sure to pack essential items like caps, sunblock and sunglasses.
• Pick versatile items that you can mix and match and pack MUCH less than you think you’ll need. We typically tend to overpack, especially as parents since we always think “just-in-case”. We recommend taking a first pass at packing your suitcase. Check the weight to make sure it meets the guidelines (though we’ve never been stopped for this. Airline staff seem to be more lenient for families with young children) Let a day or more pass and then check the contents again. Do you really need all of it? We recommend a variety of different tops with just a few basic and neutral colored bottoms (black blue, beige/khaki colors work great!) and 1-2 comfortable walking shoes. We’re working on adding printable recommended packing checklists to our free resource library. Join the Grow Adventures community and be the first to know once we’ve added them.

• Try a more efficient, space saving method (e.g. the rolling method or Konmari folding method) to pack your bag. This has been truly a life-changer for us packing, as well as organizing and storing clothes in drawers at home. We recommend using compression packing cubes like these suitednomad** ones or Bagail cubes** (comes in a variety of styles and colors!). Compression packing cubes allow you to easily push out the air and squeeze in more pieces and makes it easy to organize your luggage.

• Remember to pack shoe and laundry bags (even a plastic bag in a pinch will do – you don’t want your dirty shoes or clothes getting your clean clothes dirty!).
• We recommend lightweight 360 rolling carry-on suitcases. Some recommendations shared below. We used to take our backpack everywhere we traveled. It made it easier since it left our two hands free to do other things.
• But since we started traveling with young kids, we’ve been really happy with the lightweight 360 rolling carry-on suitcases and wearing our baby/toddlers on our front or back when necessary. Now that they are older, we just let them ride their trunkis everywhere! Until your kids are ready to be responsible for or carry their own suitcase/backpack, we definitely recommend rolling carry-on suitcases for everyone in the family (hey, it also saves your back!). Check out our lightweight recommendations below.
• If you decide there’s not enough space with a carry-on and you need to check-in luggage, consider packing only one checked-in piece that the family can share to reduce the amount of luggage you need to manage (and consider these packing cubes with laundry bag**,  or these that also come with a shoe bag**). And remember to pack some snacks, entertainment and at least one change of clothes for each person in their carry-on’s in case your checked-in piece doesn’t make it, someone has an accident, etc.
• Make sure all your electronics are fully charged and you bring along any adapters, charging cords, spare batteries, power banks/portable chargers you’ll need while you are flying, especially on a long haul international flight. Important note: power banks/portable chargers and standalone batteries cannot be packed in your checked-in luggage. This MUST be carried with you on the plane. If you don’t have one already, we recommend organizing your electronic cords and other little electronic accessories with something like this foldout with clips**, otherwise you may not be able to easily find a cord right when you need it most! If you prefer a zip up around bag, we recommend this**. If you need something bigger so you can also add in your kindle or ipad, we recommend this**.

• Download or make available offline, any movies, files etc you’d like access to while flying/traveling. Some flights do offer paid in-flight wi-fi, even international ones but we’ve found that it can be spotty. Don’t rely on the fact that you may be able to access wifi. 
• Do look up wifi access options in advance. We discuss purchasing Sim cards above. Another option is purchasing/renting a mifi portable wifi device to connect to while traveling.

Luggage recommendations

For carry-on and check-in luggage recommendations, check out our family travel gear and accessories recommendations.

If you want to read up on more tips about transportation options while traveling with children, check out this blog post.

If you want to learn more about what type of accommodation to book while traveling with kids, check out this blog post.