Six slow travel tips for families
There’s nothing better than slow travel for family holidays, according to Cat, our founder. She’s never owned a car, and is mum to a three and five year old who’ve been slow travelling the whole of their lives. They love the spontaneity and unexpectedness of holidays exploring overland, hopping on and off trains and buses as they go. Since not everyone’s as comfortable as Cat with the thought of leaving the car behind, we’ve compiled our top tips for smooth slow travels with children.
1. Pack light
This first tip will make your trip infinitely more comfortable, especially when making transport connections and finding convenient storage for bags en route. Prioritise lots of thin, light layers for everyone, and pack just one or two changes of bulkier outer jumpers/coats. If you’re on a longer trip, consider adding a self catering stay half way, for a chance for a wash load or two (and a home cooked family meal). If you’re travelling with young children, try to limit them to one (small!) toy each, and consider a few light flannels you can reuse in place of heavy packs of wet wipes. If you’re arriving in a place before your check in time, or leaving after check out, plan your bag storage ahead of time - or book with Byway, and we’ll sort it all for you!
2. Bring snacks
Snacks have an amazing power to appease a hungry child (or parent!) on a long journey. Bring more than you think you need, and if you sense some grumbles approaching, use them proactively! It’s generally a good idea to purchase meals en route so you don’t have to carry large packed lunches with you when travelling, but bring plenty of light snacks like rice cakes and bread sticks to give you a buffer if delays mean your meal times are running a bit behind.
3. Download entertainment ahead
On some trains, coaches and ferries, you may find that wifi is unreliable or nonexistent. If you can, take a device each (or be willing to lend them yours) and before you leave, download plenty of films, TV shows and audio books so they can watch and listen offline. Packing a pair of headphones for each of your children will allow them to enjoy what they’re doing without disturbing you, or those around you, and one set and device each should go a long way to avoiding sharing squabbles.
4. Take books and games
Although longer journeys with kids can seem intimidating, they’re often a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time together as a family. Having some family books and games up your sleeve will help you love the journey and create new memories as you go. Uno’s one of our favourites and the cards are light, and talking games like I Spy, 20 Questions and I Went to Market don’t even need cards! Games like ‘Head’s Up’ that you can download to your phone are ideal for keeping your packing light.
5. Get homework out of the way
Whether you’re heading off for half term or taking a longer break, family train journeys around a nice big table are the perfect way to get the homework out of the way before the holiday begins. It’ll keep everyone busy, you’ll be on hand to help if needed, and there won’t be any ‘now we’ve got to fit in all that homework’ hanging over you when you get home. Win, win, win!
6. Make bedtime feel like bedtime
Sleeper trains as a family can be hugely exciting, as can setting off late in the day once the school day’s finished. In either case, though, you’re likely to have children travelling past bedtime, and excitement or not, dozes - and even better, deep sleeps - will probably be very welcome. Sticking as close to a bedtime routine as possible will help get children ready to snooze en route: brush teeth, read a story, and wear pyjamas.
Read more…
