I just returned from an epic 10-day trip to Europe over spring break with my husband and my 18, 16, and 12-year-old children. My oldest is a senior, and wise beyond her years, she agreed to skip the more conventional “senior spring break” trip with her peers and share her last spring break before college (insert mom crying) with us!
Did you see my latest reel, which is all about how I prepped for a successful spring break trip?
Ruby and Jeff did the basic itinerary planning together, picking the stops on our European vaca, and then I threw together an itinerary considering everyone’s interests and needs. Ok… less “throwing together” and more accurately, I spent countless hours pouring over blogs, TripAdvisor, Facebook groups, and more!
Curious about where we went and what we did on our Epic European Adventure? Check out these reels:
My Krakow reel will be posted next week, so make sure you are following me on Instagram so you don’t miss it!
Wondering how we possibly pulled this trip off financially? Traveling with a family of five 1 to 2 times a year wouldn’t be possible without being super savvy with credit card point strategies. My favorite family travel point guru, hands down, is Rachel over at Brooklyn Family Travelers
My husband and I have been traveling on points for decades. However, following Rachel on Instagram and her Substack have revolutionized our travel strategy. She recommended specific cards for me with amazing introductory bonuses. One card provided enough points within a few months to cover 10 nights of European hotels for us on this trip. In Europe, standard rooms only allow two people; therefore, we had to book two rooms at each hotel, and one room had to be a suite or a larger/more expensive option. Therefore, getting all of our accommodations covered through credit card points was a game changer. We also paid for one of our plane tickets using Chase points and booked a one-hour boat cruise on the Danube River through Chase Travel using points! Subscribe to her Substack below; you won’t regret it!
We had a fantastic experience on our European Spring Break. No, that doesn’t mean there were zero sibling squabbles, arguments, or moments I thought of “accidentally” getting lost and spending a day alone. When you go on vacation, your sibling dynamics and everyone’s struggles AND strengths come with you. So my first (and I believe most important) advice when planning a family trip is to " right-size your expectations” and plan ahead.
Right-sizing your expectations is a key concept in my parenting model. So much so that the first chapter of my award-winning parenting book, “I Love My Kids, But I Don’t Always Like Them!” explains this philosophy in detail. When I started this practice myself, it was a total game changer for my parenting experience!
Below is a step-by-step walk-through of my thought process for planning ahead to set my family up for a successful trip:
First, I thought about what challenges might come up.
This led me to think about each family member's stamina, food needs, activity interests, anxiety triggers, sensory needs, and more.
Building in breaks:
Most of our family loses steam after 1-2 activities; we are not generally go-go-go personalities. So when the basic itinerary my husband and oldest had created was turned over to me to plug in the details, my first step was to ensure that each day, we had a 90-minute to 2-hour break back at our hotel in the middle of the day. We all enjoyed and needed this downtime. Yes, we only had two full days and 3 nights in each country, so this meant that we saw and did less, but it was worth it to have teenagers with better and more flexible attitudes.
Food needs:
One of my children has a nut allergy, and another has extreme sensory aversions to many foods. Therefore, I knew that we would need backup plans for meals. This not only helped me ensure I could avoid hangry teens but also lessened my stress level, knowing that if a meal out didn’t go well, we had a few choices back at our hotel. I did my research and found out that microwaves are not popular in this part of Europe; however, tea is! Each of our hotels had electric tea kettles in the hotel rooms.
I chose three “safe foods” to pack that could be made with boiling water and substituted as a meal if needed. These foods were safe for nut allergies and safe in a sensory way, meaning they were almost always enjoyed by my child with sensory aversions. I packed a packing cube full of cups of soup, easy mac pouches, and instant oatmeal. (Yes, I found directions to make Easy Mac with boiling water instead of a microwave on Reddit!) In the end, we only used about a quarter of the foods I packed, as we found central Europe to be very allergy-friendly, and there were many options for all of my kids at the restaurants. However, I don’t regret lugging that food bag through 3 countries. Knowing we had those foods with us lowered all of our food stress so much!
Next, I searched for activities that would match each child's interests.
I read, searched, and read more and did my best to pick activities that interest each child. Of course, because there are 3 kids in our family and different interests (including strong opinions about what is NOT interesting), there would certainly be times that each kid would be dragged along through an activity they didn’t want to do. Beyond this inevitable part of a family trip, another challenge with travel in general is all of the change. While going to foreign countries can be an excellent fit for neurodivergent teens with all the novelty and dopamine-filled excitement, it can also be exhausting. So, I turned to a strategy I hadn’t used since my kids were much younger.
I shopped at 5 Below, Dollar Tree, and Amazon for fun, little, novelty "trinkets". I bought tiny collectible cars, itty bitty funko pops, sports figurines, Disney blind bags, silly erasers, and stickers. Our teens got such a kick out of these little surprise gifts that I passed out while waiting at restaurants a few times throughout our trip. This led to them reminiscing about things from their childhood and sharing funny memories with all of us. It greatly distracted all of us from general “travel fatigue” and the inevitable moodiness that can come from ten days of “family togetherness.” Plus, I had the BEST time shopping for these!
Don’t forget yourself!
I always pack protein and fiber-filled snacks to keep myself feeling good while traveling. Sometimes, I get so focused on my family’s needs that I forget to feed myself, so having backup snacks in my backpack is a must. My favorites are Love Corn and Moon Cheese.
I’ve also learned that I do not sleep well, or at all, if it’s hot at night. I also get super easily overheated when carrying a million carry-ons and trying to get everyone settled on the airplane. A few months ago, I bought myself this hands-free necklace fan, and it is a travel must-have for me! I use it on the airplane while we wait to take off, and the AC isn’t functional. Sometimes, I prop it up on the nightstand while sleeping in a hotel room where I can’t get the temperature right. Don’t forget to pack extra batteries!
Pack backups of all essentials.
My kids are teens and ready to pack themselves. Even if it sometimes feels easier to do it myself, I want to teach them these independent skills. I make detailed lists for each trip and have spent time over the years showing them how to check things off only after they are packed in their suitcases. However, I still pack back-ups of anything “essential,” which includes various cheap earbuds with all of the different connectors (some fit in phones, others fit in iPads) and chargers of all types. All medicine still gets packed by me and in my carry-on for 2 out of 3 of my teens because it can’t be replaced easily if forgotten. I also make sure to remind the kids (several times) to pack any “comfort items” in their carry-ons just in case their luggage gets lost.
So, what did I miss? How do you do to prep for travel??? Send me your travel tips by replying to this email.
Do you have a friend who could benefit from these travel tips? Click the button below to share.
Want more strategies for planning family trips with neurodivergent kids?
Check out this article I wrote for Detroit Mom, Traveling with a Neurodivergent Child, Ways to Plan Ahead
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