Traveling with kids is one of the most rewarding experiences, but also comes with its own set of challenges. There are strollers, car seats, diaper bags, and cranky kids at times, but in reality that will be life with kids. Whether you are at home or on the road, don’t let the extra work deter you. I promise, seeing your kids experience the world is definitely worth it and with these tips and tricks, traveling with kids will become a breeze.

General tips for traveling with kids

Always plan a little more time than you think you may need. With kids, there will always be unplanned potty breaks (even if you asked a million times before you left the house), random changes of clothes, and distractions. Always give yourself extra time so you aren’t stressed. If you get stressed your kids can feel it and they too will get stressed. Go with time, relax, and enjoy!
Keep a Routine. While traveling, try to keep a routine for your kids, even if that means staying a few extra days to see everything on your list. If you try to jam-pack your days and the kids have to skip naps and stay up later than their normal bed time, eventually it will catch up to them and you will pay heavily. So plan a morning activity, rest, a calmer afternoon activity and normal bed time if possible.
Create Rituals. Make travel fun and try to create travel rituals your kids get used to and look forward to. For example, maybe every new hotel they can jump on the beds as soon as they arrive or go on an adventure hike to tour the property.
This Too Shall Pass. Always remember: kids will have moments and meltdowns no matter where you are in the world. Sometimes when traveling it happens during a tour and monument you were excited for and it can be frustrating, but it is normal. So adjust your expectations a bit and know the day may not always go perfect or as planned. At the end of the day you would have meltdowns at home so why not have them somewhere new and exciting.

Some of our travel gear

[Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that you can use to purchase the items that we’re recommending. This means that if you purchase an item using a link from this post, we receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This allows us to keep doing what we love and continue to provide travel content to you! Don’t worry though, everything that we’re recommend below we love to use and are taking with us on our full time travel adventure!]

Stroller

Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller, Steel Gray

If you have young kids in a stroller, finding the perfect one for your family is crucial. For our family we LOVE the Baby Jogger City Mini! Reasons that we love it is: it is light, super easy to fold, and has great storage underneath. We also love that our “travel hack” (not safety approved, but works for us) allows us to fit the toddler car seat below in it. This makes travel with kids through an airport a breeze. We have owned ours for 5 years now and love it more each year.

Car Seat

Cosco Scenera NEXT Convertible Car Seat

When traveling we love our Cosco car seat. At a shocking 7.6 lbs with a 5 point harness it is super lightweight and portable making it perfect for any trip. Our favorite part is that it fits easily into our Baby Jogger City Mini stroller to push it through the airport. We don’t plan to travel with a car seat forever. Our main reason currently is that Nora does way better on planes if in a car seat. Once she can sit on her own without wanting to wander the airplane, we will probably no longer travel with a car seat. Then we will rent one with a rental car or hold her on our lap, depending on mode of transportation, country laws, and distance.

Booster Seat

mifold Grab-and-Go Car Booster Seat, Slate Grey

An AMAZING portable booster seat is made by Mifold. At only 10”, by 4½”, by 2” and weighing less than 1 ¾ pounds, it can fit into any backpack with ease and exceeds the US-based Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. For Santi we do not use the booster seat when flying, but is great once we get to a new location and have a car.

Passport Holder

RFID Travel Passport Wallet, Family Passport Holder, Waterproof Document Organizer by FLYNOVA| Travel Accessories for Credit Cards etc.

Staying organized with your passports and boarding pass is so important when traveling. We recently found this passport holder (after we filmed the video) and LOVE it to keep everything together and make getting through the airport a breeze. It holds 4 passports along with money and credit cards inside. The outside has the perfect place for boarding passes. It is so nice to have one less thing to worry about when traveling with kids.

Jessica (Mom) Backpack

Diaper Backpack, Large Capacity Baby Bag, Multi-Function Travel Backpack Nappy Bags, Nursing Bag, Fashion Mummy, Roomy Waterproof for Baby Care, Stylish and Durable by Jewelvwatchro (Navy blue)

If you only buy 1 think on this list BUY THIS BACKPACK! Whether you travel or not this back is a must for any mom!!!! This is the Mary Poppins of bags and seems to always shock me with how much it fits and how organized I can keep it! It has dedicated bottle holders that fits 3 bottles or sippy cups. This backpack has insulation to ensure that liquids stay cold or warm. It features two side pockets: one specifically for tissues/wipes and the other perfect for a large water bottle. It has tons of interior pockets for organization and is perfect for baby gear or even camera gear on a day trip! This bag is perfect and I can’t say enough great things about it especially for the price!

What I pack in my mom bag

Spare clothes for both kids
Juice cups – we pack them empty and fill once we are through security
Snacks (fruit snacks and gold fish are typical for us)
Diapers
Wipes
A jacket for me
Small First aid kit
Ziplock of liquids (Hand sanitizer, sunscreen, lotion)
Umbrella
Business Cards and Jetsetting Family Patches

Santi’s Backpack

Pottery Barn Fairfax Solid Navy Small Backpack

Santi rocks a Pottery Barn backpack that is both durable and perfect for our travels. With enough space for his items and a great bottle holder on the side we have been very happy with this choice. Santi adores his backpack and loves that we attached our logo to the top!

What is in Santi’s bag:

Apple iPad mini 4 (128GB, Wi-Fi, Silver)
Osmo Genius Kit – amazing for interactive play.
Mad Libs books
Coloring Book
Kids Camera

Nora’s Backpack

Pottery Barn Fairfax Solid Pink Pre-K Backpack

Nora also rocks a Pottery Barn backpack, but in the Pre-K size so that she can carry it with ease. Her backpack is significantly smaller than Santi’s and is what I would recommend for kids 3 and under. She loves her backpack and carries it around all the time.

What is in Nora’s bag:

Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet, 8″ HD Display, 32 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case
Elmo Books
Water color Books
Elmo

Rodrigo (Dad) Backpack

Thule Covert DSLR Rolltop Backpack

Rod carries this Thule backpack which is filled with all of our camera gear and computers. I discovered this bag through The Bucketlist Family and have loved how the compartments keep everything organized and easy to find. We will discuss this bag in more detail when we post our camera equipment most in a few weeks along with tons of photography tips.

We hope that you liked our travel recommendations. If there are any items that you love we kindly ask that you use the links in this post as we will receive a portion of the sale, at no extra cost to you, which will help our family keep traveling and providing content. We would never recommend something we didn’t love and hope you like each item as much as we do.