Although a family holiday always sounds like a fantastic idea, somehow the stress manages to creep up within minutes of you leaving the house to travel the airport. Worrying about whether everything has been packed, if the children have unpacked anything from their suitcases and whether they’ll remain in a good mood for the entire journey can be a worry.
Have they added any liquids into their hand luggage or put their in-flight entertainment into their check-in cases? Then the additional worry of whether you have all of the passports, boarding passes and EHIC cards begins and your relaxing holiday could become more stressful than staying at home.
Whether you need to renew your EHIC card or simply do a quick check of the cases, we all know these worries too well, which is why we are going to help you to ensure that your next family holiday is stress-free.
Read on to find out more!
#1 Pack The Cases Yourself
Although getting your children to pack their own cases may seem to be a time-saving technique, what you will actually find is that when you arrive at your destination, you could find that your child has packed numerous toys, clothes that don’t match, and nothing to go swimming in!
Therefore, we suggest that you help them with their cases, or pack it yourself to ensure that the essentials have been packed, or create a fun checklist that they can follow! Don’t forget essentials like extra socks & underwear, your kid’s rain jacket and a small toy or two to keep them occupied.
In addition to this, you could pack the bags a day or two before and then hide the cases, so your child cannot alter what is inside and you can ensure that they are ready to go when you leave for the airport.
#2 Plane Entertainment
If your children are quite young or they get bored easily, then take electronic devices with plenty of games and music on to keep them entertained.
Download the apps in advance and ensure that there is a substantial choice of games so that even the most distracted child will have plenty to do on board. Moreover, this will save you carrying books and toys around with you, ultimately cutting down on weight.
Although we don’t want our children staring at a screen all day, on this occasion, it is a stress-free tactic!
#3 Book The Hotel With Your Family In Mind
Remember it is not just you and your other half going on holiday now; you must take your children into consideration too. Therefore, it’s important to choose a hotel that offers everything you need for a stress-free holiday, including plenty of activities for your children to enjoy while you are there.
In addition, make sure that you do plenty of research and look up reviews and pictures of your chosen resort and hotel. You need a reliable, trusted place, because the last thing you want is for the hotel to be a disaster and be nothing that they claimed to be online.
Moreover, when you are booking your holiday, include your children in the final decision where possible because, after all, it is their holiday too.
#4 All-Inclusive And Kids Clubs
All-inclusive family holiday packages are a great way to reduce the stress you may get from a holiday with your children, as you know that you will have everything you need available at all times. From knowing that meals are already catered for, in addition to the transfers between the hotel and the airport being organised for you, an all-inclusive break doesn’t require any extra organisation.
With specialized staff always on hand to help you, you can have the stress lifted straight from your shoulders immediately. Additionally, the majority of all-inclusive holidays have kids clubs, so your children can have a couple of hours making some new friends, while you catch some peaceful rays from the glorious sun by the pool.
#5 Insurance And EHIC
One of the things that may result in you stressing when you go on a family holiday, is what you will do in the unfortunate event of an accident or one of your family members becoming ill while you are away. With medical services being expensive abroad, you will want to ensure that you and your family are covered.
Therefore, not only do we recommend that you take out travel insurance, which covers more than just medical attention, but also any lost luggage or trip delays, but for European residents we also suggest that you have an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), so you can receive medical treatment when you are in Europe.
Although family holidays can be stressful, the memories you will make and the precious time you will spend together will definitely be worth it.
Hopefully, with these top tips, you will be able to work towards a stress-free family holiday and be able to relax yourself, if, of course, you’re not being pushed into the pool by your children!