Single Parent Travel Tips
Scared To Travel As A Single Parent?
If you haven’t travelled alone with your child/children before it can be quite intimidating.
I’ve found the thing that put the most doubt in my mind was actually other people, people who had never traveled alone or alone with children so they had their own worries and concerns, which is nice they care but extremely unhelpful and discouraging.
So let me be the one to offer you support and encouragement and to tell you that you can do it!
Remember that every journey is a learning experience, and with each adventure, you'll likely find yourself becoming more confident and capable.
Cherish the special moments and the bond you're building with your child through these shared experiences.
Show them that you don’t need to be confident or have it all figured out, you are more than capable.
Here are my Single Parent Travel Tips
Enjoy it!
Top 10 Single Parent Travel Tips
Prepare a Travel Pack
This is one of the first things I do on road trips and flights.
Fill it with things they are interested in, toys, books, games, stickers, kids’ tattoos, bubbles, and i-spy books (these are brilliant if you haven’t already heard of them!)
Having a new book, toy, comic whatever it is they are interested in, helps keep them occupied but also excited and it’s a nice little tradition to keep up, it doesn’t need to be anything expensive.
My go-to recommendations are:
Take a copy of their birth certificate if going overseas.
If you have different last names.
As a single parent traveling alone with your child, this is always advised and, some countries require it.
I’ve only been asked once and didn’t actually have it, The officer wasn’t worried but I have always carried a copy since, just in case!
Drinks and Snacks
No one likes getting Hangry or being around others who are Hangry!
Pack plenty of drinks and healthy snacks as well as a few treats, just not so much they become crazy hyper!
But let’s be honest if it keeps them happy or delays a tantrum then it’s well worth it!
Prepare to be unprepared!
Don’t expect everything to go smoothly but go with the flow.
See it as an adventure, kids are unpredictable at the best of times and we can’t always predict traffic jams or delayed flights so count to 10 and go with the flow.
This is where electronics step up as shown by my daughter laying on the airport floor, playing crossy road without a care in the world.
Teach them how to put in a location
Depending on their age, teach them how to put a location in on Google Maps.
It’s so helpful whilst you are driving, this has saved me so many times on road trips from taking the wrong turn or having to pull over to sort out my phone.
Have everything within reach
This is mainly for road trips, having everything in reaching distance of them stops the, mum, mum, mum, mummy….
My daughter likes to use the glovebox as her storage and lap tray.
Make Friends
Whether you are camping, in a resort in Spain, or on safari in Africa, get talking to other parents and introduce your children to theirs.
Children are usually pretty good at making friends and it’s so beneficial to their learning and development to meet other people from various backgrounds and cultures as well as allowing you time to chill while they play or make new friends of your own.
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
See the world through their eyes.
Don’t take life too seriously. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in parent mode and forget to actually enjoy it.
Breathe, and soak up this precious time with your children and realize how fricking awesome you are for providing them with this experience.
Make them a part of the decision-making.
Get their input and let them be a part of choosing where to visit or pick from a couple of options for where to go for a day out or just to grab lunch.
On out last road trip, the day my daughter decided which route we took turned out to be one of our favourite days out from the whole road trip.
Let go of control and give them the rains.
Safety
For peace of mind have a little chat about where you can meet if you get separated, a tall building or tree they can spot easily.
You can also get wristbands to write your number on.
I’ve never been too worried about this if I’m honest but it is a good idea if you are in a particularly busy place or you know your children are the adventurous type and likely to wander.
I hope these tips have helped, if you have any questions please leave a comment.
Happy travels :)
Learn how to leave your comfort zone at home and experience the world in new ways.