We just got back from a lovely trip to Port Macquarie, on the NSW mid north coast. It's about a 5 hour drive from our home in Sydney and the furthest we've dared since Nathan was born. He's now 11 months old and we thought we'd give it a go. Here are some things that worked and some that didn't in case you're thinking of travelling with kids.
- Portable DVD player - borrowed from my uncle was fabulous. Liam, now 3 1/2 was pretty good in the car trip up and back - because he had familiar DVDs to watch. This particular DVD player doesn't have a mount for the back of the front seat, so we borrowed one from a friend. Highly recommended.
- Self contained accommodation complete with laundry facilities. We had this and I mostly used it to watch my touch football gear, since we were there for a tournament, but it meant that we needed much, much less in the way of clothes than what we had packed. Next time will pack much less.
- Inflatable pool seat for Nathan. We bought an inflatable seat for the pool and used it for the first time. It allowed Mark to be in the pool with both kids safely as Nathan could sit in it and use his feet to walk himself around the baby pool. Liam has a bubble that he uses at swimming classes and that keeps him afloat. Without this seat we'd have needed 2 adults to be in the pool.
- Portable booster seat. We bought this when Liam was a baby and it's superb to take away on holiday. The one we have is a Fisher Price seat (http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=31641) which is hard plastic but it can be hosed off and isn't too big.
- Port-a-cot - Hire one at your accommodation. Unless you have lots of space, it's much easier to hire one on arrival. That way it comes with linen, they put it up and pack it up and you don't have to lug it around.
- Bag of toys - take one bag with a bunch of your child's favourite toys AND a container to keep them in. We have a variety of containers that we keep toys in at home and this basket fits nicely into a green shopping bag. So we chose enough toys to fill it and that's it. That way at the apartment, we could pack the toys away each night and they were easily accessible.
- Toilet seat and stool - if your toddler is toilet trained or training and are used to sitting on a toilet seat and having a stool to wash their hands take one with you. It will make it that much easier. If they usually sleep in a nappy consider putting one on before you begin the car trip.
- Patience - you can't buy it, you can't bottle it. Things are different and you're supposed to be on holidays. Don't worry too much about routines or bed times but watch the kids for signs that they are tired or hungry. It's all a bit different for them as well but they take their signals from you. If you're relaxed and trying to enjoy yourself you're more likely to have a cooperative child or children.
