By Amandine Laurent
The kids are champing at the bit with pent up energy. Television is mind-numbingly dreadful and the dog won’t stop barking. Perhaps it’s time to escape with the rug-rats in tow? This may be easier that it seems. There are plenty of family-friendly and budget friendly ways to take your clan away, and still keep everybody well-fed, well-shod and not wandering the streets with packs of dogs.
Book Ahead and Breathe Easy
Book the accommodation, flights and transfers in one go, way before the scheduled leaving date: visit here for all the top deals of the moment. The earlier, the cheaper the holiday becomes. Just make sure that any connections between transports allow for delays.
Also adapt your money-saving techniques from home to when you go away: keep a budget of the money you aim to spend each day, while also allowing for activities like eating in restaurants and so on. If you can speak the language of your destination, look online for ‘daily deal’ type scenarios and vouchers. These can dramatically reduce the entry price into amusement parks, zoos and family restaurants.
Mumma Nurse and the Contingency Plan
Ready Florence Nightingale? Make sure to pack a first aid kit, with all of the bells and whistles included. And don’t carry too much cash on your person at any given time. Instead, keep any large wad of cash stashed in a hidden compartment of the luggage, just in case. It’s called a contingency plan. The ultra-pedantic will most likely make a contingency of a contingency. It’s never a bad idea.
The Necessity of Travel Insurance
‘I told little Johnny not to touch the strange looking mushroom’. It’s not possible to avoid every calamity: combine the family with travel for a double whammy of risk. That’s where travel insurance comes in, for those random and unforeseen events that occasionally pass through our lives. A worry-wart mum’s best friend on any kind of holiday is travel insurance. So if no.1 child gets bitten by a snake in Outback Australia, or someone takes too long in the toilet and the flight connection is missed – well then it’s going to be OK.
Finally, before any trip, always write out a list of items to pack and check it twice. You may want to start elaborating it a few weeks in advance – just to be sure you won’t forget a thing.
Traveling parents should always adopt the scouts’ motto of ‘Be Prepared’: doing so will mean saving money and enjoying an excellent holiday.
Bio: Amandine Laurent is a French traveler and full-time mum settled in the UK. She’s also a writer for travel companies such as Holiday Hypermarket.co.uk.