Holiday Travel Survival Guide for Moms: Booking and Luggage

Last year, we decided at the last minute to drive from San Francisco to Seattle to spend the Christmas with my sister's family.  Of course the worse winter storm of the decade hit the Pacific Northwest.  Our 15 hour drive ended up being more like a 30 hour journey as we labored at 10 miles per hours along i-5 navigating through holiday traffic.  But, we were prepared and survived the journey, with just a couple extra gray hairs and had fabulous time with the cousins. 

If you are heading out of town by car or plane for the holidays, here are a few tips that will help you survive the Holiday Travel with your nerves in tact.

Planning and Booking

• Arrive at least 2- 3 days ahead of the big holiday celebration so that everyone can settle in and start getting over jetlet by getting a good night of sleep before the excitement of presents and lots of less familiar faces begins
• Pay a little more for direct flights.  Delays are very common during the holidays.  If you must have a connection, allow 3 hours to connect.  If you miss your connection it will be hard to get on the next very full flight.
• It is unlikely that you’ll have spare seats, so consider getting a seat for baby too if you’re flying a great distance.
• Double check that your seats on the plane have been reserved ahead of time.
• If you’re going international, be sure to check passport expiration dates, visas, immunization shots, etc. 

Traveling Light  & Holiday Gifts

• Order presents and have them delivered to your hotel or to the home of the person you’ll be staying at.
• If you have to pay baggage fees, consider sending some luggage ahead of time so that you don’t have to worry about hauling everything to the airport and dealing with check-in.
• Request that family exchange small gifts in person and send any bigger ones to your home. The kids can open up a card with a picture of the toy, etc on Christmas, but still have something exciting to find when arriving home.
• Ship presents home after the holidays so that you can fly home with minimal baggage.
• Minimize luggage by renting baby gear instead of lugging it to your destination.

More Related Articles:

• Holiday Travel Survival Guide: Airports and Flying
• Holiday Travel Survival Guide: Dealing with Flight Delays and Cancellations
• Holiday Travel Survivial Guide: Long Road Trip
• Holiday Travel Survivial Guide: Staying Healthy

Other Resources:

• Top Travel Games and Activities for Kids
• Baby Travel: Intro to Flying
• Pack for Baby
• 10 Fun Travel Activites for Kids
• Toys on the Fly
• Games on Go: Keeping Boredom Blues Away
• Overcoming Jetlag in Young Children

LiLing Pang (TravelPangs) is co-founder and contributing author on Trekaroo - - a reviews website dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.

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