Tips for Traveling with Kids

Throughout our travels we have learned some tips that have worked great for our family. I hope some of these tips can come in handy for you too! *All families are different so some of these tips may work for your family or they might not. They have came in handy for my family of five.

Tip #1-Backpacks for each kid. Even when the children were little we gave them a small backpack to carry so when the time came to play with a toy they could easily get to it theirselves in their own backpack. 

Tip #2-Set a time frame for playing with toys. We always wait to bring out toys until the last leg of the flight. We make sure before the flight to explain to the kids that nothing will come out of their backpacks until the last half of the last flight of the day. They know what is expected and do not ask about getting into their backpacks until then.

Tip #3-One pair of pajamas. Unless someone isn't night trained we only pack one pair of pajamas.

Tip #4-Use the Roll Method. I get so much more room in our suitcases by rolling up our clothes. This also helps with wrinkles.

Tip #5-Buy lots of sunscreen.  You can never have enough! Buying before your trip will save you money as everything is higher priced in a tourist town.

Tip #6-Socks. Even if it's a beach trip, bring socks. Little feet tend to get cold on the plane and at night in the hotel room.

Tip #7-Wipes. Even if your children aren't babies anymore pack wipes in your carry on. We use them to wipe down surfaces and dirty faces. 

Tip #8-Extra set of clothes. You never know who may get sick or spill something on their travel clothes. Always have an extra set of comfortable clothes in a grocery bag or a Ziploc bag. Use the bag to put the dirty clothes into. 

Tip #9-Comfortable Headphones. The airplane headphones have never been a source of happiness for anyone in my family. Comfortable headphones have been so helpful at getting my kids to sit still through the in-flight movie. 

Tip #10-Hotel Laundry Room. Check to see if your hotel offers a laundry room. Washing your clothes while on vacation helps you pack less and gives you more room in your suitcase for souvenirs. 

Tip #11-Bring grocery bags or trash bags for dirty clothes. This has helped with dirty clothes not being scattered all over the room.

Tip #12-For the Ladies. Pack dresses that can be used as cover ups too.

Tip #13-Pants and a jacket.  Even if it's a trip to the beach pack a pair of pants and a jacket. Hiking up a mountain or a rainy day can cool things down a bit. *It helps if the jacket works as a rain jacket as well. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Korea this was a must.

Tip #14-Sleeping on the plane. Bring a neck pillow and a small blanket. My kids have said they love bringing a blanket from home because it smells like our house. I believe this helps them sleep better on long flights.

Tip #15-Drink the complimentary drink. If it's offered, drink it! On our trip to Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines gave their travelers Mai Tais. It set the mood for our vacation off right. 

Tip #16-Snacks. Pack snacks and more snacks for your kids and for YOU. I don't know about you but me and my husband can get grumpier than the kids when we haven't eaten. 

Tip #17- A nice outfit. Pack at least one nice outfit for dinner. 

Tip #18-Parent's Night Out.Check to see if your hotel offers babysitting services. If vacationing with family or friends see if they would be nice enough to babysit. Maybe swap up nights and watch their kids the next night or buy a souvenir for them when returning from your date night.

Tip #19-Sunscreen Alarm. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to reapply sunscreen. 

Tip #20-Pool ready. Have your bathing suits and beach towels on top of your clothes inside your suitcase. Sometimes you may not be able to check in to your room for quite a while. Grab your bathing suits and head to the pool while waiting.

Tip #21-USO. If you are military and have your military I.D. card with you please take advantage of the USO in the airport. James showed his I.D. to the person sitting behind the desk, signed in, and we grabbed snacks and drinks for FREE! They also have nice comfy seats to sit in and relax away from the crowded, noisy airport. 

Tip #22-Pool and beach toys. Buy them before going on your trip for half the price that they sell them for at the tourist town stores.

Tip #23-Gum. When taking off and landing I always give everyone chewing gum. It helps their ears pop. 

Tip #24-Medicine Bag. Bring a Ziploc bag labeled "Meds". I have been lucky enough not to ever have a sick family member while traveling but I always have medicine just in case. 

Tip #25-Save the bags! Use the drawers! I have tried putting each outfit in a Ziploc bag before and it just wasn't for me. We always unpack our suitcase the first day we arrive and put all our clothes in the hotel dressers. If there is enough room the kids get their own drawer so clothes won't get worn that aren't theirs. 

Tip #26-Hair Dryer? When going to the beach I never bring my hair dryer. I always take mousse or gel and have perfect beach waves for the entire trip. If you have room and you're hair refuses to curl naturally bring your own hairdryer. I do not have thick hair and it still takes double the time as it normally would to dry my hair using the small hotel hair dryer.

Tip #27-Suprise the kids! Have a new toy, book, or game for the kid's travel backpack. It's a nice surprise and keeps them entertained. 

Tip #28-Husband doesn't care or does he? Wives, if your husband says that he doesn't care what he wears and asks you to pack for him, make your husband take a look at what is packed for him before leaving. James always makes me pack for him and I always make him check afterwards to make sure it's what he wants. It works for us. 

Tip #29-Hair ties and more hair ties! My daughter loves to wear her hair wet and in a braid in the summertime. She also likes to lose every hair tie that she owns. I always bring extra because we will lose a few during our trip. 

Tip #30-Discover the airport. While waiting to board the plane, check out the airport. My favorite airport is in Seattle. They have tons of things to do and see. This keeps the kids occupied while waiting to get on the plane. 

Tip #31-Find a grocery store. You don't have to eat out every meal. Go find the nearest grocery store and stock up on things you can easily make in your hotel room. Sandwiches are always your best "meal" friend. 

Tip #32-Talk to your kids before traveling. Explain to the kids about things like how the plane feels to you when taking off and landing, how long the drive is, and what to expect when you get to your destination. I find with my children that the more they know the calmer they are. 

Tip #33-Romance. Make time for you and your spouse. Whether it's finding a babysitter to watch the kids while you go out to a romantic dinner or having a drink on the balcony after the kids go to bed. Too often we make our trips all about the kids and not a single second about us. It's okay to have adult time on a family trip too. 

Tip #34-Relax. You're on vacation! 

Everland

Last Saturday we took a trip to Everland Amusement Park. Considering it was Saturday it wasn't very crowded with people and we didn't have to wait long in line for any of the rides.  There is a separate Everland Water Park and I assume that's where most of the guests were.  

After you have parked your car remember to take a picture of what section of the parking lot you are in. This will help you get on the right shuttle bus back to your car when you leave.  When arriving in the park, skip the ticket lines that everyone else is going through. Pass those and find the big pavilion that says Foreigners Ticket Booth. We had a 50% off coupon for our tickets and we got in only having to pay 86,000 won. (We were given this coupon at Dragon Hill Lodge at the tours desk. We were told you could find coupons on the Everland website too.)

Everland, in my opinion, is South Korea's Disneyland. It is separated into five parts. Global Fair, American Adventure, Magic Land, European Adventure, and Zoo Topia. 

Global Fair is the first part of the park. This part consists of Guest Services, shops, and restaurants. 

I suggest your first stop be in Zoo Topia. The lines for the Safari World, Lost Valley, and Amazon Express fill up quickly later on during the day. We went on the Safari World and the Lost Valley tour and had a blast. There were so many exhibits to visit in Zoo Topia that we didn't get to see them all. On our next trip we will have to make sure we see the Polar Bears we missed.

Our next stop was European Adventure. We were starving by this point and couldn't find a lot of options near us. We ended up eating chicken on a stick, a corndog, and two hotdogs. The Spicy Chicken on a Stick was very good, Gracie loved her corndog, but Jack and I hated the hot dogs. They were questionable sausage dogs with soft doughy bread that wasn't cooked all the way. 

After eating our lunch we rode on the Sky Lift over to American Adventure. There we ran smack dab into KFC. I think we all felt a blow from that. Along with KFC they had three other American restaurants.  The rides here were geared more towards older kids and adults. Our kids were just under the height limit for these rides. We decided since there wasn't many things that interested the kids in American Adventure we would move on. 

Our last stop was in Magic Land. This was geared more towards children and families. We rode on a kiddie roller coaster where we bought a picture of Jack and Gracie having a blast. At this point it was in the afternoon and the crowds were starting to get a little larger.  We had to wait in line for about twenty minutes to ride Thunder Falls but it wasn't the fifty minute wait that the wait sign had shown when we arrived in line.  Thunder Falls was a fun log ride that went backwards at one drop and got us soaked the last drop that went straight down. Remember to buy a poncho, bring a bag that won't soak up water, or rent a locker. I had to push my bag under two layers of shirts so it wouldn't get wet with the rollercoaster picture we had inside. (It didn't get wet by the way)  There were a lot of kiddie rides and the kids had a wonderful time.

We stopped in to check out Charactorium which is an air conditioned building with lots of computerized games, crafts, and toys to play with. 

We had a great time in all of the five parts of the park but Magic Land was our favorite.  There were tons of rides to go on and even a spooky fun house for the kids.  The bonus was we only paid 10,000 more won to come to Everland for an all day adventure than to the Coex Aquarium that only lasted an hour.  Throughout the year there are different holiday events at the park and we hope to travel back to Everland to experience Halloween and Christmas. We had a great day and enjoyed our trip to Everland and we will definitely be back for a visit soon.

Coex Aquarium

This week we had the opportunity to visit Coex Aquarium, inside of the Coex Mall.  Finding a spot in the parking garage was fairly easy and we rode up the escalator to the mall. There were signs on every corner of the mall leading us to the Aquarium. Fridays, we thought, were not going to be very crowded but as soon as we were in the ticket line we knew we were very wrong. There were tons of daycares arriving for a field trip to the Aquarium. The little children were so cute we didn't mind running in to them at every turn. They were the sweetest little things with their matching shirts and walking hand in hand.

The tickets for Adults were 22,000 won, Junior High and High School students were 19,000 won, and Children were 16,000 won. Children four and under are able to get in free. The website says if you have more than one child under four you will have to pay for the extra child(ren). The ticket booth has a sign saying you need to bring your children's birth certificate or passport to show the actual age of the child. I guess they have been scammed too many times. Our bill came to 76,000 won.

I wanted a break from the camera so I decided not to film. James was able to take some pictures with his phone for the blog. There was some silly tanks in refrigerators, beds, traffic lights, and more. There was a tank of little Doctor fish that would clean your hands of dead skin. We all got a laugh out of this.  Although they had several different rooms to view of all different kinds of mammals and fish we will not be going back.  We did not rush through any of the rooms and still felt as if something was missing from the Aquarium. I am sure in South Korea this is a great Aquarium to visit but we have visited larger Aquariums in the states that were much more captivating than this one.  76,000 won plus  9,600 won for parking was just a little expensive on the pocket book when there are so many other, less expensive, things to see in Seoul. Children's Grand Park Zoo is free and Seoul Zoo only cost us about 50,000 won(that's with food, drinks, and a sky lift up the mountain) and was one of the largest Zoo's we have ever been to.

 *When leaving the parking garage it will be a tight squeeze. People will make their own parking spots in the exit lane.  If a car comes up your lane, one of you will have to back up to get out. Our huge vehicle barely made it through the tight space.

Seoul Tower Lights

Sunday evening we made plans to walk up the mountain stairs of Namsan to enjoy the tower lit up at night.  We started our journey walking up the street from our house to Seoul Fortress Wall. 

There is a very steep walkway around the wall that leads up to a park with a couple of statues. Once you go through the flat park you go up more stairs until you find a parking lot. This will lead you to the stairs that go up to Seoul Tower.  The walk up is very steep and there are countless stairs to climb. With children, the walk took us about an hour to get to the tower. 

After arriving at our final destination we were drenched with sweat and needed a way to cool down. Water was handed out to drink and then James found something amazing. Right in front of Seoul Tower were kids of all ages running through water that was coming up out of the ground. The kids ran straight to the circle of mist and cooled down in no time. 

After the kids cooled themselves down, we sat down on a park bench and brought out our sandwiches we had packed for our picnic on the mountain. The kids really enjoyed having an excuse to have a picnic and I was just glad to be able to sit down. 

The tower was even more beautiful than I could have imagined it to be at night. Just seeing it right in front of me instead of my bedroom window really made me appreciate the beauty of it even more. It was a very lively place to be at night. There were lots of families and couples enjoying the many restaurants,shops, artists, and views. James bought us yummy Churros to enjoy as we looked over the brightly lit city of Seoul. 

It was such a romantic spot. I can see why so many couples were there to soak it all in. James and I both made sure to make a note of this. If we ever do get a babysitter while living here this would be the perfect place to go on a date night. When it was time to go we decided not to go back down the steps of the mountain but try a different route on the opposite side of where we came in. This is the walkway to the bus stop. When we arrived at the bus stop we stayed on the walkway and turned right. We found this led right to where we needed to be and was a much smoother way to get down. We even found a few Australians on the walk and enjoyed listening to the them talk to one another. (Every time we go on a trip somewhere we usually find an Australian or two. They are the happiest people on Earth, in my opinion.) Walking down this path, we were back down to the main road in no time.

Seoul Children's Grand Park

Seoul Children's Grand Park is a great place to take your children. The place is filled with tons of things to see and do. The park consists of a Park, Zoo, Amusement Park, Botanical Garden and a Children's Museum.The Park, Zoo, and Botanical Gardens are free. It will cost you to ride the rides at the Amusement park and the Children's Museum was 4000 won for adults and kids. Children under three get in free.

We went to visit the park on a Friday, mid-morning. The traffic was pretty intense on the way there. The traffic in the middle of the afternoon, when we left, was great and we got back to post in half the time it took us to get to the park.  I checked out a few different websites for directions and there are several different ways to get into the park. We just put in Seoul Children's Grand Park in our GPS and it led us right to it. (Other than a few missed turns because we are still getting use to the road system here.)

We pulled into the parking lot right in front of the museum. We discovered later that when going out the gate you have to pay for your parking then, not before. I guess it is based on the time you spend in the park. We were there for several hours and our parking fee was 4300 won.  We went straight for the zoo which opens at 10 o'clock,five hours after the park opens.The zoo has several buildings with different animals. We were really surprised at all the exhibits they had considering it was free. The park has a Peter Pan animal show that has several showings but we decided to skip that since we were really just interested in the zoo itself.  None of us would have understood a word anyone said anyways.

The park had different places to eat and picnic tables to bring your own lunch. Souvenir shops were at the zoo and around the park for you to buy an overpriced small stuffed animal. We knew that we were just spending money on gas to get there so we made sure to pack water and snacks. The kids were so glad to go somewhere new that they didn't even care about the souvenirs. We had a wonderful day in the park and found a great spot in Seoul for the kids.