It’s summer time which means V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!! Who doesn’t love  a vacation especially with your family?  Today I am hosting a guest blogger – Kendra.  She has some great tips on planning for your vacation and keeping it simple. Enjoy her great tips and happy vacationing this summer 🙂 

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Every year I look forward to our family vacation.  My goal is that everyone has a good time without sacrificing the good habits we practice at home.  There are some tricks to ensuring a good time and healthy habits.

1. Family Friendly Hotels

I do not want to spend an afternoon dragging cranky kids around a theme park.  A good night’s sleep is key to making sure everyone has a good time.  While I am all about saving money, sometimes it is worth spending a little extra to stay at a family friendly hotel that offers quiet hours and ensures a good night’s sleep. I enjoy using Gogobot to sift through authentic reviews to find really beneficial information. I found a list of so many great reviews about Orlando hotels and resorts that have free continental breakfasts for kids and quiet hours policies at night!

2. There’s No Place Like Home

When I travel with babies and small children, I always bring their favorite blanket, pillow, or sheets.  If they have a favorite night light or book, I bring that as well.  Pack anything that is part of your established nighttime routine, so the child feels more at home.  I have found it easier to keep them on their routine if the hotel room feels like home.

3. Sweet Treats

The best way to avoid sweet cravings is to reward a child with a small sweet treat.  I always carry a small treat like pudding or cookies to fend off a sweet craving.  Usually, we celebrate “we’re halfway there” with a small sugary snack to stave off any big craving.  This is a great way to avoid the candy machine at a rest stop or airport store.  If you have to grab something fast, you should know what some of your healthiest fast choices are!

4. Keeping Those Hands Clean

Germs are everywhere.  Anytime you visit a public space and touch something like a doorknob, ATM, or that cute little Minnie Mouse purse in the gift shop, you are picking up germs.  I always carry a small container of an alcohol based sanitizer in my purse or carry on to make sure that we do not spread any of these germs to our mouth, if a bathroom to wash our hands is not readily available.  Can you guess the worst place for germs?  A bathroom on an airplane is the worst.

5. Time

I have found the best thing I can take on our family vacation is time.  My children love to explore, stop and stare, talk to other children, and use every bathroom they pass.  They do not enjoy being told they have to hurry to make a flight or be somewhere on time.  I have noticed when I factor in plenty of time; the little things do not stress me out.

As I start to plan my family’s vacation, I want everything to be perfect.  There are always unexpected things that come up, but with a little preplanning they do not seem so insurmountable.

Thanks Kendra for sharing your tips on traveling with a family!

You can find Kendra on Twitter and her website: http://www.thorntonpr.com/

Kendra Thornton: Travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, proud wife and mama of 3. I am a long time travel expert who has been packing my bags and traveling the world since I was 3 months old! I’ve found my utmost desire in life is right here in my own home. I have mixed my excitement for travel by bringing the taste of authentic cuisine to my own home with some of my unique recipes and sharing some of my personal traveling tips. Enjoy!