Little kids, big adventures: Top tips for family travel

Planning a dream vacation with kids can be challenging, but the chance to make lifelong memories is well worth the effort.

If thoughts of checking in strollers or changing diapers on a swaying ferry are keeping you at home, three seasoned parent travelers are here to reassure you that a little planning—and throwing out the rulebook—can make for a unique adventure, or at least a funny story.

Booking.com employees Laura Gregory and Mahmoud Yassin from Amsterdam and Bruna Bastos Kirst from Orlando all took international trips with their spouses and young children and survived to share their top travel tips.

Laura and her husband Dean, who also works for Booking.com, were presented with an opportunity last spring – a spare month of parental leave and a narrowing window of time before their three-year-old started school. To capitalize on this, they decided on a month-long vacation in Southeast Asia, hitting several cities in their beloved Thailand, along with a week in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Making sure their daughter Ivy had just as much fun as mom and dad was a priority. Though Ivy was too young to plan with them, her parents chose activities they thought she would enjoy, sharing their ideas in advance and asking simple questions to gauge her interest. The family loves animals, and getting to see them in an ethical setting was important. An elephant sanctuary proved a memorable outing, and Ivy helped out with hosing down the gentle giants and preparing their fruit snacks.

Mahmoud and wife Hiba traveled with sons Malik, 9, and Khaled, 6, along with another family during the December holidays. The group chose a road trip to Germany, stopping in Hanover en route to Berlin, then heading out for Germany’s Tropical Islands resort – a vast water park and accommodation complex housed inside a climate-controlled dome.

The kids were particularly excited by the prospect of the water park, and a taste of summer in the depths of the European winter appealed to the adults, too. To involve the kids, they showed them potential activities online, and each boy wrote or drew five things he wanted to do. The family voted on the list, with the top five making it into the itinerary.

When Bruna and her husband flew from Orlando to her native Brazil to introduce ten-month-old daughter Maria Antonia to family and friends, they quickly discovered that things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes going with the flow means embracing the chaos. After traveling from the US’s hottest state to an equally hot and humid São Paulo, the trio had to adjust to a location where air-conditioning isn’t nearly as common as back home.

Bruna says that for their next trip, they’ll plan ahead and bring a portable fan. The parents treated themselves to first-class flights as a Christmas present, which gave them more space to stretch out and easily exit their seats. Even so, they discovered that a tiny airplane bathroom without a changing table is no match for a baby with a tummy bug.

Thanks to a helpful flight attendant, plenty of hand sanitizer, and some out-of-the-box thinking, they made it through 25 diaper changes across an eight-hour flight. However, they’re aware they may need to be more flexible for future economy-class flights where they’ll have seatmates to maneuver past.

All the parents emphasized the need to be flexible with routines like bedtimes or eating habits when traveling in order to embrace the vacation spirit and local cultures.

During their month-long Asian adventure, Laura and Dean wanted to ensure Ivy didn’t lose out on social interaction with other children. They took a proactive approach to making connections, asking around for the best playgrounds, child-friendly cafés, and play centers where they bonded with locals, including a little Vietnamese girl and her family.

Laura recommends just talking to people you meet – like the café owner who had a daughter Ivy’s age with whom they set up several playdates. She added that learning a few words and phrases in the local language can also go a long way in fostering goodwill. Embracing Thai and Vietnamese culture was essential to the adults, who frequently ventured off the tourist track to drink beers with locals. They also got up early to peruse the food markets before they transformed into souvenir markets around 9 am.

Even though traveling with another family meant Mahmoud’s boys already had playmates, the parents still encouraged them to interact with other visitors or locals whenever they had the chance. While adults may worry about things getting lost in translation, children speak the universal language of play and can find innovative ways to interact, even if it’s just hand gestures.

Bruna’s family spent most of their trip with her relatives in a vacation rental in Ipojuca. Maria Antonia’s birth had set Bruna, her husband, and their extended family on an emotional rollercoaster, as the baby was premature and spent a long time in the hospital. Meeting the now-healthy baby for the first time was a joyful moment for loved ones in Brazil, and everyone wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Enthusiastic babysitters gave Bruna windows of opportunity to unwind – like a morning spa session with her husband or breakfast together at the nearby hotel.

Mahmoud also relied on helping hands to carve out quality time with Hiba. The couple alternated with the other parents to watch the children so the adults didn’t have to do activities alone. Mahmoud in particular wanted to try out the over-18 thrill slides at Tropical Islands, and having the others watch over the kids meant he could share the adrenaline rush with Hiba. They also did a sleepover swap so each couple could get a night’s break from the energetic youngsters.

The extra space offered by a vacation home or apartment can offer much-needed comfort for families looking for a memorable getaway. Although Germany’s Tropical Islands resort features hotel rooms and tents, the two families booked neighboring vacation homes affiliated with the resort just outside the dome. This arrangement allowed them to spread out and have a sense of privacy. A fully functioning kitchen meant they didn’t need to eat out for every. They prepared simple egg-based breakfasts and hosted one dinner at home with the other family.

Bruna’s first stay of the trip was with friends. In previous years, the friend group would rent a house for a weekend, relax, and barbecue. Although things were a little different with a baby in tow, they wanted to maintain this tradition and booked Granja Viana Casa Campo – a natural light-filled forest villa with a swimming pool, fire pit, exercise room, and in-home movie theater.

Bruna’s relatives organized accommodations for the final leg of the family’s trip. They chose a big apartment at La Fleur Polinesia Residence & Resort. Homes here share a site with Samoa Beach Resort, giving guests the perfect combination of a large, self-catering space and access to the hotel’s many amenities. The group enjoyed an idyllic, beach-front slice of paradise and relished the opportunity to reconnect, play with Maria Antonia, and introduce her to her cousins.

If a vacation rental still doesn't feel right for a particular trip, a hotel might be just the fit. Laura and Dean found themselves in that situation – the outliers of the group who opted for hotels instead of vacation rentals. Laura explains her decision: “It means we don't have to think about anything. It's done for us.” They selected child-friendly hotels—a standout being Melia Koh Samui—with features like a kids’ club, a lazy river, and a big slide conveniently positioned for parents to keep an eye on their kids while unwinding at the pool bar.