Planning for Our First International Trip with Kids
Since we had planned our trip to Mexico City over two years ago (for Spring Break 2020 - you know how that went), and then rescheduled it for Winter Break 2021 (when we got actually all got Covid), I’ve now planned this trip three times. And it’s true to say “I have now planned this trip three times” because I (in fact) do the trip planning in our family. Since I’ve had so long to think about it, I’ve found some better tools and strategies for planning a trip with kids. Mexico City presented some challenges because I’ve never been there, don’t speak much Spanish (most info is in Spanish), don’t have friends who have taken their kids there, and wanted to create a trip that would be fun for the kids and my parents who came with us. And that I could actually enjoy without feeling like I constantly have to research and figure out what to do next, how to get there, etc.
I’ve started putting all of my trip itinerary and research in an app called Wanderlog. For years, I’ve been talking about an app that would hold the itinerary, help me optimize my route and days, and allow collaboration so everyone isn’t constantly asking me what we are doing today. In Wanderlog, I found it. It’s exactly what I would have created. It seems so obvious to me, and I have no idea why everyone doesn’t use it. It’s great too because you can share it easily with others on the trip and everyone can see what the plan is. It also, crucially, shows you the distance and travel time between places that you want to go, and in a city as big and traffic-filled as Mexico City, that is very helpful. The free version is all you need.
When planning a trip, I like to start from somewhere, so I search to find blogs about travel with kids to the place we are going. I prefer a post with an itinerary and narrative, so I can get a feel for what we might do and sort of just copy the basic plan if it sounds good. I found some good posts on Mexico City with kids, and entered things into Wanderlog and moved them around so that they made sense. I tried not to over-plan, and schedule too many things, especially because this is the kids first trip to a truly foreign place. I wanted them to have time to rest and to stop and just look and explore and see what we find. If we don’t see everything on this trip, and we won’t because that would be literally impossible, I’m totally at peace with that.
A few decisions we made to make our trip work for us:
We stayed in an Air BNB so we’d have space for the kids to play, a kitchen to fix breakfast, and laundry.
We got a driver for most days. I found him in a Facebook group for traveling with kids. He’s really sweet, and when he’s not driving American tourists, he drives Telenovela stars. It’s not a company, just an individual guy and a couple of his friends. It gives us all a break, lets us ride together and lets us keep Theo in a carseat.
We planned to take turns staying in for dinner with the kids, and the rest of the adults go out to dinner later. The kids have been happy to get in pajamas, eat a simple dinner, and watch iPad for a little while before going to sleep. The adult who stays in gets to chill and read or go to bed early, and the other adults get to enjoy a nice meal. The kids go out to lunch every day with us, and so they are still getting that experience. It’s a good compromise that works for all of us.
I don't stress too much about screen time when we are at the apartment or about treats and junk food.
We talk as much as possible about what will happen before we go. That helps them know what to expect. We also are honest that we don’t always know.
The girls have travel journals where they write every day. It gives them a chance to gather their own perspective on the trip. I brought a little photo printer so I can print a picture of their choice to add to their journal.
Lots and lots of snacks.
My parents joined us, which gave us extra adults. A really nice bonus!
Even so, we still have meltdowns. All of us, sometimes. We have them at home too, so it’s not a travel problem. It’s also helpful to just know that it won’t all be fun. But sometimes it will be great.