7 REASONS WHY SUNWING MAKES A FANTASTIC FAMILY HOLIDAY
written by Lily Anderson
FANTASTIC FAMILY HOLIDAY — Planning another fantastic family holiday or just looking for some inspiration on where to travel to next? It’s essential when taking the kids abroad you go somewhere you feel safe, comfortable and has all the facilities needed for an easy trip.
For over 50 years, Sunwing Family Resorts have been making sure that generations of families have the best holiday possible. And today, we’re still doing everything we can to ensure you create picture-perfect memories that’ll keep you laughing for years to come.
Here are my 7 reasons why Sunwing Family Resorts make fantastic holidays: fantastic family holiday
1) Family fitness
When I go abroad, the last thing I think about is getting myself to the gym, but it’s still really important for me to make sure that my whole family is active. At our Sunwing Family Resorts, keeping fit is also an exciting way to get in some family time. Why not get involved with family yoga or family gymnastics? Here you can jump, dance or play as well as focusing on movement and building up strength.
2) Receive a Transfer text message
Travelling fantastic family holiday on a package holiday? We’ll send a text, to the mobile phone number you registered when booking your holiday, about your bus transfer pick up time and bus number between 24-48 hours before returning home. This gives you a chance to plan out your last day and make the most of the time at the pool.
3) Baby and Toddler packages
Add one of our three pre-bookable packages and free up some luggage space when travelling with babies and toddlers. Choose between our Pre-bookable pushchair, a Bambino Package Medium: including a pushchair, high chair and a Lollo & Bernie Towel or the Bambino Package Large: including a pushchair, high chair, a potty, toilet stool, baby bouncer, changing table mat, hygienic nappy bin, bathtub for small children and a Lollo & Bernie towel.
4) Non-smoking resorts
Our Sunwing Family Resorts have a massive focus on health and wellbeing. And, because of this, we’ve made them non-smoking. Although designated smoking areas are available, these are located outside the hotel or in selected areas.
5) Meet Lollo & Bernie in Mini Land
Kids aged 3-7 can make the most of the shaded playground and baby pool at Lollo & Bernie’s Mini Land. Here they can make friends with Lollo the loveable giraffe, who loves dance and music, and Bernie the cheeky little bear who loves food. Plus, they can get involved with fun games, read amazing books and watch great movies.
Read More………….. www.thomascook.com
2. 15 Tips and Tricks for Traveling with Kids
We often get questions about how we travel around the world with three young children and manage to see so much. I know many people who dream of making a really nice far trip with kids one day. But don’t dare or don’t know where to start and end up booking another beach vacation instead. So today I’m going to share some tips. First I want to tell you that there is no good reason to postpone your life and your travels until the kids get older.
The way I see it, you have a choice. You either stay home and do nothing. You go on relaxing vacation and have fun, but see not much more than a swimming pool or a beach. Or you go on a trip and see some of the world. Maybe you can not explore your destination completely the way you would like to when traveling with kids. Sometimes your heart will break because you will not be able to do the most beautiful hike which is too difficult for your children… But in any case you will see much more than if you would have stayed home.
You can still travel fantastic family holiday with your children when they are older, you just don’t have to wait that long to start!
Don’t wait to travel till your kids are ‘old enough to remember’. If you would apply the same thinking to all childhood experiences, you wouldn’t do much with your children when they are young. You never thought of not taking them to a playground or to a theme park because they won’t remember it later, did you? Travel when you can, as soon as you can, and as often as you can. Not only will you have great experiences and memories together, but you will stimulate your kids’ interest in the world, encourage them to appreciate other cultures, and to be more open to new things in life.
KATA TJUTA, AUSTRALIA
1. Traveling with young children: adjust your expectations and plans
Maybe you haven’t travelled much yet and are dreaming of finally taking your family on a nice trip. Or is it just the opposite – you have seen half the world before you had kids. But are still worried if it’s a good idea to take young children with you to the other side of the world… I guess you know by now that nothing is quite the same when you have kids, and that also applies to traveling. As long as you understand this and are willing to adapt to your new travel companions and their interests, you will have just as much fun traveling as a family as you did before.
Don’t take the kids to visit the most beautiful churches of Europe or on a temple tour through Asia.Long city trips and museum visits can be too tiring and boring for young children as well. You can do some hiking depending on the age and the number of kids you have, but you should probably forget all the long hikes for a while (unless you can carry kids on your back).
What can you do?
Theme parks are of course always a great success, but you don’t have to spend all your holidays in Disneyland or Sea World for the next ten years. In our experience, nature and animals always do well with children, no matter the age.
Young children have to be able to move, to play, to discover new things their way: they need to be able to touch, to feel, to taste… Kids also need a lot of rest, and they need a certain routine in order to feel happy and safe. Make sure you take all these factors into account when preparing any trip with kids.
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2. Prepare your kids for the trip
Fantastic family holiday start preparing your kids for the trip in advance, tell them what to expect, but don’t exaggerate. It makes no sense to tell a 2 year old that he will be going to Australia in a year from now. On the other hand, a 10 year old may spend months reading all he can find about Australian wildlife, and it will be like having a walking wikipedia with you on a trip. The more the children will know about the upcoming trip, the more excited they will be about it, and they will look forward to it just as much as you do.
3. Prepare your family trip in advance
I know some people may not agree with me, but traveling with a family of 5 has taught me that it’s so much easier and more enjoyable if you prepare your trip in advance. Unless you don’t really care where you will end up and whether you will be able to see the most worthwhile places, of course. It’s already a challenge to find affordable family rooms to accommodate more than 4 people, and it can get almost impossible if you travel during school holidays and don’t book well in advance.
Figure out your itinerary, book your flights, accommodations, and reserve a car. That way you can actually enjoy your vacation rather than spend your time looking for a hotel every night. It’s true that sometimes you will wish you could have stayed longer somewhere, or maybe left earlier, but it’s also true that you have a much bigger chance to see everything you wanted to if you stick to your plans. Otherwise you risk staying too long at the very first place you fall in love with and missing out on some other places which you wanted to see (and which you might have loved even more). And if not, at least you get to see something new.
If you want flexibility and certainty at the same time, renting a camper could be a good option for your family in some countries. Alternatively, you can use one location as your home base to explore the area. Many places in Europe are very suitable for this kind of traveling, like Tuscany in Italy.
Read More …………. fullsuitcase.com
3. Traveling With Young Kids fantastic family holiday
Parenting takes on a whole new set of complexities when you travel with young children. Schedules, safety and discipline are re-examined because of time constraints and consideration for others. We’ve compiled some great tips that other parents with babies and toddlers have used to help them not just survive, but enjoy their time away from the everyday routine:
It’s In the Bag
It can be a challenge to travel with kids who are old enough to dress themselves but still struggle to keep things orderly. To make navigating the suitcase easier, we put together outfits in advance: shirt, shorts, socks, undies. We make sure to pack enough outfits for each day of the trip, plus a few extra.
Each individual set is folded neatly and placed in a large, clear bag. The shirt can be placed on top with any graphics visible, making it easy to select without opening the package.
This method of packing helps our young child independently choose a clean, coordinated outfit each day. It also keeps clean clothes fresh and separate from dirty clothes.
Keep Them Active
At airports, my husband and I have found that it is better to let our toddler have supervised run-around time after check-in is complete. Doing this can be tiring, but it is well worth the effort when our daughter sighs in relaxed satisfaction once she is seated in the aircraft.
—Roopa Banerjee
Your Attention Please
I have found that the best resource to keep my kids happy on long flights is my attention. If I’m engaged with them, even items as simple as a pen and napkin can keep their attention for a long time. We’ve drawn houses together (taking turns adding one element at a time) and have had contests to sketch the silliest monster.
When I don’t have paper or crayons handy, we take turns asking questions about each other or retelling funny family memories. After 30 minutes of my focused attention, my children are more likely to enjoy quiet time with sticker books and other independent activities.
—Christie Chu
Travel Snacks
During road trips, snacks can be messy. So a friend suggested using clear plastic boxes (the type normally sold for fishing tackle) as snack containers. The compartments in it are the right size for crackers or miniature boxes of raisins. The boxes stack well, and the lids snap shut, preventing messes. We put our kids’ names on the lids using alphabet stickers. These little boxes are a lifesaver on our road trips.
—David Cox
Backseat Bells and Baubles
I was worried about a long, upcoming car ride with my 7-month-old son. He barely could make it to the grocery store without fussing, so I knew the usual toys or songs that calmed him would grow old quickly.
I searched local secondhand shops for small light-up, shiny and musical toys that I could creatively attach to his car seat. I chose toys that he could not throw down but could watch or tap — ones that would captivate his attention with mirrors, bells, lights or songs.
Then I placed them in a bin under his seat. Whenever we stopped at a rest area, I switched out the toy for a new one. And it worked.
—Heather Vogler
Emergency Fun Kit
During our fantastic family holiday last trip to the hospital, we saw a family in the waiting area struggling to keep their 2-year-old son occupied. He was crying, whining and hungry, and his parents were clearly dismayed at the long wait.
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We have two children with cystic fibrosis, so we travel prepared. We shared our emergency fun pack with this family. These packs are filled with treats such as fruit candies, crackers, juice boxes and cereal, along with a blanket and hand-sanitizing wipes. I also pack a few things to pass the time, such as coloring books and crayons, Silly Putty, a stress ball and small toys. These kits have helped us during unexpected hospital stays, in restaurants and on sudden long drives.
We keep the fun packs by the front door — one for boys and one for girls — ready to be grabbed in a moment’s notice. They have allowed us to be prepared with our children and to share God’s love in a tangible way with other families under stress.
—Adelle Norg
Road-Trip Respite
We took several long car trips before our son could walk, and often the climate or location didn’t allow for him to crawl or roll around at rest areas. But we found that most libraries, even those in small towns, have an area with toys and puzzles, in addition to books — a clean indoor place where we could take a short rest from driving and he could play for free!
—Tara Becker
Flying With Baby
I recently took my baby «across the pond» to visit his grandparents. Although traveling for 12 hours without my husband’s assistance was daunting, a few things helped keep my baby happy in flight.
I wore a baby sling to put my son in when he was tired so he could nap in a comfortable spot, and I brought extra bottles in case he wanted to eat more often than usual. I had learned on a previous flight to give him a bit less per feeding, lest I end up with a lap full of spit-up. Also hid my baby’s favorite toy about a week before we left, so that when I produced it on the plane it would be «new.» This kept him entertained for quite some time in between feedings and naps.
Ultimately, what helped the most was staying calm and being responsive to my baby’s needs.
—Amy Fischer
Read More…………. www.focusonthefamily.com
4. 9 Tips for Safe Travel with Young Children
Travel fantastic family holiday can be a lot of fun, but most parents dread and even avoid traveling with young children. They have to adhere to a sleep schedule that includes naps. The sheer volume of necessary stuff that comes along for the ride is overwhelming enough to plead that the grandparents to hop a plane instead. Exposure to new culture, music, food, and ways of living is part of the fun for many adults, but it can prove too much for many children.
Still, with a good deal of planning and thought you can travel with young children – here are some of the latest tips we found from traveling parents.
1. Know your child
Ultimately, no trip – even a short one to the grocery store – is going to be successfully if you don’t know the particulars about your child. Travel stretches a person’s comfort zones and if your child needs a strict bedtime in order not to have meltdowns, find ways to make that happen. Every child is different, so take note in the weeks and days prior to your trip so you can be prepared to help them adjust and enjoy the trip.
2. Loosen up on flights
Flying is hard on the human body – even adults struggle with the cramped conditions and fight the good fight against boredom. Treating flights as special time – especially long flights – and loosening some on the parenting reins is one way to get through with everyone’s sanity intact (other passengers included). Your normal routine has been left in the dust, so why fight it?
The myriad of kid-friendly movies and games on personal screens are a huge help. Airport playgrounds during layovers are a great way to burn off built-up energy. A bag packed with individual treats – especially since the airlines have gotten so greedy about them – doled out over time can help too. You can get back to a healthy eating schedule when you get on the ground.
3. Try to eat like a local
One of the hardest things about traveling with kids is striking just the right balance between what’s challenging and what’s comforting, what’s strange and what’s familiar. Unless you’ve got a kid with a food allergy, it’s a good idea to try to eat like a local. Not only will you save a lot of money (and room in your bag that would otherwise be stuffed with backup mac-and-cheese packets). You’ll expose your kid to trying new things with a good attitude – especially if they see you doing it too.
4. Update your travel medical kit
Your travel medical kit may have been ideal for when you were traveling pre-kids, but it definitely needs a shake-up now. You do not want to be without children’s medicines in a foreign country when your kid is running a fever in the dead of night.
Much like your adult travel medical kit, the kids’ version should include all the things your child might need if they get sick on a trip, including:
- A good supply of any medicines your child takes on a regular basis.
- Any medical equipment your child needs (even occasionally), like a nebulizer for a child with asthma.
- A pain reliever and fever-fighting medication such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
- An antihistamine for allergic reactions.
- Some cough or cold medicine.
If your child needs any specific medicines or medical equipment, be sure you understand how to get those through security. A doctor’s note may be required for injection needles, etc.
5. Update your travel medical portfolio
This is even more important when traveling with a child. If you are in a car accident abroad and your kid is fine, but you are not, your child isn’t going to be able to speak up and get their health needs met. They also cannot speak for you, so a simple travel medical portfolio should do the ‘speaking’ for your family.
Read More…………… www.travelinsurancereview.net
5. 20 tips for travelling with children
Travelling with children can be a bit like taking a herd of wild goats on holiday. Whether they’re your own or someone else’s, factoring a child’s needs into your travels involves a lot more than sticking on a CD full of pop music and making toilet stops.
Here two Rough Guides writers share their hard-won wisdom. First up, mum of two Hayley Spurway offers advice on travelling with toddlers, then Ross McGovern reveals how he manages to travel with older children.
Hayley Spurway’s tips for travelling with toddlers
Take your time
The greatest thing you can take — whether at the airport, sightseeing or getting from A to B — is extra time. Toddlers love to explore and don’t care for the time pressures of travel. So you’re more likely to all retain your cool if you factor the faffing, gawping, stalling, toilet stops and tantrums into your timeframe.
Book ahead fantastic family holiday
Whether you’re camping or staying in hotels, it pays to book ahead. Trying to retain the spontaneity of travel BC (Before Children) doesn’t pay off if you arrive at your destination to find you can’t bag a bed or pitch and have to hit the road again with tired, hungry toddlers melting down in the backseat.
Give them a camera
Giving toddlers their own (robust, child-friendly) camera encourages them to observe their surroundings and focus on what interests them. You might be surprised at the results from their knee-high view. Amongst pictures of feet and wheels, my three-year-old has shot flowers, animals, helicopters, boats, rocks and rabbit poo.
Pack Pull-Ups for potty training
Planes and public transport during the potty training days can be a nightmare. As if you didn’t have enough in your hand luggage, now you’re expected to add a potty, three changes of clothes and bags of wet, stinky pants. Potty-training gurus may disagree, but if toddlers are still having lots of little accidents then I’m all for putting them back into Pull-Ups on the plane.
Be app-y fantastic family holiday
Thanks to toddler-friendly apps, there’s no need to cram a toy box into your hand luggage when travelling by plane. By all means take a book and a magic scribbler (crayons just get lost down the side of seats), but the most compact form of entertainment is a device loaded with apps and games.
Use public transport
Most toddlers love the novelty of travelling by train, bus and boat, so ditch the hire car and use public transport where possible. In Switzerland, my two-year-old would repeat the names of the metro stops as they were announced — provoking ripples of laughter and making him even more excited about boarding the train each day.
Invest in a child locator fantastic family holiday
In my experience, toddlers aren’t fans of reins, backpacks with a leash, or any infringement on their freedom. Keep tabs on them at airports, train stations and crowded attractions with a child locator. The child wears a small unit (strapped to a belt or shoe) and you keep the transmitter. If you lose your child set off the alarm and follow the sound to find them.
Read More……….. www.roughguides.com
6. 12 Reasons Why Traveling Is Beneficial For Kids
Traveling with children,especially with the younger ones, can be very intimidating. You never really know how they would act once you are out there (will they cry or shout or poop or throw up?). Plus, you have to deal with the extra weight in the form of diapers, bottles, formula and a whole bunch of baby essentials.
My family’s fantastic family holiday first real out-of-town trip was on a beautiful but secluded island in the Philippines. It was not the best experience we had – our then six-month-old daughter got uncomfortable during the night and cried a lot and we had to take a pass on the booze fest with our friends.
Did we regret having made that trip that early in our daughter’s life? Definitely not. Our been-to list is not yet that extensive, but we have continued going on mini excursions with our daughter because, despite it being a lot of work for us parents, it is worth every trip.
And here are our reasons why:
Reasons why traveling is good for our kids
1. Traveling introduces them to new things
Young children may not remember the new things they discover during a trip – but maybe they do. Every time we go to a new place, our daughter could not stop mentioning it back at home months after the trip that our friends and family find it amusing for a two-year-old.
2. It teaches them the ways of the world
We have not gone as far as taking a trip outside of the country, but I know for a fact, from my two years as a parent, how easily children pick up things that are taught – and not taught – to them. Traveling gives them the chance to experience the world for themselves.
3. It teaches them history, geography, architecture
Trips fantastic family holiday can become more exciting for kids when they start getting involved. Where is our next destination on the map? What an amazing building – can we look up who designed it or why it was built in the first place? Learning easily becomes a part of the traveling lifestyle and does not make it feel like a task. Our toddler particularly loves pointing at letters and numbers she sees on the road.
4. A better learning experience beyond a four-walled room
Do kids get to see mountains, trees, leaves, flowers, worms or dried-up bones (from a museum) inside a classroom? Probably – but only in the books or on the Internet. Do they ever get excited seeing letters and numbers on signs? Maybe not. Nothing excites and makes kids learn more effectively than being able to use their five senses. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”.
Read More………….. trekeffect.com
7. 29 Tips and Tricks for Traveling the World with Kids
Planning Your Trip
1. Check the validity of your passports. Be sure they’re good for 3 months after the day of your arrival home. Many people make the mistake of thinking that as long as they’re back home before their passports expire they’ll be fine. (It seems like common sense doesn’t it?) But not so. Authorities will often demand that your passport be good for several weeks — even several months for some countries — past the day of your arrival home. Some airlines will not let you board the plane if there is not enough extra time on your passport.
2. Scan your passports and email them to yourself, along with any other important documents — e.g. green card, birth certificate, the visa pages of your passport. If you ever lose your passports abroad, this will save you a ton of time and hassle when you have to replace them.
Notify your credit card
3. Notify your credit card companies before you leave. Banks are very careful about fraud nowadays — and run algorithms on your billing history to spot any irregularities. A charge from a country or city that you’ve never previously had a charge from could easily get your credit card frozen. And unfreezing your account from a foreign city in a different time zone, will be a lot harder than just calling your bank before departure.
4. Take more than one credit or debit card. Cards work differently in foreign countries, some will work at bank ATM but not at a corner store ATM, others will work in restaurants but not at an ATM. There are a number of complex rules and reasons but if you don’t work in the banking industry you’ll never know all of them. The best remedy is to take multiple cards.
5. Make an Out-The-Door list. Leaving for the airport — as your holiday starts — is one of the most stressful times of any trip. Have a list of things you need to grab as you’re leaving your home. I don’t mean a list of things you need to take (i.e. 2 pairs of pants, 3 t-shirts ). I mean a list of things you’ll need to physically grab. It should be a last minute checklist of all the little (and big) things you’ll need as you are going out the door.
There will be the bags of course, the money belt, some water in the fridge for the airport, some snacks on the counter and sweaters for the plane. Plus all the indispensables you’ll want to double-check one last time before heading to the airport: passports, credit cards, cash. There’s a lot to remember — so have a list for it!
The first day in FANTASTIC FAMILY HOLIDAY
6. Put enough in your carry-on bags for the first day or 2 of your trip. This is good advice for anyone but especially when traveling with kids. If your bags are lost you don’t want to be hunting for diapers or a pair of shorts immediately after your arrival in a new city or country.
7. Count your suitcases, backpacks, handbags and keep the number in your head. This is simple and maybe painfully obvious, but it sure helps. You hop in a taxi, “bag count — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 — yep they’re all here”. Easy. (Bigger families may want to conduct a kid count as well.)
Book a hotel for your
8.Use a small digital camera. The fantastic shots you think you’ll get of the Grand Canyon, or Taj Mahal or Great Wall of China will be left and forgotten. The really great photos that you’ll love and savor for years to come will be the up-close and intimate shots of your kids and your family. And the key to getting great family photos is to take a lot of them.
A ton of them! And the way you do that is to take a small camera, have it with you all the time and take pictures as quickly and discreetly as possible. You might insist, I’ll do all that, but with a bigger better camera. But you probably won’t.
9. Book a hotel for your first nights of your trip — but then stay flexible. My advice for traveling singles (or couples) is always to book a hotel for their first night after arrival, then get your bearings, figure out where you want to go and just find hotels as you need them. I’ve upgraded this for traveling families — reserve the first 2 or 3 nights. I realize this advice won’t work for everyone. Some people need certainty and plans and dates. And having all your hotels reserved for the duration of your trip can make things easier.
But you’ll also lose some flexibility. If something’s working — if you’ve found a great little beach resort or a really fun hotel with a friendly staff — you’ll have to say goodbye because you’ve already booked a room in the next town. On the other hand having the freedom to leave a place that isn’t living up to expectations is a great bonus. Can make the difference between an average vacation and an unforgettable one.
Practicalities of Travel
10. Welcome — don’t fear — airport security. Security checkpoints force parents to be lean and efficient with their packing. Take what you need but don’t take what is unnecessary. Security can also be a good reason not to take stuff on the plane that you don’t want your kid to have (i.e. your kid’s new water gun). And insisting that you keep all your little bottles and creams in a Ziploc bag — what a great idea!
11. Don’t line up early for trains and airplanes or anything where you have a reserved seat. If you’re one of those people who like to maximize their time on the airplane. By all means, board early, get that seat warm, burn through all your snacks before anyone else has even boarded. How great! You’ll have enough time on the plane without artificially extending it. As my son said on our return trip from Tokyo, “We have to go when they say final call right Papa?” Right!
10 of the best destinations for solo female travellers
12. One parent in charge. Don’t share the burden of any one duty while traveling. Packing for example. One person packs and knows where everything is. Two people pack and no one really knows where anything is. Same with hotels. One person plans them, arranges them, and books them. Do you have that confirmation email or do I? Na-Uh!
Read More…………. mylittlenomads.com
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