Family Travel Resources and Planning Tips

Family Travel usually takes a bit more planning and a whole lot more patience, than the trip around Europe or Asia you took in your 20’s to find yourself.

Having travelled around the world for over 35+ years, to 20 countries and 5 continents, I’ve learned what to do (& not to do), through my experience as a solo traveller, and travelling with my kids from babies to teens.

From finding good deals on flights, to choosing a destination, or preparing your house and packing. There’s a lot to think about. 

Here you’ll find all our latest resources and tips on family travel planning, budgeting and packing. The fun doesn’t stop here as we are planning on adding more resources over time, and updating as we learn more through our travels. 

Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links. All the links to resources are one’s we either use, or come highly recommended and one’s we would use ourself on our travels. If you click one of the links and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you! See full disclosure and disclaimer policy here.

What you need to know before jetting off on your latest family adventures.

Silhouette of family of five at sunset on the beach, holding a sign that reads family.

PRE-TRIP PLANNING

Can there be anything more stressful than realizing you forgot some key item on your to-do list as you head out the door to the airport? Passport expiring? Housesitter prep? Extra keys for the car for the road trip in case you accidentally lose them?

All our pre-trip planning resources for families are here to help you make organizing before you leave on your trip easier. So all you have to do is relax on vacation ( and ignore the kids arguing every 5 minutes).

Pre-Travel Checklists

Make a list and check it twice. Or let us help you with our comprehensive checklists and articles.

Other travel checklists & planners to check out:

Pre-Travel Family Vacation Considerations

Before planning even starts, there are many things to consider about your next family adventure.

Things like can your family afford to take time off work and school and how often you should take a family vacation (uh…as much as you can! Ok reality, stop ruining the fun).

Family Travel Gear

There’s so much to consider when packing up your kids and hitting the road.

We have a full page of essential travel gear recommendations we’ve either tried out or would buy ourselves.

Choose a destination

The world is wide, and has so many great options for places to travel. We have many itineraries and family friendly destinations to explore.

Here are a few amazing places to add to your family travel bucket list:

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DESTINATIONS

Book and Save Money on Flights

Use websites like ,  and Google Flights and their explore tools. Put in your home airport to see a map of the world with all the flights on it to easily compare multiple destinations, prices and dates of travel. If you have more flexibiilty on dates and destinations, you can often get better deals.

Cheap Flight Newsletters

  • GOING (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) – We use & recommend Going to get cheap flights straight to your inbox, no scouring the internet (+ you book directly with the airline & can save 40-90% off).

Where To Find Fun & Afforable Lodging

Before booking our lodging for trips, I like to do research into the best places to stay. I ask around to friends and family for their recommendations.

Keep an eye out in family travel facebook groups for places that consistently get recommended for my destination. I read reviews onand the like.

Once I have an idea of what I’m looking for, then I head over to our go to booking sites:

  • Booking.com for good deals on hotels, resorts, cottages & other accomodations
  • ​VRBO for family friendly accommodations that have the comforts of home, but without the cleaning!
  • Expedia – Expedia can help you find great deals, the best hotels in unfamiliar locations due to it’s robust search filters & can streamline purchasing insurance. Just be aware of cancellation policies before booking.

Booking directly with a hotel can give you more flexilibility with cancellation policies, changing reservations and other perks if you have rewards cards with a specific hotel chain.

Rental Car Resources

Discover Cars – Discover Cars helps you compare car rental deals from many different companies around the world. So that you can get the cheapest rate or choose the best one for your next trip.

Budgeting Tips For Family Travel

Budgeting is the key to a stress free and successful family vacation. Here you will find all our latest posts, printables and tips to help you make the most of your family trip, no matter what your budget or style of travel.

Grab some expert tips on making family road trips or your summer travels more affordable and fun.

Packing Lists & Family Travel Tips

Packing, you either love it, or hate it. Personally I love packing as it means I will soon be going on an adventure. Now unpacking is a whole other matter!

Either way, you’ve come to the right place if you are looking for some checklists, tips and hacks to make packing easier for your next journey. 

Carry On Questions and Must Haves

TRAVEL ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

One of the most dread sentences a parent can hear only 1 hour into your much anticipated family vacation: “Mom / Dad I’m bored.” It’s a good idea to have some fun age appropriate activities up your sleeve to make those long travel days, and vacation down times more manageable.

Coloring & Activities for Kids

Coloring, and Activity Books are calming and easy activities for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Cover of Cute Animal Mazes for Kids with Mom and baby Koalas and Pandas over round mazes.
Cute Animal Maze & Coloring Activities

A to Z Dinosaur COloring book with fun facts. Two colorful dinosaurs stnading on a rock.
Dinosaur Coloring Book with Dino-facts

Unicorn Activity Book for Kids

Family Vacation Meals & Recipes

If you like saving a bit of money, and making your own meals, then these family vacation meals & recipes are for you.

FAMILY ROAD TRIP TIPS & RESOURCES

Dreaming of an open road, wind blowing in your hair, kids peacefully keeping themselves entertained in the back seat? One can hope right.

We have some essential road trip tips and planning resources to help make your family vacation & road trip prep more successful. We can’t guarantee your kids won’t fight in the back seat, but we can help you make things easier.

Don’t forget all your Family Road Trip Essentials. We’ve put together our favourites list to help you and your kids survive those long stretches on the road.

✅ CHECK OUT ALL OUR ROAD TRIP RESOURCES HERE

CAMPING TIPS & RESOURCES

Camping with kids can be so much fun, but oh so much work. Planning is the key to an easy, fun and successful family camping trip. You’ll want to make sure you do some campground research, plan out your meals, and activities and have a packing list so you don’t forget important items.

✅ SEE ALL OUR CAMPING TIPS & RESOURCES HERE