Sean
Runnels and his wife, Diane, with children Abby, right, 7; Elise, 4;
and Rhys, 1, in front of the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.Most of us travel with our kids a few times a year at most. We stress about all the gear to pack, the change in routines, and how to keep our tots entertained en route.
But some folks raise their kids traveling, and have it down to an art. Their tips and tricks — some learned the hard way in such remote places as Croatia or the Cascade mountains — can perhaps help us “regular” traveling parents ease up a bit and enjoy the ride more.
Three families — two sets of physicians and a couple that lives and works on Oregon’s Mount Hood — share what they’ve learned on various adventures.
Sean Runnels, an anesthesiologist in Salt Lake City, and his wife, Diane Ellis, an obstetrician/gynecologist, have worked and traveled around the world with their three kids, ages 12, 8 and 5. After they complete an upcoming two-year volunteer stint in Africa on the Mercy Ship floating hospital, their kids will have circled the globe on its surface.
“I think it’s a good way for them to get the idea of how big the Earth really is, something you can’t get an appreciation of when flying,” Runnels said, referring to their plan to travel to Africa by boat, rail and hiking trail, starting with sailing from New York to England on the Queen Mary 2.
Runnels shares his thoughts…
On gear …“Less is more,” Runnels said. “You can always get more if you need it when you arrive, but most likely, you’ll not miss it.”
They pack one pair of shoes per child, and earth-tone-colored clothes (“to hide stains”) as well as tie-dye shirts to quickly spot the kids in a crowd. After watching their middle child nearly drown in a lake in Croatia, they now travel with life jackets if they plan to be near water. They favor backpacks over suitcases, after finding that wheeled suitcases leave no hands for controlling children.
On planning …Runnels said they try not to plan more than one step ahead so they can remain flexible. They stay in one location for at least two days for every day of travel, and have learned to slow their pace and lower expectations, gravitating toward smaller towns where the environment is typically safer and more interesting for kids.
The Runnels’ youngest child took his first steps while on a month-long, 250-mile trek in Nepal, in which their 7-year-old daughter walked the entire way and their 4-year-old daughter walked a quarter of the way. They took frequent breaks, often hiking one day and resting the next.
“We went from village to village, stopping at tea shops where there were chickens to chase and goats to play with,” he said. “It’s hard to have that kind of down time in big cities.”
Runnels said success when traveling with kids comes when you have realistic expectations and learn to plan just one activity in the morning and one in the evening.
On lessons learned the hard way …In addition to the life-jacket lesson, they’ve learned:
- to spend a bit more when traveling, if necessary, versus “taking a midnight ferry in Croatia to save $10.”
- that high-end hotels are no place for kids.
- that when changing time zones, stay at hotels with pools since it’s impossible for kids to sleep when it’s their day time.
- to pay attention to what your kids are eating before “a monk tells you the nuts they just grabbed in a Thai temple are powerful laxatives.”
Rafting around the world
Jenny Blechman, a family physician in Bend, Ore., and her husband, Tim Carney, an anesthesiologist, make the most of weekends away to the coast and longer raft trips around the Northwest. With their two sons, ages 8 and 5, they have traveled to Mexico, Alaska, New Zealand and Spain.
Blechman shares her thoughts…
On gear …They pack light, bring books and occasionally hand over Blechman’s iPad for movies and games. They never leave home without Zack’s favorite stuffed dog and Alex’s blue blanket.
On planning …“We started traveling with them early so it made it normal for them,” Blechman said. “They don’t mind sleeping in strange beds or waking up somewhere else.”
They took Zack on a week-long raft trip down the John Day River in eastern Oregon when he was just a few months old, and Alex to Spain when he was 5 weeks.
On lessons learned the hard wayBring (or rent) car seats! When traveling in Mexico four years ago, they were in a car crash caused by a hit-and-run driver. Blechman’s husband, Tim, was arrested for questioning and held in jail for 24 hours, along with the other drivers involved. Blechman had almost let the car-rental employee talk her out of needing a car seat for her oldest child, then 3 1/2, but then rented one, “thankfully,” she says. Both boys suffered significant skin burns from the crash’s impact.
On go-to travel spots with kids …“We go rafting!” she said. “It’s a lot of prep work bringing your own food and gear, but the kids love it — there’s nothing to entertain them but just being outside, and we all have a lot of fun.”
Adventure travel for the whole family
Tammy Villali, catering manager at Timberline Lodge on Oregon’s Mount Hood, and her husband, David Villali, wine program manager, do a lot of day-tripping with their 9- and 3-year-old sons to hike, ski and kayak around Mount Hood where they live. They also travel to Florida, California, Maui and southern Oregon.
Villali shares her thoughts:
On gear …In addition to snacks and books, the Villalis now pack a portable DVD player, something they resisted for years because they permit only a half-hour of screen time a day at home.
“But for long trips over 2 hours,” she said, “it was worth the lower stress levels and enjoyment level for all and I wish we had bought it sooner.”
On planning …Villali said her biggest hurdle traveling with kids has been changing her expectations of how long and how far they would go.
“I had to go from ‘Let’s go ski six miles or snowboard today’ to ‘Let’s have fun getting there, getting gear on, playing in the snow,’ " she said. “It’s not about the distance we cover as much as the time spent making it fun to get outside and spend time outside.”
On lessons learned the hard way …The only routine they stick to now when traveling is meal times and bed times, having found that naps don’t happen when they want them to.
“I also learned that a hungry and tired child is close to impossible to reason with … a fed but tired child can buy you the extra 15 minutes you need to pack your gear, car or them!” she said.
On go-to travel spots with kids …They often hit Trillium Lake and Frog Lake around Mount Hood for frog-catching, hiking and kayaking in summer, and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter.
“Stash a plastic garbage bag in your pack to slide down a hill here and there to keep it fun for the kids and again,” she said, “pack lots of snacks.”
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