The Soccer Mom Blog logo

The Soccer Mom Blog

  • Family
    • Easy DIY & Craft Ideas
    • For The Home
    • Holiday Fun for Families
    • Houston Events for Kids & Family
    • Parenting Tips
    • Saving Money
    • Travel
  • Food
  • For Moms
    • Beauty Tips for Moms
    • Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle
    • Motherhood
    • Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
  • Kids Activities
    • Kids Activities and Crafts
    • How to Make Slime
    • Edible Slime
    • All Slime Recipes
  • Start a Blog
  • Work With Me
  • About
    • About Me
    • What’s New
  • SHOP
  • Privacy
Home » Family » Parenting Tips » Five Tips for Easier International Travel with Kids

April 28, 2015 · Updated September 8, 2020 · 4 Comments

Five Tips for Easier International Travel with Kids

Parenting Tips· Travel

The big day is almost here! If you’ve been following my posts on “traveling with baby,” you’ll know that we’re headed to the Bahamas (in two days!!) for my sister’s wedding. This will be AB’s second plane flight, Lilu’s first, and only my second trip out of the country, so it’s a pretty big deal.

A little over a month ago, Annabelle accompanied my mom and I to visit family in our home state of West Virginia. Annabelle’s first plane flight went incredibly well, so I published My Top Five Essentials for Stress-Free Airplane Travel with a Baby to share what we did (and packed) to ensure a smooth trip.

Five tips for easier international travel with kids

5 Things to Do Before Traveling out of the Country with Kids

International travel is a little more complicated, so I thought I would add to the previous list a few extra preparations you might want to take when leaving the country (for both the kids and grown-ups!)

1. Apply For Your Passports EARLY!

I cannot emphasize this enough! Currently, the estimated time for standard processing is 4-6 weeks. However, if that’s all the time you give yourself, any little hiccup could cause a big headache!

Hubby simply needed to renew his existing passport, however, his photo was rejected and we had to retake and mail a new one at the last minute.

We were also asked for extra documentation for Lilu’s application, and didn’t receive her passport until just a few days ago (and we applied almost 3 months in advance!) What if we had waited until 6 weeks before our trip? We might be making lots of phone calls or an emergency visit to the passport center today!

Don’t risk it– apply as soon as you know you’re traveling and sign up for email status updates so you can make any necessary changes ASAP and keep the application process moving along.

2. Ask your family doctor about any required and/or recommended vaccinations.

The Bahamas don’t require anything out of the ordinary for adults or older children. However, the baby did have to go ahead and get her Measles vaccine a little early, as that one IS strongly recommended before travel to pretty much any foreign country.

3. Find out about communication options where you’re going.

Will your cell phone work in another country? Maybe, but if it does you’ll likely pay a HUGE minute by minute rate.

We’re staying on a small, fairly remote island (not the main island), so I’m counting on NOT being able to use my cell phone, but the resort’s bar/restaurant does have wifi, so we can reach the outside world. Our entire family will be there, but in normal circumstances, it’s a good idea to designate an emergency contact.

A couple easy and affordable options are phone cards or services like Skype which allow you to talk over the internet.

4. Start a packing list a couple weeks before you depart.

When traveling solo, I don’t always do this, but I just can’t chance leaving behind anything when traveling with a family of four to a remote island which may not have what we need easily accessible in stores.

I started a list last week that sits on the kitchen counter so I can add items as I think of them and cross them off when they’re safely packed.

Related: 10 Packing Hacks for Traveling with Kids

5. If your child has to miss school, advise their teacher in advance.

For this trip, Lilu will be absent a couple days, so we made sure to let her teacher know in case there was anything important going on. As we suspected, she’s not missing much in first grade, but an older child might have projects or testing, and it would be much easier to turn assignments in early or schedule make-up dates beforehand. Plus their teacher would likely appreciate the heads up.

Getting ready to travel with kids is stressful, but international trips are even more so! Hopefully, these precautions and preparations can help minimize that stress, so you can focus on what’s really important– fun and relaxation with the family!

Read this Next: How to Travel During the School Year 

Have you gone out of the country with kids? What tips do you have for first-time international travelers?

You might also like:

Keep your kids entertained for hours on car rides with this free printable Road Trip Bingo travel game! Plus more of our favorite road trip essentials!

Velcro Road Trip Bingo Game

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Stacey is the creator of The Soccer Mom Blog, a Houston Texas mom blog that focuses on positive living for women and families. She loves to share real food recipes, money-saving tips, parenting encouragement, kids activities, DIY tutorials, home hacks, fitness, and so much more! To get to know Stacey even better, click here.
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Latest posts by Stacey aka the Soccer Mom (see all)
  • Cinderella Cooler Mocktail - May 19, 2022
  • How to Get Rid of Cradle Cap - May 19, 2022
  • Watermelon Margarita Jello Shots - May 17, 2022

Share this post:

223 shares
  • Share6
  • Tweet
  • Email
Previous Post: « DIY Sand Dollar Resin Coasters
Next Post: How I Lost That Last 10 Pounds of Baby Weight »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. lovemydane says

    April 28, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Ipad, Ipad, Ipad – and several changes of clothes in the carry on bag, even for older children. Also, not often thought about, but a bottle of kid’s ibuprofen or tylenol, I’d bring that too. My daughter came down with a massive fever and starting showing symptoms of Scarlet Fever when we were already on the airplane over the ocean and I was so glad I had it. Plus, over the counter children’s ibuprofen is not available in many other countries.

    Reply
    • Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says

      April 28, 2015 at 2:11 pm

      Great tips!! Especially the kid’s ibuprofen– I’ll definitely add that to our packing list. Little one is teething and you’re right, you just never know. Thanks so much for sharing!

      Reply
  2. Bree says

    April 28, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    Have a great trip! We’re leaving next week and Ava’s luggage is pretty much packed and ready to go. I’m so anxious and excited at the same time!

    Reply
    • Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says

      April 29, 2015 at 10:31 am

      That’s awesome you’re already packed! I have sooo much to do today!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar


Hi there, my name is Stacey and I'm so glad you're here! I created this site to be a positive resource for moms and families. If it's your first time, I recommend that you click HERE to see what The Soccer Mom Blog is all about!
email facebook Pinterest Instagram twitter

Search the Blog:

Footer

Posts You Might Like

  • homemade ant killer
  • edible slime
  • how to make slime with contact solution
  • hair tourniquet

Popular Posts

  • Air Fryer Fried Ice Cream
  • Laying with Your Kids at Night is Not a Bad Habit
  • Crown Peach Jello Shots
  • Campfire Cocktail

The Soccer Mom Blog

  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Shop
  • Disclosure

The Soccer Mom Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Love the fonts you see? I found some of them here and you can too!

Copyright © 2022 · The Soccer Mom Blog · Design by Monique B Designs

223 shares