Balancing Happiness and Harmony While Traveling With Kids

Traveling, even just for a short distance, can greatly impact your mind and body. It can boost your mood, unleash your creativity, and inspire you. It allows you to step away from your daily stresses, receive rest and relaxation, and experience new people, cultures, and environments. However, as a parent, traveling with kids can be overwhelming. It can create cranky, unreasonable children, long days, and exhausted moments. Traveling with children may not seem worth the extra effort, but it’s a battle worth fighting.

It is possible to balance happiness and harmony while traveling with children — it just takes a little extra preparation.

Samantha Demarkles (@samanthainperson) is a well-known content creator from Missouri. Most importantly, she's a mother to three active boys. She knows firsthand the challenges of traveling with young kids and the joys of exploring with them in tow.

Traveling wasn't always something that Samantha wanted to do. However, after a few notable experiences, she caught the travel bug. Now, she wants to give her children the memories, benefits, and experiences that stem from travel, but she realizes this is much easier said than done.

"Traveling with kids is the best, but it's 10 times the work," Samantha tells Only In Your State. "When you're coming back [from the beach] and you have the stroller, the diaper bag, and the sandy baby, and everyone's tired, and you're tired, you're thinking this is not restful … but you look back on it and think, that was the best."

Samantha explains that when traveling with children, you don't have the comforts of your own home. You don't have the same schedule, and your children don't know where they are. The days can be long.

"But it's worth it," Samantha says. "It's always worth it."

So, what are a few tricks to build happiness and harmony while traveling with kids?

Maintain a Strong Morning Routine

Your mornings will set the tone for the rest of the day, and Samantha recommends you establish a strong morning routine even while on vacation. These few extra moments allow you to prepare for all activities, challenges, and situations you may find yourself in later in the day.

"Basically, be prepared for everything going the opposite of how you think it should go," she says.

Establishing this morning routine may start as early as when packing for your upcoming vacation. You can utilize items such as packing cubes to pack all items needed for a certain day or activity together. A healthy breakfast is also vital. Nobody wants to spend time with hangry adults or children.

Get Yourself in the Right Mindset 

When traveling, unexpected situations are bound to arise. You may have flat tires, flights may be delayed, or you might find yourself surrounded by people with difficult personalities. No matter what the situation may be, when you feel anxious, tense, and uneasy, Samantha said to tell yourself, "Okay, I'm just going to be calm."

Of course, this isn't always easy and it will take some practice. You may need to pause and take a few deep breaths or stop and focus on your surroundings. Take a few minutes to step into a positive mindset and center your attention on things that bring you joy in that particular moment.

Remember, "there's no finish line. It's gonna start again tomorrow," Samantha says.

Follow Through on the Important Stuff

When on vacation, it is easy to become lax with things such as nap time, or you may find your children eat way more junk food than usual. However, for happiness and harmony when traveling with children, follow through on what's important and don't sweat the other things.

For example, you still want your children to be respectful to themselves and others, maintain their table manners, complete daily tasks like brushing their teeth, etc. This will help reduce some anger and frustration as a parent. Know what is important to you before your trip, and try to remain consistent from trip to trip. Kids thrive with consistency.

Although, it’s not just young children who need consistency — you do too. Remember to also follow through with things that are important to you. What brings you joy and happiness? Is it daily exercise or meditation? A cup of coffee each morning? A hot shower before you climb into bed each night? When you don't take care of yourself, you'll struggle to help your family members. You cannot fill from an empty cup.

Whether you travel across the country or you are visiting the next town over, traveling with children can be tiring, overwhelming, and so much work. However, as Samantha says, "it is the best." It is worth the extra packing, the tired moments, and the longer days to see the smiles, the curiosity, and the wonder on the faces of young kids. It is creating memories that you'll never want to forget.

This article is part of our Known Traveler series where we highlight creators who share inspiring travel and lifestyle content. Check out the full edition for Wellness Wanderers.