Travel Tips

How do you travel with kids you may ask? You’ve come to the right place! It seems like we’re always catching a flight with two toddlers (we stopped counting after Joaquin’s 100th flight), schlepping car seats and diapers all across the world. Our biggest advice for traveling is bending before you break. All the planning and organizing seems hopeless after a meltdown or cancelled flight, so there’s a lot of room for going with the flow. We’re constantly learning new things about the kids and how to make things easier, but we wanted to share some of our tried and true tips that we use when traveling with toddlers.

Luna thriving in the Parisian time zone

1. Time Zones 

We keep kids on West Coast time. If you’re going East this is awesome because they wake up later and don’t miss a beat when you get back home. The trick is you have to keep it dark.

2. How To Keep It Dark

Quick and easy for hotels is the hanger trick. But If you want to get hard core, you can buy these temporary blackout paper blinds. We keep a few in the suitcase. When worse comes to worse, foil and some tape work great too.

3. Make It Fun!

Is there a treat or toy or dare I say, screen, they don’t get often? Save it for travel days. We keep a special bag of Legos, a few halfway healthy treats (no one wants a sugar crash on a trip), and an iPad that only come out on long trips. Joaquin gets excited and tends to be on his best behavior to get to have these things on travel days. Super pro move: keep some unused balloons in your carry on.  When all else fails there are a million entertaining things you can do with a balloon in an airport or hotel room and it takes up no space in a bag. 

4. Keep It Small

If you travel or are on the move at all invest in a stroller that breaks down super small and fits in an overhead. No need to wait for your stroller at gate check and easy to get in and out of small restaurants and along small sidewalks. Or even to just have in the car. We love our Babyzen. We check all the car seats and go light. (Check out our full airport post here).

5. The Crib

Most hotels have Pack ‘n Plays or cribs if you call in advance!

6. Snacks Snacks Snacks 

Pack lunches and snacks. A peanut butter and jelly holds up nicely in a diaper bag and is easy to eat basically anywhere.

7. Bend Before You Break

Be flexible and have a good attitude. Travel necessitates a certain amount of going with the flow. Flights might get delayed, hotel rooms might not be ready, diapers don’t hold up. It all happens and it’s all going to be ok. But the point isn’t getting from A to B as much as it is about the memories (even when you’re just getting from A to B). Kids are portable and adaptable and will pick up on your vibes so if you expect them to have good attitudes while traveling, make sure you’re modeling one as best you can.

Traveling Tips From Doctor Motley

We were lucky enough to visit Doctor Motley when we were in Nashville! Joaquin was dealing with a cough and had a fever the day before, so Doctor Motley helped us with tips to stay healthy on the road. Here are Doctor Motley’s travel tips:

Traveling with toddlers can be the most fun, but it can be the most stressful. It’s inevitable that your little one(s) will crawl on an airport floor, touch a dirty door handle, or sprawl out on a green room floor...and to finish it all off, put their hands in their mouth. 

Travel to some parents can pretty much guarantee that their child will get some form of bug or the sniffles. It doesn’t have to be this way. Building the immune system to fight off incoming viruses or bacteria should be a priority for your child, but ALSO FOR YOU.

The most significant way to build a toddlers immune system is to incorporate basic vitamins and minerals in their daily regimen. I do suggest using liquid forms of supplementation for them since it would be easier for YOU and them. This regimen can be placed all in a small cup of water, low-sugar juice, coconut milk, breast milk, etc.

These are nutritional suggestions, they have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

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Thank you so much Doctor Motley for all the help! Check out his information here!

Watch the video below to find out about Doctor Motley, and all of his helpful tips!

Tour Prep Packing List

Oh, the joys of packing…with an overflow of organization and everything done in a timely manner. Said by no one ever. While tour dates are known very early on, there is still the tradition of the results of frantic procrastination on Tour’s Eve. Is it 10pm the night before we leave for 6 weeks? Yes. Is there a suitcase filled with only vacation hair accessories and a lonely sock? Of course not. (Narrator: the suitcase was indeed very empty.)

While we’re not here to present a perfect and timely packing guide, we would still like to share how we go about getting ready for a big trip. Making sure we have everything from top to bottom is a daunting task, but creating a list and slowly checking things off is a great team effort. Involving the kids allows them to be helpers, and also ensures they have their favorite bedtime books and toys to bring on the bus. One of Joaquin’s favorite ways to prep for tour is going on an inaugural Target trip, and picking out bedding for his bunk. In the past he’s chosen super hero, Minions, and shark sheets…we’ll keep you updated on what his official bedding is this tour.

Here are our essentials for packing!

Become a surveillance pro with Vtech monitors and Nest Cams. We bring these monitors everywhere we go, and are great for when we’re hanging outside the bus after a show or when we’re in a hotel for a day off. We tape up a Nest Cam in Joaquin’s bunk and in the master room for Luna. After linking to an iPad or phone, we have a perfect view of the kids, and also proves to be very entertaining. The Hushh White Noise Sound Machine is also awesome to travel with since it’s so small, and can be put in the stroller for portable nap time.

| Converse Toddler Shoes | Converse Baby Shoes |

Joaquin’s backpack is like Mary Poppin’s bag. There are many knick knacks, crayons, and half eaten snacks tucked in there. We got this awesome Parkland backpack is Toronto on the last tour, and has been accompanying us on trips ever since. With so many different travel bags it’s great for Joaquin to have his very own, especially on an airplane when he can get out whatever he wants to play with. One of his favorite toys inside is a mini Lego brick backpack, which holds the perfect amount of Lego’s. It’s awesome for quiet time in the afternoon or the greenroom.

We love book time before bed, so Joaquin picks out his favorites to bring with us. We store them at the end of his bunk or in his drawer in the bunk room.

| Honest Diapers | Honest Wipes |

Just pack enough for a million diaper changes.

Joaquin’s Tumi suitcase is a must for traveling, and can easily fit in the Junk Bunk. We also recently started using packing cubes, which is a game changer. It’s so much easier to separate clothes for each kid, and can be easily transferred to their bunk or hotel room.

Couch Break!

Check out the packing list below to help with organization, and comment below on other essentials you bring on trips!

We’re so excited to begin our journey for The Touring Toddler, and can’t wait for you guys to follow us on the road. Cheers to the first post!