For This House
Every Season. Every Space. All for Him.
Every Season. Every Space. All for Him.
May 25, 2024 | 6 min read
Katie Vaniman, guest author
As a mother to three small children, I have two mantras I like to tell myself when things are either hard or don’t work for me like they have worked for others:
I share this because in this post I am giving advice on how to travel with small children and I want to acknowledge that traveling with little kids is hard AND not every tip on the internet you read will work for you…. potentially even my tips below – though I am hopeful it will be helpful to you in some capacity.
When I am planning and preparing for a trip I am often stressed and slightly overwhelmed, and then I will find myself beginning to regret booking the trip in the first place. And we all know looking forward to a trip is half the fun.
There are two basic things that I have found helpful in order to change my attitude so that I am less stressed and able to enjoy the moments leading up to the trip.
First, a shift in perspective and second, being prepared for the unexpected. I am a type B person who is very rarely prepared, so this has been a hard but necessary thing for me to learn.
These two things seem simple, but make a world of difference in order to turn the hard thing that feels impossible into the hard thing that feels manageable.
Let’s start with perspective—when my family travels, I have found that it’s important to identify why we chose to travel.
Defining and remembering the why helps shift my perspective from overwhelming to what really matters.
Here is my family’s why:
God has given my husband and I three wonderful children, with whom we want to experience life and adventures. So whether we are going on a day trip or across the country together, we look forward to creating those memories together. Additionally we value spending time with our extended family and we don’t live near our extended family. That means we have to travel to see them. Whether it’s a plane ride or a three hour car ride, we pack up and leave our home to visit them often. We are grateful for the family that God has gifted to us and making memories with them is incredibly important to us.
One of my favorite things about going anywhere with a small child is experiencing the world through their eyes. They might not get from point A to point B very quickly, but the flowers, the rocks, the grass, and all the little beautiful things they see on the way means we get slow down our fast pace and take time to experience it all too. So when we are in a new town, a new house, an airport, a hotel with a pool, we get to be a part of these new experiences WITH them. We get to experience God’s beautiful creation together, see things we might not typically notice, and find joy in the little things. Plus we get to do it all together, what an incredible blessing that is—I’ll always cherish those moments.
Traveling with littles has helped our family grow in both of these areas. All of us have to be flexible and go with the flow no matter the outcome. Even when those things don’t go as hoped, like an unexpectedly cranky toddler to an explosively poopy baby on a flight, you’ll find empathy and show grace to others you see in the same boat.
So when the overwhelm begins, I can take a breath, pray and ask God to work in my heart and help me remember our why.
Once I have the right mindset, that’s when I will begin to actually prepare for the upcoming trip. I used to wonder, “Okay what should I buy to make this go as smoothly as possible?”
And if you were to Google it, you’d find SO MANY products for traveling with small children. I have done my fair share of believing if I just buy X then things will go much smoother. Some things have worked well for us and others have been total flops.
Overall the 3 biggest things that have worked well for us is not the buying of or remembering to bring physical things, but three basic tried and true principles:
I tend to overpack. In the past, I have over-packed my clothes, my kids’ clothes, and their toys, and honestly a majority of the time over half of the stuff doesn’t get touched. Instead, we are hauling all these things with us for no reason.
Not only am I an over-packer, but I am also notorious for being late. So, one thing that I have had a lot of practice with since having kids is learning the importance of giving yourself ample time before leaving, or even leaving earlier than you think you should in order to get somewhere on time. And always have lots of snacks on hand, if possible, that way when you are waiting your kids have something to munch on. When you get places earlier, you build in time for the unexpected, and hence you are not as stressed out.
If you sleep train your child(ren) or you just really enjoy putting them to bed at 7:30 and having some free time in the evening before you go to bed, then this may feel like a daunting task. But when you travel, sleep will be harder to come by than normal. From sleeping in an unfamiliar location to time zone changes to falling asleep in the car at weird hours, I have found that it’s best to expect it all to happen and not get too bogged down by their “schedule”. And when I do this, it leads to a less stressful experience.
While it’s not always possible to do this, it is honestly so amazing to have more space; a dining table to eat at, a kitchen where you prepare food and snacks, and to have your kids sleeping in a separate space from your room and the living room so you don’t all have to go to bed at the same time.
I pray that no matter what season you find yourself in, that you can find joy in the journey—whether your travel takes half an hour or half a day.
As Jonathan Darville writes in his post Made to Travel: Traveling in Biblical Perspective, “…even if we never physically travel more than five miles, we are on a spiritual pilgrimage to a destination infinitely more glorious than any five-star accommodation: “as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’” (1 Corinthians 2:9). And our identity and value are not determined by our travel itinerary (even our eternal one), but by our union with Christ.”
God is good. He will humble you if you let him in your heart and look to him—no matter where you go or what you do, whether you travel or stay home. He is there with you working in you and through you.
And if you choose to look to him in those difficult, humbling moments, he will always bring you through it and you will find true peace and joy in Him.
Happy travels!
Katie resides in the Pacific Northwest in the small town of Lynden, WA and currently serves in her church’s Preschool Ministry. She is married to an amazing husband and they have three beautiful kids. When she isn’t folding laundry or doing dishes you might find her exploring outside, reading a book, or baking.