Traveling is no fun! Between the long security lines, cramped planes and nights in random hotels it can really wear you down. Isn’t the best part of travel getting back home? While you may think that traveling to a convention center in Denver to only see the room service guy and the floor of the convention center is so boring that it’s not worth talking about, your kids may actually feel otherwise. That’s right, to kids of all ages, travel is exciting. What kid doesn’t love a hotel room? My son is still talking about room 146 in Salt Lake City. We got stuck there traveling back from Lake Tahoe to Denver. It was a nondescript room in a nondescript hotel but wow did it leave an impression.
My point is that while you are away feeling annoyed and disconnected, your kids may be feeling otherwise. It’s hard not to feel disconnected from your family, especially on those longer trips. When I was Vice President of a consulting firm I spent my life on planes. I was either traveling to see a client or traveling for new business to a prospective client. I earned a lot of frequent flyer miles that year. I hated it! But, it was part of my job and momma needed to bring home the bacon. After every trip Liam would ask me where I went. To me, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and even New York seemed boring. After all, all I did was get off the plane, go to a hotel, pop out for a business meeting, go back to the hotel and then off to the airport…not glamorous (I did however get to eat some great food and experience some cool local flare but that’s a blog for another time).
Liam on the other hand thought it was cool that I went to all these strange sounding places. He wanted to see pictures. On one long trip across the US I realized something….every airport and every hotel has postcards. What better way to let my kids know I’m thinking about them and get them excited about all the places I visited! I began carrying postcards stamps in my wallet and the moment I got off the airplane I would buy a few postcards. In the cab I would write a note and by the time I got to the hotel I was ready to send. When I checked in I would ask the front desk person to mail the postcard. If it was a long trip I would send a few throughout the week.
Sometimes the postcards arrived while I was still away and other times they arrived after I returned. Regardless, my son loved getting mail from mom. We would then spend time talking about the pictures on the postcards and the weather in those cities.
Such a simple way to stay connected and use your oh-so-boring business trips as imagination sparkers.
Now every time we go anywhere as a family we buy postcards to send to ourselves. Liam picks them out at the airport (great time waster while waiting for bags) and when we get home we use them to talk about what happened on our trip. We talk about going on the boat, having dinner with grandma, staying at the hotel, etc.
To make it easy, just carry a sheet of postcard stamps in your wallet. Buy the postcards the moment you land and then mail them at the hotel.
BTW mom and dad – also great when you go on vacation and leave the little ones with grandma and grandpa. Who doesn’t love a picture of a crystal blue ocean, palm tree and sandy beach?!?
Tags: creative activities, creative play, engaging kids with travel, family travel, family travel activities, imagination, imaginibbles, kids imagination, kids travel, making travel fun for kids, postcards for kids, stay connected to family while travel, tamara kleinberg, travel games for families, travel games for kids, traveling with kids, unleash creativity, unleash family fun
