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Let’s start today with a little story time. This story takes place long before Trooper came around so it was just me and Brent flying to Denver, Colorado.

It might not be a surprise to learn that I am the planner of our family so that means that I usually make all of the flight reservations. We were heading to Denver for a particular event that I can’t remember now, but I do remember thinking, “Ok, we’ll fly out the day after that birthday party we’re invited to.”

So, we show up at the airport and the stupid computer can’t find our ticket. I was getting so frustrated until I looked at the print out and realized that our flight had actually been the day before. 

This was a mortifying experience for me, a planner!

We had to tuck our tails between our legs and go up to the counter and admit that we had, in fact, come to the airport the wrong day. The agents were very kind, teased us a little bit, then got us on a flight that left 7 hours later.

We spent the day in the airport, eating at the yummy restaurants and walking around to look at all the shops. It was a frustrating and boring day, but we thought that once we were on the plane, that would be the end of it.

Sadly, that was not to be. We got to Denver 7 hours later than we had planned, but we got there. We picked up our rental car and started our way to our destination.

As Brent drove down the road, the car in front of us drove over a piece of tire - you know the big pieces of tires you see on the side of the road from 18 wheelers? Well, that piece of tire flipped up and smashed our windshield. Luckily, Brent was as calm as a cucumber and got us to the side of the road.

But that was our worst travel day ever. I can still remember how I contemplated getting a new rental car and just driving home. (We didn’t drive home. We ended up staying and having a wonderful time, and checking the date and time for our flight home every few minutes!)

Things happen when we’re vacationing that we can’t plan for. Hopefully they’ll just be inconvenient, but sometimes they’re a bit more serious so over the years, I have put together a list of things that I do that calm my anxiety when it comes to travel. Maybe some of these suggestions can help you!

As we learned from our missed flight, I always double (and probably triple) check our flights so that I can make sure that we actually made them for the date and time we thought we made them for. We have found that this is a really good idea post-COVID because we’ve had flights change times or even be canceled with no notice. (I honestly think we would have gotten a notice, but I just happened to check before the notice went out, but you never know!) 

I’ve learned to be as nice as possible. I can be what my grandma used to call a hot head sometimes, so this is not always easy for me. Thankfully Brent compliments me perfectly in this as he rarely gets mad, so once I can tell that I might say something that will not be at all helpful, I pass the baton to him. A little kindness can go a long way!

Once we figure out where we’re staying at our destination, I will always look up where the nearest urgent care and hospital is. We were once on the Washington coast and someone got hurt on the beach and it was nice to know where we needed to go, though it was 45 minutes away!

Bring a little kit of things you might need. Not necessarily a first aid kit, though it does have some of those things in it, but a kit with what WE might need for OUR family. I always have this kit in my purse or car. It has band aides, ointment, lip balm, clippers, stain eraser, etc, etc. I put things in there that my family tends to need. But you can put whatever works for your family in yours. I really like clear bags for this kit. Then I can see where the thing is I’m looking for. Take a look at our Instagram this week, @ready.set.depart, for an example of what I’m talking about.

I do often worry about what we’ll do if we get sick while on vacation. I try not to think about it, but it’s a possibility and having a plan isn’t a bad idea. I always take children’s Tylenol with us, along with a thermometer, whenever we travel. That way, it will give us a little time to get anything else we need. Utilizing Instacart is a great way to get any medicines or food you might need. Can we just talk about how great food deliveries are? Do you use them where you are? Have you used them on vacation?

We tried it one time long ago when it was just becoming a thing and it turned out that the driver just took our order home, so that wasn’t the best experience. But since then, we’ve had a lot of great experiences with food delivery! 

Oh, and on a side note, I love grocery pick up when we’re traveling, or even when we’re not. It’s so nice to just order online, pick it up, and then keep having fun! 

I am also a big proponent of Vitamin C, disinfecting wipes, and hand sanitizer when we travel. We once all got the stomach flu at the same time and I still have nightmares about it. So, we will definitely be the ones who clean off any place we will touch on the plane when we sit down. We will always hand sanitize after a ride at Disneyland. And we will always have our Vitamin C! 

When we travel for multiple weeks, either on a cruise or on our own, we always get travel insurance. Travel insurance is good for two things. If you get sick at home, you can cancel your trip and get the money back. And if you get sick when you’re on vacation, it will pay for your care there and or your transportation back home. BUT, be sure to read the fine print. Not all travel insurance is the same!

I unfortunately have a problem with blisters when we are traveling. Especially if we are in a hot climate. Blisters do not make anything fun! BUT we have come up with a, if not fool proof method, at least a good one when it comes to blister prevention. I think it’s important to note that mole skin doesn’t stick on me well, but I know that many people have lots of luck with mole skin. But if you don’t, here’s what we do. We put the liquid bandage stuff on the “normal” blister places. Then over the top of that, we add a product called Body Glide. We got it at REI and it adds a barrier between your skin and your shoe. With these 2 products, I have greatly reduced my blisters, which has made me much happier!

We all get lost sometimes, but this is something that can be both scary and frustrating when you’re traveling with your littles. Trooper hates being lost, even in our own town, so we have learned to watch what we say when we get lost. Do you have that problem too?

Our phones have amazing GPS’s but sometimes even those let us down. I’ve found that my GPS doesn’t work as well when we’re in a city with tall buildings or in the mountains. So, whenever we’re going to one of those places, I make a special effort to screenshot the route, just in case.

My mom’s friend loves to take cruises all around the world, but she admits that she has a terrible sense of direction. So she brings along her Tile tracker, leaves it on the cruise ship, and then when it’s time to head back, she just follows the instructions to get back to the ship. Brilliant!

The weather can be such a deterrent when you’re traveling in the spring or fall, or hurricane season, or tornado season, or the rainy season, or the hot season…I think you get my drift. But I don’t think it needs to be! 

If you’re traveling to the South East from May to November, know that there could be a hurricane. And, honestly, look into travel insurance. You can get travel insurance specifically for hurricanes and it might not be a bad idea. Most cruise ships can go around a hurricane but sometimes depending on where it hits land, your cruise may be canceled. So pay attention to the weather and be prepared to change your plans.

We went to Redwood National Park in April and one of the days we were there was POURING rain. Knowing that it was early in the season, I had baked in a “at home” sort of day so we just moved stuff around and stayed in that day. The rest of the week was AMAZING and we had the best time!