COMPETITION TO WIN A FAMILY TRAVEL KIT
Travelling can at times be stressful and when you add young adventurers into the mix and it can sometimes seem like an impossible task. However, after numerous trips all over the world with our adventurers we have learnt that a little preparation (and organisation) goes a long way. After years I have learnt that having some very vital essentials to hand means that tantrums and public meltdowns (by the adults!) can by avoided and I can honestly say that travelling as a family can be a great experience for everyone.
So we have teamed up with Travel Republic, one of the largest and most established online travel agents in Europe to bring you this fantastic competition to win a family travel kit with all the essentials that will make your travelling days easier. The prize for the winner will be the actual #familytravelkit which will be valued at £50 and will include our suggestions below and your ideas too. To start off the competition,we have chosen £30 of things that both the fiveadveturers and Travel Republic thought would be essentials that needed to be included in a #familytravelkit. What we now need you travelling mums & dads (and travelling children) to do is to let us know would you would include for the additional £20. Base your suggestions on what you would include if you were going on holiday (4-5hours in the airplane). The most imaginative and original idea will be chosen as our winner!
So in our #familytravelkit we would have:
Essentials
- Basic Medical Kit (including Calpol Sachets, Paracetamol, plasters, head thermometer)
- Wipes (these things are great whether you have babies or not!)
- Antiseptic wipes
- Tissues
- Swiss Army knife (remember to pack in your main luggage as Doc has his confiscated)
- Extra carrier bags (as you will always have spills and mess, the older ones seem to more liable for messes)
Snacks
- Raisins & Nuts
- A selection of other durable treats (that won’t melt, squash and break in your bag)
Entertainment for younger travellers
- play doh tubs (these are a life saver in restaurants and in queues and you can put them back into the box)
- Hardback note books (these can be used to sticking in things for younger children or as journals for older ones)
- Colours (Crayons or Pencil crayons are the best)
Book from the bestsellers list (that you have been meaning to read but never get chance to) just in case you have 5 minutes to have a quick read 🙂
Now over to you, how would you spend the additional £20 to make our essentials kit complete for any #familytravelkit that you are doing! Its very simple to enter you can either comment below, leave a comment on our facebook post here or tweet us @fiveadventurers with your ideas. Remember to use the #familytravelkit so we all know that your entering 🙂 Competition will close on 24th March 2015 so get your thinking hats on 🙂
What a great comp. I would get a Yum Box, so I could put several snacks in it without it squashing. I would also add a sticker muriel pack, and last but not least, a trunk travel pillow.
Hi Ting, thanks for commenting, such fantastic ideas, they all look great. Good luck for the competition 🙂
#familytravelkit
I would also pack international travel chargers.
They are fairly cheap. wouldn’t want to pay extortionate prices from the airport!
I would put in a packet of boiled sweets, cheap headphones just in case the plane don’t provide them for free, a travel cushion, magazines and a pack of cards. #familytravelkit
Hi Zara
Thanks for entering and fab comments. I like the emergency headphones, always good for iPads during travel too. Good luck for the competition!
#familytravelkit
definitely take my kindle or a few books to read whilst on the plane, and for the beach.
Hi, thanks for entering. The kindle would be a little more then the £20 spend but books are always a fab thing to include in all travel kits 🙂
Good things in there. I would always travel with a sewing kit for any clothing emergencies..
#familytravelkit
Fab idea Zoe and many thanks for entering! Good luck :}
#familytravelkit Having just retuned from our skiing trip. My essentials would be: Squeezy fruit like Crushed, easy to pack £4 for 4, colouring book £1, snack some choc bars for treats £2.99, little plastic sandwich bags (sick bags, sweet bags, packing bags etc) £1. Aquadoodle Mini Mats £2.99 (so easy to keep using) Hand sanitiser £0.99 (bad toilets,illness, no toilets!) pack of cards £2.99 and for us Marmite (kids will eat anything if I put that on!) £1.65 Suntan cream (even a small one) £2
Completely agree with the wipes and the calpol sachets, whatever the age of the kids! Love the pay dough tubs idea.
always take travel scrabble along, you just cannot go wrong and also a pack of playing cards, endless possibilities!
Angela, those are fantastic ideas! I think i may need to get me a travel scrabble for our trip to Thailand. will add to my packing list and good luck for the competition!
I would suggest buying little mini presents for them to open every half an hour/hour to keep them interested in something new but your not expecting them to concentrate on the same thing for the whole journey, just remember to save some for the trip home too! Pound shops are great for low cost ideas.
Hi Amanda, what a fab idea. mini presents would be such a great way to keep children happy and entertained, I think i will definitely add some to our bag for our long haul flights. Good luck with the competition!
I’d take a guide book so I know where to take the children and a few packs of Carddies which we’ve found really useful for entertaining the children at restaurant tables.
Hi Helen, Carddies are fantastic and would entertain kids for hours. Guide books are great too especially when your travelling with younger children and preparation is always helpful and also when there is a change in plans you can find something else just as quickly, Good luck with the competition. 🙂
#familytravelkit
1) A couple of inflatable pillows
2) Games to play on the road. It’s a family time for us, so we try to make the most of it and enjoy playing fun and challenging games which don’t require play materials.
3) Small hair dryer (in any case)
Hi Gulnora
Thanks for entering and what great ideas. so simple but would make for such a fab holiday and I love the small hair dryer idea 🙂 Good luck!
I would add Piriton for allergies abroad, a wheres wally type sticker book, and a new action figure for make believe travel for the toy on the journey
Hi Kate
Thanks for taking part, love the ideas, especially the Piriton, Doc has hayfever which really kicked off in NZ, they sold allergy tablets for £20 in the local pharmacy we found. The experience made me cry hahahah, so we always pack some now. My little adventurers would love the action figure those are always a hit in our house! good luck with the competition.
I don’t tend to travel light but my main priorities are always medicines…. After calpol and nurofen sachets I think Imodium capsules (over 12’s) and antihistamine cream/savlon (versatile and very handy especially for bites or heat rash) are a must. I never go anywhere without alcohol hand gel better than touching mucky taps.
A hoody with pockets (esp for the flight) and crocs type footwear (they are easy to wear n comfy – don’t have to be the branded ones) are a must for children.
I always have a set of passport photocopies on hand with me just incase.
The flight is where most mums struggle and I think making your child’s ideal packed lunch from home works! You know what your child will eat and a hungry child makes an unhappy child. It’s as important as the entertainment. Besides once they’ve eaten they might even sleep. Apart from that Pringles, pasta mug snacks, and cereal bars are handy. Next time I’d take squash (maybe Robinson’s travel packs), as too much fresh juice and fizzy drinks is asking for a sore throat n cough… Really missed it this time but then other children might be content with water.
Oh and you can’t forget nappy bags…… Handy for all sorts.
#familytravelkit
Hi Rabz
Wow, what a detailed list and I thought I was organised! love the ideas, especially the set of passport copies and the packed lunch. We will be taking one this time as the little adventurers don’t really like the flight food. Love the nappy bags, cheap and infinite number of uses. Good luck with the competition!
Activity books, small puzzles and some card games – you need some stuff for older kids too!
Hi Sarah
Thanks for entering Sarah, fab ideas! good luck with the competition!
A must for me is a packet of nappy wipes…handy for absolutely anything, along with the bags. Kids snacks and mini etch sketch type thing….my kids love to doodle and this keeps thrm entertained for ages. My daughter loves the sticker activity books, good for learning as well as fun. A must for me tho would be my glasses! I wear contacts and im as blind as a bat. So should i lose one or get dry eyes then im in trouble!!
Hi Sabina, great ideas especially the Etch ketch idea, my little adventurers have a big one at home and would love a small one! great ideas and lets hope you never forget those glasses! Doc is the same, his essentials are: glasses and contact lenses set. He has that and apparently we are all set to go….
I would add a torch and a Swiss army knife. We never leave the house without them and they have helped us in so many different situations! #familytravelkit
Love the idea of this competition, you have quite a comprehensive list on there. I would add a travel sewing kit, a small tin of Vaseline, a hairbrush as travelling makes everyone look a mess and finally a book. Your child’s favourite book.
Hiya
Just found your blog and I was so impressed. Love the articles and you write really well! Fab completion and great to see brands like Travel_Republic working with newer
Blogs. Right on my list I would have sunglasses for the kids, we always forget them and they are a lifesaver, puzzle books like dot to dot and a book like sudoku for parents.
Hey! Just saw the competition on the Travel Republic Twitter page. My wife does the packing in our house and we would always have a spare pen, whether to fill forms in or just for any emergencies, a small vanity kit, my kids always have bashed toes and nails need to be cut and some ear plugs for home plane.
Hi Alan
Honestly, a simple pen is often the most elusive of things especially in airports! We have been stuck in huge queues waiting for a pen when trying to fill in landing cards. We now always travel with a few spare. thanks for entering 🙂
We travel loads with our children and find that small things make the difference, small treat bags, small presents, give them every hour or so and it works wonders to the children!
Hi Justine, thanks for entering and good luck. Fab ideas 🙂
Hiya Nisbah
Love reading the blog and have been thinking for a while about what I would put in. My son is older now so we always pack a new book, we find one that he enjoys and give it to him before we go on a journey, its great and will occupy him for hours. When he was little we loved the story cubes, so much fun and the story options are endless. I would also recommend a small blanket as sometimes the children can get really cold and it helps to get the children comfy on long plane journeys.
fab ideas! We love the story cubes too and always have them around at weddings. they can be played anywhere with any number of children and are perfect for the handbag! good luck 🙂
I think I’d get a colouring book and crayons, a couple of books and some fuzzy felt. Remember that? Just a few pieces of felt provides hours and hours of fun! Making up stories with it has no end of possibilities, and it’ll be great for encouraging imaginative play when space is limited. #familytravelkit
Hi Karen
What a fantastic idea, fazzy felt is fab, i had totally forgotten about it!! I will have a google and add them to our packing list! great idea and good luck!
Hiya, we travel lots long haul back to Kenya so we always have a few things;
Spare t shirts, spill and sick can happen all the time
Colouring books
Sweets
New toy
Pillow as normal neck pillows won’t do it for kids and it also means you can cover up the arm rest
Hiya
We love to travel with our children and our favourite things are
small lunch box of treats, as the children behave, they are allowed to choose one each.
new sticker books
book that has an attached pencil or pen!
#familytravelkit
Hi Steven
Many thanks for entering and great ideas. I love the idea od a treat box and rewarding good behaviour! good luck 🙂
We always have the following:
Antiseptic hand cleaner
Nappy bags
Lego in small boxes with cards for ideas of shapes to make
Keyring torch for emergencies
Wrist bands so you can write details on them when you go out in case children were separated from you
I have been thinking loads about this and I would add:
Empty drink bottles, always good to have when your out
Journal for the children to make a scrap book of
Colours
Snacks
We always have:
Snacks
Favourite book
Teddy
Blanket
We always take ear plugs, hard boiled sweets, pens, paper and plastercine. Great post btw, got some great ideas for our future travels.
We love travelling with our children and would pack:
Treats, nothing beats treats
Colouring books but not the huge ones, a5 ones
Spare ear phones
A new DVD if we are going on a car journey
I would add stickers, a small puzzle and some kids headphones. I found these very very helpful when we took my 18 month old on our 9 hour flight.
Its great to make use of the things on the plane too, the little plastic drink cups you get to stack/look through, pour water into.
Also take some spare clothes in ziplock bags for each person in case of sickness/ spills etc