Rain Clouds and Rainbows: Tales of Family Travel

 A Compilation of Travel Tales from our Friends

Photo credit:@dallasrobin

Traveling to new cities, states, countries or even continents can be such an adventure. Being able to explore new places, find a hidden waterfall or discover that your daughter's new best friend is the flight attendant that gave her an extra bag of cookies during flight is certainly a luxury. But, it’s not always luxurious.  Travel + kids can be full of sunshine and rainbows.  However, the clouds can still manage to move in and rain on your parade.  One thing for sure, the memories last for a lifetime!

We've compiled some happy rainbow and rain cloud moments from a few of our friends.  Hopefully, you enjoy the "weather" filled tales from traveling parents. 

When traveling with kids, preparation is key.  You have your kiddos favorite toys and blankie, countless diapers and more clothes than you could ever need for a five-day trip. Regardless of the prep-work, you just never know what may happen.  Take @littlemahina's rather rainy moment: "I packed 4 changes of extra clothes in my diaper bag & she blew out all of them before landing".

Photo credit:@ashcostanzo

They say that rainbows come after rain clouds.  In this case, it's certainly true.  @the.sunny.mama managed to find two rainbows during her family vacation: saw "a double rainbow in Hawaii when my son was 1! He loved it and kept waving at it!"

As you can imagine, not every trip to Hawaii ends with a rainbow.  After a truly enjoyable stay in paradise, @hillarymcafee had a rather long run-in with a rain cloud. “Redeye flight home from Hawaii: the four-year-old had uncontrollable night terrors.” Hopefully, between snuggles with mom and dad or cuddles with a favorite stuffed animal, her little one finally got some peaceful rest!

Photo credit: @caitlinholli

What's the secret to an enjoyable family vacation?  The secret is, there isn't one! Life is unpredictable and we're firm believers that you can find the "silver lining" in any experience. It was easy for @trishseggay to see the sunny side of travel.  She had all the right ingredients for a delightful drive to FL with her fam. "We drove 16 hours with a toddler.  He was sooo good for the whole trip.  We brought all the toys we knew he would want and he played with them the entire time!" Including his favorite Little Jurassics dinosaur, "that we named Bronto and he was just satisfied!"  If that’s not a rainbow moment, we don’t know what is!

All in all, traveling with kids can be hilarious, trying, exhausting and extremely enjoyable.  So, whether you’re going on an hour drive to grandpa’s or taking a 15-hour flight to Australia, know that every memory is worth making.  Plus, there are billions of other parents cheering you on, through every rain cloud and rainbow moment.

Happy Travels