Travel tips for adventurous families

Discovering travel destinations that are truly are family friendly takes a bit of searching and preparation. However, with a little planning and the right attitude, almost any destination can be fun.

Keep Your Children Occupied

Planning ahead for a long plane, car, train or bus ride can save you a lot of aggravation. Make sure you have the right diversions for your trip. A bag or small storage bin of simple, fun, unique items that your children haven't seen recently should do the trick. Another way of starting the trip off with a happy crew is to give each child a stapled shut brown paper bag with a few treats and small toys just for them. For inspiration, check out our partners' online shops:

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Making family travel more comfortable

Whoever designed standard hotel rooms did not have three kids. So we normally look for alternative arrangements. Luckily, we have found that suite hotels or condos work wonders. For a consistently good experience, try a Residence Inn or Embassy Suites. We love the extra space, spare bathroom and kitchen that these formats provide.

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When my oldest son was a baby, we purchased a Marriott Vacation Club two-bedroom timeshare in Orlando and it has been a great treat. He has always called it his "hometel" because he misunderstood "hotel". We think it is adorable, because it is so true - this family friendly resort has grown to be our hometel away from home. This arrangement provides you with deeded property that you can pass to your children (every club is different, but this is the case with Marriott), guaranteeing your family quality, affordable, memorable vacations for life!

The fact that it forces you to take a great vacation once a year or so became very important as we added to the family ranks. Through an arrangement with Interval International, we've been able to trade the units in for trips to Aruba, Williamsburg, VA and southern California as well. Of course, we love Orlando too, so we go back every other year or so and tackle a different park or two.

If you are interested in considering a vacation club, there are usually incentive trips available throughout the year. However, before sitting through the sales presentation at the facility, explore these eBay listings. By purchasing through eBay, you will likely save thousands of dollars.

Travel in Packs

With three kids and a large extended family, we've found it very convenient and fun to invite a family member along with us. We get an extra set of hands and they get free room and board. And, since we all live quite a distance away from each other, we get much more time than usual to be together. Our kids (and their Grandmother, Aunts, Cousins and Uncle) love it. We've also traveled with other families and a babysitter. However, everyone tolerates this type of togetherness differently. For us it works. Consider how you'll fare with a larger group of people.

Sensible Eating

When you have picky eaters, you hate to spend even $7.95 a head on grilled cheese, even in a family friendly park or restaurant, when you could make a raft of them for the whole family on that budget back at the hotel. Lunches out are usually more affordable and convenient when you are trudging through an amusement park. Especially with young children, you may want to go home and order in or whip up a simple dinner.

Packing for a crowd
Pack light! I've been known to pack 3-4 days of clothes for my family of 5 in two carry-on bags. Each child gets to carry their own small backpack of toys, books, and electronics. The baby carried his own diapers and wipes in his backpack once he could walk well.

The great thing about our normal travel destinations is that we can wash clothes in the room, so a few days of clothes can last us a week and we can repack clean clothes for the trip home.

Shop at your travel destination

Buy diapers, wipes and formula and stock up on drinks, snacks, cereal and lunch supplies when you get there at a local Target or Walmart. Look for local specialties like Disney autograph books in supermarkets - they will be half the cost of the ones you'll find in the parks and you won't be standing in line waiting to buy one when your moment with the mouse arrives. Buying an inexpensive pool noodle and a few things to dig in the sand will help pass the time and keep your kids from pillaging other families' loot.

Here are some of the fantastic places we love to take our three kids:

New York City
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