Are We There Yet? Travel Tips For A Smoother Family Vacation

WAITSFIELD, VERMONT

Usually when they had their own families and attempted trips of their own. Resort Maps, creator of customized travel maps in more than 100 cities and towns across the U.S. and U.K. has some family travel tips that can help you optimize the pleasure of family trips and minimize the inconvenience.

'In a perfect world, every family trip goes smoothly and years later your memories center on where you went'Disneyworld or the Grand Canyon'rather than little Joey getting sick on the plane or on his sister in the car. But we all know the world is not perfect,' said Peter Hans, president of Resort Maps. 'There are some things you can do to prepare for the mini 'disasters' that happen on your journey so they don't impact the rest of your trip.'

Some of the areas to focus your pre-travel preparations include:

• Attitude ' expect a few snags and glitches both in packing and getting to and from your destination. By adopting a roll-with-the-punches approach, you really can keep the molehills from becoming mountains.

• Drugs ' there is never a drug store around when you need one. Keep this reality in mind when packing. Make sure to pack some travel size containers of cough syrup, cold or allergy medicines. Benadryl, in particular, is very helpful in getting sick children to rest comfortably on a flight or long car ride.

• Baby wipes ' even if the kids are out of diapers, wipes come in handy for a variety of quick clean ups.

• Zip lock bags ' make sure to carry a variety of sizes, which can have numerous uses. Oversized bags come in very handy for packing wet clothes.

• Night lights ' do not forget them, particularly if you're sharing a hotel room. A bad night for one of your kids means no sleep for the entire family and that certainly can impact fun activities.

• Scheduling ' if you're kids are younger, leave around the time they usually nap. This might buy you some extra quiet time for the drive. If flying, you may want to weigh the pros and cons of flying overnight. Sure, it will impact your zzz's, but it may beat entertaining a pre-schooler for six hours on a daytime flight.

• Flying ' utilize resources like SeatGuru.com to strategize where you want to sit (e.g. windows, aisles, front of the plane or back). Maybe you want to split the kids up to minimize the possibility of bickering and fights.

• Games, toys and other entertainment ' ultimately, the key to traveling with children means keeping them occupied. Whether it's playing their favorite DVD in the car, a deck of cards for the car or plane or finding some fun travel games (www.momsminivan.com has a list of 101 Car Travel Games and Road Trip Ideas for Kids), keeping your children entertained for as long as possible is the real difference maker in a good or bad trip.

'For many people, the memories of trips they took with their families last a lifetime. You'd be amazed at how a little bit of pre-planning, including having the right map of the town or city where you'll be staying, can go a long way towards ensuring that the memories of your family trips center on the fun you had and the places and things you saw,' said Hans.