As Christmas approaches some of you will be thinking of
making a trip back to your homeland. If you have
children or babies to take
with you, this may seem daunting. You can probably already hear the groans of
passengers as you and your offspring approach a seat near them.
I heard one young man say, “My flight is going to be
terrible now.” I felt for the mother and
hoped that she didn’t hear the comment, though I thought I saw her clench her
jaw. I empathised with the young man just a teeny bit. A constantly screaming
baby is hard to be near but so is a drunken young man, which he had the
potential to be.
Since immigrating to New Zealand from England, I have flown
long-haul flights with all ages and stages of babies, toddlers, children and
teenagers. The journey is two twelve-hour flights with a variety of hours in
transit in between. As my youngest is now a teenager, most of the travelling with
children was before those marvellous individual screens for in-flight
entertainment.
Individual screens or not, the journey can be hard. The
prospect of it can be overwhelming. The journey is worth it though, and the
more you are prepared the easier it is. Here are a few tips for travelling with
children that worked for me, particularly on long journeys.
