What used to be hard about traveling with kids was how much gear I had to carry. Sometimes I felt like a pack mule, lugging umbrella strollers, car seats, and diaper bags filled with endless streams of toys to amuse my kids on airplanes. Plus I was usually carrying one or both of my kids as well.
What’s great about having tweens is that they can carry their own gear. (And themselves.) Luckily for me, that means most of my pack mule days are gone. Each of us has a backpack loaded up with our tech and a few snacks.
Besides our iPhones that my husband and I use for calling, texting, checking email and using social media, my kids also have iPod touches they carry, loaded up with their music and games.
I was recently able to use my iPhone to check-in and get a boarding pass QR code for one of my flights, which was super easy and convenient. I had been staying at a hotel and didn’t have an easy or inexpensive way to print my pass. The QR code worked perfectly and I sailed through security.
This didn’t work as well when traveling with my whole family, however. I was only able to get one QR code on my phone, so I still had to print out the rest of their boarding passes at the airport. I’m not sure of the reasoning for that, but it seems like a design flaw they ought to fix. A parent traveling with kids could really take advantage of this tech.
My kids are gamers, and being on a vacation does not seem to them to be a reason to stop. Luckily for them, besides their iPods (and let’s be frank, they also use my & my husband’s iPhones as well), they each have a favorite handheld device they carry. My youngest likes the Nintendo 3DS and my eldest goes for the PS Vita.
Each platform has its advantages, and clearly, its fans. But both are light enough for the kids to carry and not complain, and both batteries hold a charge for a good long time. Very handy when on cross-country flights or long drives.
I use my Macbook to write, of course, as well as to keep in touch via social media whenever I get a Wifi connection. I kept tabs on our flight status and booked our Amtrak tickets, plus I could email all our friends to make plans when we were coming to town. My kids get to use my old laptop now, and it acts as our DVD player with the help of a very inexpensive audio cable splitter from Radio Shack. Both kids can watch and my husband and I can get some quiet.
We are new to the world of e-Readers, but they are absolutely made for travel. Gone are the days of us lugging around a stack of heavy books! Now we have our iPad and a Nook GlowLight. Both are super handy and sooo much lighter than those books. Not that I have anything against books, perish the thought! But when you’re running through an airport trying to make a connection – or when you simply have a tired kid – the lighter the load the better.
I realize it probably sounds like we still carried a lot of gear, but remember that all of these things the size of a laptop or smaller – and that it’s divided by 4 backpacks. So the truth is, I’ll never mistake myself for a pack mule again.
{Full disclosure: I was given a Nintendo 3DS and a PS Vita for review. I won the Nook GlowLight in a contest, and the rest of the Tech I purchased.}
Sarah Auerswald is the co-Founder of MomsLA, a Community of over 120 of the Top Mom Bloggers in Los Angeles. She’s also a Tech Fiend, and writes about life with her 2 Tween boys at Sarah & Sons.
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