Mum hacks for travelling with kids in the school holidays

Family holidays are meant to be a time for relaxing, unplugging from your regular routine, and enjoying precious time with your kids. 

The reality is, for mums they tend to be a time of great stress, a sudden desire to day drink and uncontrollable crying and nobody wants that!

Which is why we've created our list of essential mum-hacks to help you survive school holiday travel!

We have all been there…the kids are fighting constantly in the backseat, the teenager is complaining about being bored, and the little one is crying inconsolably because they left their favourite toy at the last hotel.

We can’t seem to get a break from the mental load either.

Making sure nobody forgets anything essential, finding places to take a bathroom break, and picking restaurants that will satisfy everyone’s specific dietary preferences (including the three year old’s fear of anything green), means mums end up feeling more exhausted than ever.

Never fear - we got you - with our tips for school holiday packing essentials and planning tips and tricks. A bit of organisation goes a long way and pre-planning can alleviate many family meltdowns and help you have an enjoyable stress-free family holiday. 

Use a planning app

One of the hardest things about planning a holiday is keeping everything organised. There is so much information you have to think about. From sights you don’t want to miss to items you can’t forget, mums end up with an endless mental list to keep track of.

Don’t do that to yourself, you’re supposed to be on holiday!

Eggy planning app can take this burden off your shoulders. Let the app do all the hard work - it will send you email reminders, track your packing lists, and store valuable information about your trip. 

Turn your car into a home-away-from home

There’s nothing worse than going for a family picnic and having no rug, hats for the children or numbing cream when your child is screaming uncontrollably from an ant bite.

Turn your car into a home-away-from home and take comfort in the fact that you will be covered for every wild parenting scenario that is thrown your way.

Little things like having a bin in your car and checking your phone charger and phone holders are set up are a priority to keep you sane these holidays.

Turn your boot into a mini kitchen, medicine cabinet, and kids wardrobe!  We weren’t joking when we said make your car a home-away from home.

Get small tubs and create a survival kit - hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, snacks, water and a first aid kit.

Make sure you have your plastic-backed picnic rug, a beach umbrella, raincoats for when La Nina strikes, towels and a change of clothes and jumpers for everyone - including parents! 

Create a High-Tech Holiday Packing List

Help is at hand with your holiday packing lists.  Gone are the days where paper lists get lost around the house - Eggy has the perfect to-do list sorted.  

It’s simple - add your items, set up a fun ‘treasure hunt’ with the kids then tick ‘em and flick ‘em as you pack.  So satisfying.

Having your packing list on your phone can also be a lifesaver while you’re away on holiday. Simply open your list in Eggy to find exactly where you packed everything and that everything makes it home - no one wants that sinking feeling that Mr. Snuggles may STILL be enjoying the view from the holiday house balcony.

Whiling Away the Hours

Road trips mean spending hours at a time on the road and we all know that means bored kids and stressed parents.

Eliminate this pressure-cooker environment by creating a music playlist with fun, upbeat songs that everyone loves in the weeks leading up to your holiday.

Download audiobooks or podcasts that everyone will find interesting. In fact, the right audio entertainment can be just as much fun as watching a movie! 

And don’t forget to have your kids favourite movies ready to go on their iPad.

Be sure to download everything before you leave home too so you don’t eat up your data on the road. 

Tether Frequently Dropped Items

All parents know the fear that strikes when a child has dropped their favourite toy while you’re driving.

Try our simple but effective mum-hack. Simply tie a tether to your child's car seat and attach it to their favourite item. When your child does inevitably drop this item, all they need to do is pull the tether and it will be returned to them.

Shoe Organiser Hack

There always seems to be hundreds of random objects on the floor of the car during a road trip. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an easy place to organise all those items?

You can do this with an over-the-door shoe organiser. 

Hang them over the back of the driver and passenger seats to create cubbies for toys, pencils, colouring in books and fidgets. This will enable children to easily reach their favourite item, which will keep meltdowns at bay.

Schedule Fun Breaks into Eggy

Kids don’t do well when cooped up for hours on end in the car. They fight and throw tantrums largely because they’re fidgety and frustrated by having to sit in the one spot, which is understandable!

To cut down on this frustration, schedule regular stops and pack a couple of toys they can use for exercise. Perhaps a ball they can throw around or a skipping rope. 

Spend a bit of time researching kid-friendly stops on your road trip before you leave and pop it into Eggy.

Then relax and enjoy this part of your holiday! It might take longer to get to your destination, but you will enjoy the journey much more and arrive with your sanity safely intact.

Organising an Enjoyable Holiday

Life admin is hard and unfortunately it gets worse on holiday if you don’t have the right tools at hand. 

Let the Eggy planning app lighten the mental load. Organise your holiday packing lists and road-trip itinerary in one place. Don’t stress about forgetting something important, let Eggy handle it for you. There’s nothing like that set-and-forget feeling of being organised.

It really helps you relax and switch off and enjoy every precious minute of your family holiday.