MOMVERSATION MONDAY (Sort of): Savvy Travel Tips From Bravo's Cortney Novogratz

To all my fellow American bloggers and readers, I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
Which is why this Momversation Monday is coming to you on Tuesday!!

This topic I know is on the minds of parents now that school season is coming to an end. Travelling!

Momversation invited Bravo's Cortney Novogratz to join in on the discussion!

I know travelling for me is that dreaded planning activity that I'd rather leave for someone else to plan. I hate it! I hate planning for them, packing for them getting on a plane and all the stuff in between! Root canal sounds more pleasant than travelling with two kids under the age of 5.

I have two trips that we will be making this summer, Panama to visit my parents and back to Nova Scotia to drop the kids off with my in laws before Cpl. Mayhem and I go on a cruise in September.
Once our passports return Ducky, Chicky and I are heading to Panama (Keep watching my blog for amazing sights and stories!). I would have been gone by now but the I never thought I was going to leave so I never got their passports done. So as you can see I'm already going through the stress of travel and it hasn't even started!

Some great tips given in this discussion, going old school for games and entertainment for the kids. I love the board games you can take with you and my personal favorite are the one that have magnets on them. Small, compact and you can't lose any pieces unless someone decides to throw them across the plane.

Because my kids are are so young I will not be bringing board games with me. I find the electronics work better for this age group. Yes in some cases I can see electronics being more of a problem than a solution. But if I have to drive home in September I'm going for the electronic stuff I can't drive and be distracted by the craziness that is my backseats.

Cortney's story about her husband saying "If you turn on me we've got nothing!" Is a great point to add! United front while travelling is important. The last trip we had Cpl. Mayhem and I talked about some of the things we needed to be a united front about or someone was driving home early!

I love when my mom helps me pack. She has all the secrets!! I'll make sure to post the process of packing when we do it. One thing I like to do is pack some toys for them, especially for trips back home. This year I have given my kids a choice of 5 toys, nothing too big. My son list consists of his Ben 10 watch, Battle Force 5 cars (it's a set of 6, and he debated  how if he puts them in his pencil case they count as one! How can you debate that logic!), his sleeping buddy, and two other toys he gets to pick out before we leave.

My biggest tip for flying people- when you pack a carry on make sure to pack an extra set of clothes and the personal items (that you are allowed to carry) in case your baggage gets lost. Lets not pretend that it might not happen. Be prepared for it.

Before you travel research where you are going and ask people who have been there before their thoughts. My father and I have been planning my cruise with Cpl. Mayhem and I asked him everything about travelling on a cruise. I did go on one before with my family when I was teenager but I was not the one planning or paying for it. This time around I asked all the questions and searched everything for something perfect!

Reviews for hotels and cruises are there for a reason, use them!I thought I had found the perfect cruise for us, then my dad send me a link for reviews of that ship and they were not what I was expecting so we went with another one, the reviews we excellent and it wasn't a huge party ship.
Asking friends and family who have done the trip before helps you also avoid being taken for all you are worth! My parents have seen some of the sight we are going to on a similar cruise and they have given us places to visit that won't nickel and dime us but still be great to see!

One thing I learned from 1-2-3 Magic's disciplining video is that if you set a goal for your child they will try their best to behave. The creator's example was a 10 hour drive to Disney World. For every 30 minutes they behaved they got a buck towards their spending money, at the end of the trip they had earned 19 dollars and they had only one fight.

So what are your travel tips? Where are you going this year and how do you plan to keep it as peaceful as possible?