Look, food is life right?! It’s such an integral part of our lives and when travelling, we really do love to eat. But sticking to your usual mealtime routine with kids is hard, whether it’s an international holiday or a 4 hour road trip. When visiting foreign countries, it’s sometimes hard to find food that my daughter enjoys and let’s be honest, the novelty of a McDonalds nuggets happy meal does wear off eventually. She does enjoy a good curry and naan though (no surprise there) and we do tend to look for Indian restaurants no matter where in the world we are. Because there ain’t no food like home food.
But it’s also important to get them to eat healthy because the last thing you want is a constipated toddler on holiday – trust me! Let’s just say asking a pharmacist for toddler suppositories in Hong Kong isn’t as easy as one would assume.
Here’s are some of my favourite convenient and healthy toddler snacks to pack in our carry on and checked luggage when we travel abroad:
- Rhodes Squish (in multiple flavours)
- Nuts and Biltong
- Woolworths Quinoa Pop Chips
- Woolworths Fruity Bites (made with fruit juice)
- Woolworths Fruity Bites (dried fruit)
Disclaimer: you may not be able to take biltong into certain countries but you can most certainly enjoy it on the plane.
The odds that something will happen to complicate or derail your travel plans with the kids has become the norm rather than the exception. Children are prone to pick up nasty bugs on a good day, throw in some airports and multiple airplane rides, and you’ve got yourself a bed of germs. Before you embark on your holiday, ensure you dose your little one as much as you can (especially if they don’t get all the vitamins from their diet). A staple in our home is Vitamin C, a good multivitamin and probiotic. Unfortunately this isn’t a magic combo and our daughter does get sick from time to time.
On all our holidays, she has been relatively healthy with the exception of Barcelona. Now you’re going to want to know about our Barcelona experience, because I guarantee that you will ensure your medical travel insurance is active before departure.
On the morning of our departure from Cape Town, she had a slight sniffle. 24 hours later upon touching down in Barcelona it had progressed to a cold and 24 hours after that it had progressed to bronchiolitis. Firstly being in a country where English is not a first language and not widely spoke or understood made things difficult. Our hotel arranged for a doctor to visit us in the hotel room to decipher what was wrong (cost around R1500). He then suggested chest x-rays and other tests in hospital (the international one for tourists). We spent the first day of our holiday in a hospital to get tests done and have her on the nebuliser (R8000). She was discharged in the afternoon and we then had to purchase the medication she needed (R1500). So overall, the experience cost us over R10 000.
But luckily we were not phased at all because we knew we were covered through our medical travel insurance. If you’re on a medical aid, the chances of you getting free travel insurance are pretty high. We are on a hospital plan with Bonitas and are covered for R5 million in international travel medical expenses.
It’s not something many people think about, but when travelling with a child, it’s crucial. Their common colds can quickly turn into something more serious which then requires medical intervention and trust me, it comes at a premium price in most countries.
One of my goals, especially for my family, has always been to travel internationally once a year. I have managed to maintain that goal for a long time now, sometimes even squeezing in a second international holiday. It’s not something I brag about, but openly share because I am proud for achieving the goal thus far. Travel has always been important to me, and when something is important to me, I make it happen.
A question I’m often asked is how are we able to travel as often as we do. Look, we are not millionaires…far from it actually. We do okay but I always believe that if you want something badly enough, you’ll make it happen. Here are some of the affordable tips, tricks and just finance advice that’s enabled us to see so many countries over the recent years.
Prioritize and save. If someone wants something bad enough, they will do whatever it takes to make it happen. If you really want to travel internationally, even if it’s once every two years, you can make it happen. Reduce unnecessary expenses like eating out, buying new clothing etc. Once you start prioritizing travel you will be surprised at how quickly you can save for this.
Specials and deals. Sign up for airline newsletters and aggregators like Travelstart. All of my international holiday flights were purchased on a special. The cheapest flight I ever paid for was to India in 2013 and it cost me R4500. Emirates and Qatar flight sales happen often and if your leave is flexible then you’re guaranteed to pick up flights for next to nothing.
Save on accommodation. I found that using websites like Booking.com, Hotels.com and AirBnB are the best options when traveling. I will be honest, I’ve never used AirBnB for international holidays as I prefer hotels but you can save a lot with this option. If you do find a hotel that you like, always check their website for pricing too. Some hotels offer a discount if booked directly through them and throw in added benefits like free breakfast or free room upgrades. Such a score!
Miles and loyalty programs. If you’re a member of incentive programs like Discovery Vitality or FNB eBucks, make sure you investigate what discounts you can get on flights. We’ve used our 40% discount on Emirates flights quite frequently in the past. This can help you save a few hundred bucks, which means more money for your actual holiday. Sign up for airline miles and watch them accumulate. I’ve used my airline miles for a free flight once…it was great!
Let’s talk about food. Depending on where you go, food can be very pricy. I was shocked at how expensive food cost in places like Spain, Hong Kong and Mauritius. Try and stock up on items from the local grocery store. If your accommodation includes breakfast then try and have breakfast as late as you can so you may not need a big lunch. When we visit the U.S., one of the first things we do is go to Target or Walmart, apart for obvious reasons, but also to stock up on 6 packs of water and other goodies. Every time we left the hotel, we would take a few bottles of water and snacks, which meant we didn’t have to purchase these at expensive tourist destinations.
Online savings and coupon codes. Don’t underestimate the amount of coupon codes floating around the Internet. Check the Groupon for the country you’re visiting for discounted vouchers for food and experiences. You will be insanely surprised at how many tourist attractions and restaurants are discounted on Groupon.
I hope these affordable travel tips help or at least inspire you to travel. Travel is expensive, there’s no escaping it but it’s totally possible.
*There may be some typos in this blog…sorry, not sorry! Just a mama getting some writing done when I should be sleeping*
