Fulfilling Wish to Fly

Hi folks!

I always feel great when i am able to play the role of Fairy Godmother to fulfil the dreams of my closed ones (children, spouse, parents, siblings and even myself!).

This time, we've made our first maiden flying trip with 3 kids on tow! It's to fulfil the wish to fly for KY and I've chose a shorter distance for a start and it went on smoothly...thanks to all the sharing and read-ups I did before the trip!

As we are flying to an island which is approximately 45minutes away by plane for 4 days, here are the preparation and things we've prepared (coupled with the lessons learnt for next trip!).

1. Departure and Time of Arrival- Arrive earlier to allow ample time for kids and adults to rest. I've choose to arrive late afternoon so that we have time to shower, rest before moving on for dinner or stroll at the beach
2. Stroller or not? - DH is not a big fan of stroller though we did bring along our stroller during our Legoland trip. As this time round we're travelling with a group of family friends and their children, we reckon we won't have much space to place the stroller in the car. Besides, the location we're visiting not always stroller-friendly. Think hopping from land to sea(motorboat), walking down the stairs, etc. Thus, this time we travelled around with just our BabyNari HipHugger which is a great travel companion for us!
3. Baby Food - Initially i've packed only two food jar as I am not sure if ZS is keen on eating prepared food from the jar. Then upon hearing advice from a friend who just came back from Langkawi, I've added two servings of cereals, two servings of oats, plenty of baby snacks, buns, breads and seaweed. It all got polished off. As kids played a lot during travel trip and they tend to get hungrier too. Much more with other kids around, their appetite seems much better. So I am glad that i've packed just enough food for baby to eat along with us with zest!
4. Accommodation - We've booked an apartment with cooking facilities which is great! As we're able to cook some food at home and not having to eat out all the time! Just bring along some personal utensils would be sufficient.
5. Moving around- We've booked a 15-seater Urvan for 11 adults and some children. Our lessons learnt is book two 7 or 8-seater instead as some of our family friends do not have children and they would prefer to yamcha till late night outside, stay longer at the cafe and wouldn't really interested to visit places like UnderWater World, zoo, etc. Having a separate vehicle helped to make everyone happy!
6. Packing and Luggage Weight - As DH will be the only one carrying our luggage (be it check-in or hand-luggage), for this trip, i do not plan to save on check-in luggage as I wouldn't be able to help in carrying another heavy backpack as I would be carrying baby in baby carrier(in front) and another baby bag(at the back). So, for a family of 5 and 4 days trip, I've booked 25kg to and fro. Initially, I've only booked 15kg but when i finally packed and took away extra stuff, it still comes up to 21kg. Thus, a day before our flight, i just top up to 25 kg for going and coming back (think wet clothes from beaches, duty-free chocolates!!!)...it just nice for our family without having to worry of not having enough luggage weight. I am not fond of spending time re-packing or leaving behind stuff because of insufficient luggage weight! Guess what, on the last day when we're coming back home, the last minute swimming trip in the morning before leaving for our flight added on some wet clothes which makes our luggage 25.1kg..thank goodness, no extra charge was imposed! During our last trip to Australia, their domestic budget flight is stricter! My friend paid paid extra MYR40++ for the little weight exceeded! (Can't recall the exact figure but it's after she placed a book she bought at the airport!)
7. Others- Travelling as a family, it's fun to have other family friends with kids around.   Truly they enjoyed more and we get to take some family photo together without missing the dad or mom in the picture! And, even though letting the kids carrying their own hand-luggage is fun but it all depends on the kids (whether they have the responsibility to take good care of it), otherwise the dad might end up having to carry for them after all...and NEVER place anything valuable in kids bag pack! KY lost her bag pack after she slept in the van and forgot to take it back. I think wait till they are older, they can carry their own luggage bag by all means...for now..better not!

These are some travelling snippets that I would like to share and pen down for my next trip referencing!

Will share more about travelling to Langkawi for vegetarian as well as some of the must-visit sites travelling with kids!

Do you have any kids-friendly destination you've visited! Do share with us! Thanks in advance!

Cheers!