What is it really like to fly around the world with kids?

When our children were 9 and 6 we got the crazy idea to visit our dear friends who live in Singapore and we missed dearly. We purchased our tickets and didn’t look back. We choose a flight that went from Chicago to San Francisco, then 17 hours in the air from San Francisco to Singapore. Those fancy lay down pods for overseas travel we’re out of question. We happily purchased basic economy.

I watched and read everything I could, to figure out how we were going to make this work. I packed jammies, change of clothes, books, puzzles, activities, snacks and everything else that I thought I “had” to have in our carry ones. We talked a lot about our adventure. What countries we were going to fly over what the plane might look like, and mostly what we thought Singapore would be.

The big day came and as we were boarding our flight we were told by the attendant that we needed to check our carry ons and that we’d get them in Singapore! WHAT!! The carry ons were checked and we boarded. It was midnight when when we got to San Francisco and we all walked like zombies onto our home for the next 17 hours. The plane was large but smaller then I expected. We had decent foot room but not a ton. You’re feed every couple hours and you eat out of boredom even though the food isn’t the best.

The kids were amazing! We didn’t have our planned activities but we did have endless movies, games and the flight screen. It was so fun to see where we were flying over!

It wasn’t perfect . I might have fallen asleep and had my child wonder into first class or had a juice dumped into my purse, but we made it together as a family as a team!! It wasn’t glamorous, but it was fun! It was the first of many Smith family adventures and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Traveling with children is magical. Seeing the world through their eyes changes things. Buy the ticket take the flight you won’t regret it! And don't forget to reach out to us, at Ambassador Travel to book your next family vacation -- sara@ambassadortravelltd.com 920.236.7777