I posted here a few weeks ago asking for advice about taking our first international trip with our 5-year-old son (Jack). I thought I'd post a follow-up because international travel is a common topic among OAD families. To simplify some things, I have highlighted in bold text things we learned or pieces of advice for others attempting their first family trip.
Trip Summary
We flew to Portugal from Ontario, Canada for a 2 week family trip. We spent 3 days in Lisbon exploring the city before renting a car and driving south along the west coast. We spent 7 days in the Algarve (beaches, tourist towns) as well as a few days in some other towns on our route. We split our day trips between kid stuff (beaches, water park) and things that interested my wife and I (architecture, food, ruins, lighthouses, landscapes, etc.).
Flights
I took the very good advice of @louisew and made sure to outline to Jack what he should expect prior to each day of travel. We explained how the airport works (baggage check, security, customs, flight, etc.) a few days in advance.
Prior to the international leg of the flight we we had a 7 hour(!) layover in the Montreal airport. My wife travels for business often so we had lounge passes; this saved our butts and made the experience so much better (food included, quieter, good wifi, more space). In the future I will 100% pay for the lounge. We kept an eye out for priority lines at the airport (for families, elderly, etc.) after missing the priority queue at customs and spending a hour in a line we could have skipped! We booked an overnight flight on way to Lisbon and Jack slept in my wife's lap for the full 6.5 hours since it took off a few hours after his normal bedtime.
Upon arrival, we got lucky and were able to check into our AirBnB early so we were all able to catch a 2-hour nap and essentially reset our time. Jack fought the nap for about an hour and caused a bit of general chaos due to being overtired and overstimulated after all the airport/planes/metro, but once he woke up he was refreshed and more even tempered. This early nap was essential and next time I will ensure we're able to do this again, even it it means we have to pay for an extra night of accommodation and check-in the next morning at 9am. If we would have had to drag him and our luggage around for 6 hours it would have been a mess and jet lag would have continued. On that note, we packed "light" and only checked a single bag. We each brought our own backpack of personal items and a change of clothes.
On the return flight Jack literally watched TV/movies for 7 hours since it was a daytime flight. He looked like a total zombie, but whatever, it made things easy for everyone. I bought him his first set of headphones for the trip and they were worth the cost (noise cancelling, wireless). I tried to watch the new Spiderman movie, but he noticed and I had to switch to something more kid-friendly. It did take about 4 days for the jet lag in this direction to reset; we were up at 2:30AM the 2nd day back, but that's just the cost of time changes I guess.
First 3 Days (Lisbon)
Maybe because everything was so new, or maybe because we bribed him with daily ice cream, Jack did very well touring around Lisbon. We rode the metro, old trams (he loved those), and he walked ~20k steps each day; I was amazed at how motivated he was to just wander with us. Highlights were the Castelo de São Jorge (not so much the castle, but the peacocks all around it), the old trams, the waterfront walk and markets, the amazing Lisbon Aquarium, Parque Eduardo VII (including the botanical gardens), and the food. We really relaxed our "rules" around food/treats, so he was thrilled to have fresh lemonade and pastries every day. Prior to the trip we had "practiced" dining out by going to the same local place for brunch following weekly swimming lessons. We tried to make our own lunch or picnic out so we weren't overdoing the restaurants. Breakfast was usually a quick ham/cheese and an orange juice for Jack and an espresso (or 3) for us.
I wouldn't normally consider Jack to be an adventurous eater, but we informed him that food is different across the world so he'll have to choose something that sounds good from the menu he's provided (conveniently we "forgot" to read the hamburger item a few times). He was really drawn to the idea of eating a "whole" fish (with the head/tail); I thought for sure he's going to regret that, but the kid ate it! Fresh rock crab, shrimp, and clams were all decently popular and not something we have easy access to at home. Portuguese food is fairly meat (or fish) and potatoes, so there was always something he was willing to try.
I made sure to carry a backpack with water, coloring books/markers, an Uno deck, a stuffed animal, and some snacks everywhere we went. By the end of the trip Jack had acquired 4 new stuffed animals; I'd normally consider this a bit much, but I think they made him feel more safe and relaxed. I "talked" to them and asked them questions about the things we were seeing; this seemed to engage Jack in a different way than just asking him directly. It was kind of like he had a few travelling companions that were experiencing these new things with him.
A note on the language. I tried really hard to learn and use some Portuguese phrases, but I was mostly met with replies in perfect English. People did seem to appreciate the effort though! I can do simple French and Spanish, but the pronunciation in Portuguese is just too different to get the hang of in a few weeks. As for culture, Portugal (in general) has a very kid-friendly attitude; we never felt like having a kid with us was inconveniencing or bothering anyone. Lots of elderly people in particular gave Jack big smiles said hello.
Day 4 (driving south)
We rented a car and, long story short, it broke down 10 minutes after leaving the rental agency...in the middle of Lisbon...on a hill...on the tram line. This was one of those travel disasters you don't even want to think about. Anyways, we eventually got a new car and were on our way later in the day. The trip to Lagos on the south coast is ~4 hours so we decided to stay one night half-way down in Vila Nova de Milfontes. This was one of our favorite spots on the trip because it's not really on the tourist routes and it's a very charming old fishing town. A local woman runs a boat service that taxies you 5 minutes across the river so you can hang out an at awesome little beach for the day. She also takes care of 24 local cats, which Jack thought was amazing. The cats just wander around the docks and she makes sure they are fed and get veterinary treatment. If we go to Portugal again I would stay here for 2 or 3 nights.
Day 5 - 10 (The Algarve)
The Algarve is essentially a beach/tourist haven for Europeans (and increasingly, North Americans). It's easy to see why; the weather is perfect and the beaches are amazing. The problem for me is I don't love beach vacations unless I'm surfing and I very much prefer to avoid crowds of other tourists. Jack, on the other hand, loved his first ocean experience. I made sure to book accommodations with a pool so we could always fall back on that, but we only used it a couple times. We went to the beach every day and my wife and I traded half-day trips for ourselves while the other played with Jack; this gave us each some personal time to refresh. My wife did several of coastal hikes and I drove to Sagres to see "the end of the world" and the old lighthouses.
Our kid-focused activities were a few water parks and mini golf. We also did a half-day kayak tour, which was great, but we had to "retreat" to the larger support boat when the waves got too scary for Jack; some people got dumped so it did legitimately get a bit squirrely. We wanted to make sure that his first time doing anything more adventurous was a fun positive experience, so we were willing to sacrifice a bit of our own adventures. A simple bag of Cheetos on the boat made Jack forget all about the waves and we spent the remainder of the morning talking with the guides and enjoying the sites along the coast.
Day 11 (driving north again)
On the way back to Lisbon we decided to take the interior route to see some new landscapes. The drive to our one-night stay in Evora was about 3.5 hours and for some reason Jack just wasn't having it. This was one of those difficult drives that you just don't enjoy with small kids. I think by Day 11 Jack was getting homesick and some of his (pretty normal) 5-year-old behaviors were coming out now that travel was not as novel anymore. Thankfully, our hotel had a really nice pool (what a lifesaver) so I swam with him for 2 hours after checking in and we all reset our brains a bit. After that we explored the city and he sat patiently through a 2.5 hour dinner (it was busy and understaffed).
Day 12 - 14 (Lisbon again)
We chose to stay in a different neighborhood for 2 nights before our flight out. Despite Jack being about ready to head home, we were able to get him out exploring and spoiled him a bit with some souvenirs and Pokemon cards (this bought us some additional quiet time in the hotel). I took Jack on a half-day double-decker tourist bus and that was a hit; it was also pretty nice to just sit still and be driven around the city for a few hours.
Final Notes
Trip Summary
We flew to Portugal from Ontario, Canada for a 2 week family trip. We spent 3 days in Lisbon exploring the city before renting a car and driving south along the west coast. We spent 7 days in the Algarve (beaches, tourist towns) as well as a few days in some other towns on our route. We split our day trips between kid stuff (beaches, water park) and things that interested my wife and I (architecture, food, ruins, lighthouses, landscapes, etc.).
Flights
I took the very good advice of @louisew and made sure to outline to Jack what he should expect prior to each day of travel. We explained how the airport works (baggage check, security, customs, flight, etc.) a few days in advance.
Prior to the international leg of the flight we we had a 7 hour(!) layover in the Montreal airport. My wife travels for business often so we had lounge passes; this saved our butts and made the experience so much better (food included, quieter, good wifi, more space). In the future I will 100% pay for the lounge. We kept an eye out for priority lines at the airport (for families, elderly, etc.) after missing the priority queue at customs and spending a hour in a line we could have skipped! We booked an overnight flight on way to Lisbon and Jack slept in my wife's lap for the full 6.5 hours since it took off a few hours after his normal bedtime.
Upon arrival, we got lucky and were able to check into our AirBnB early so we were all able to catch a 2-hour nap and essentially reset our time. Jack fought the nap for about an hour and caused a bit of general chaos due to being overtired and overstimulated after all the airport/planes/metro, but once he woke up he was refreshed and more even tempered. This early nap was essential and next time I will ensure we're able to do this again, even it it means we have to pay for an extra night of accommodation and check-in the next morning at 9am. If we would have had to drag him and our luggage around for 6 hours it would have been a mess and jet lag would have continued. On that note, we packed "light" and only checked a single bag. We each brought our own backpack of personal items and a change of clothes.
On the return flight Jack literally watched TV/movies for 7 hours since it was a daytime flight. He looked like a total zombie, but whatever, it made things easy for everyone. I bought him his first set of headphones for the trip and they were worth the cost (noise cancelling, wireless). I tried to watch the new Spiderman movie, but he noticed and I had to switch to something more kid-friendly. It did take about 4 days for the jet lag in this direction to reset; we were up at 2:30AM the 2nd day back, but that's just the cost of time changes I guess.
First 3 Days (Lisbon)
Maybe because everything was so new, or maybe because we bribed him with daily ice cream, Jack did very well touring around Lisbon. We rode the metro, old trams (he loved those), and he walked ~20k steps each day; I was amazed at how motivated he was to just wander with us. Highlights were the Castelo de São Jorge (not so much the castle, but the peacocks all around it), the old trams, the waterfront walk and markets, the amazing Lisbon Aquarium, Parque Eduardo VII (including the botanical gardens), and the food. We really relaxed our "rules" around food/treats, so he was thrilled to have fresh lemonade and pastries every day. Prior to the trip we had "practiced" dining out by going to the same local place for brunch following weekly swimming lessons. We tried to make our own lunch or picnic out so we weren't overdoing the restaurants. Breakfast was usually a quick ham/cheese and an orange juice for Jack and an espresso (or 3) for us.
I wouldn't normally consider Jack to be an adventurous eater, but we informed him that food is different across the world so he'll have to choose something that sounds good from the menu he's provided (conveniently we "forgot" to read the hamburger item a few times). He was really drawn to the idea of eating a "whole" fish (with the head/tail); I thought for sure he's going to regret that, but the kid ate it! Fresh rock crab, shrimp, and clams were all decently popular and not something we have easy access to at home. Portuguese food is fairly meat (or fish) and potatoes, so there was always something he was willing to try.
I made sure to carry a backpack with water, coloring books/markers, an Uno deck, a stuffed animal, and some snacks everywhere we went. By the end of the trip Jack had acquired 4 new stuffed animals; I'd normally consider this a bit much, but I think they made him feel more safe and relaxed. I "talked" to them and asked them questions about the things we were seeing; this seemed to engage Jack in a different way than just asking him directly. It was kind of like he had a few travelling companions that were experiencing these new things with him.
A note on the language. I tried really hard to learn and use some Portuguese phrases, but I was mostly met with replies in perfect English. People did seem to appreciate the effort though! I can do simple French and Spanish, but the pronunciation in Portuguese is just too different to get the hang of in a few weeks. As for culture, Portugal (in general) has a very kid-friendly attitude; we never felt like having a kid with us was inconveniencing or bothering anyone. Lots of elderly people in particular gave Jack big smiles said hello.
Day 4 (driving south)
We rented a car and, long story short, it broke down 10 minutes after leaving the rental agency...in the middle of Lisbon...on a hill...on the tram line. This was one of those travel disasters you don't even want to think about. Anyways, we eventually got a new car and were on our way later in the day. The trip to Lagos on the south coast is ~4 hours so we decided to stay one night half-way down in Vila Nova de Milfontes. This was one of our favorite spots on the trip because it's not really on the tourist routes and it's a very charming old fishing town. A local woman runs a boat service that taxies you 5 minutes across the river so you can hang out an at awesome little beach for the day. She also takes care of 24 local cats, which Jack thought was amazing. The cats just wander around the docks and she makes sure they are fed and get veterinary treatment. If we go to Portugal again I would stay here for 2 or 3 nights.
Day 5 - 10 (The Algarve)
The Algarve is essentially a beach/tourist haven for Europeans (and increasingly, North Americans). It's easy to see why; the weather is perfect and the beaches are amazing. The problem for me is I don't love beach vacations unless I'm surfing and I very much prefer to avoid crowds of other tourists. Jack, on the other hand, loved his first ocean experience. I made sure to book accommodations with a pool so we could always fall back on that, but we only used it a couple times. We went to the beach every day and my wife and I traded half-day trips for ourselves while the other played with Jack; this gave us each some personal time to refresh. My wife did several of coastal hikes and I drove to Sagres to see "the end of the world" and the old lighthouses.
Our kid-focused activities were a few water parks and mini golf. We also did a half-day kayak tour, which was great, but we had to "retreat" to the larger support boat when the waves got too scary for Jack; some people got dumped so it did legitimately get a bit squirrely. We wanted to make sure that his first time doing anything more adventurous was a fun positive experience, so we were willing to sacrifice a bit of our own adventures. A simple bag of Cheetos on the boat made Jack forget all about the waves and we spent the remainder of the morning talking with the guides and enjoying the sites along the coast.
Day 11 (driving north again)
On the way back to Lisbon we decided to take the interior route to see some new landscapes. The drive to our one-night stay in Evora was about 3.5 hours and for some reason Jack just wasn't having it. This was one of those difficult drives that you just don't enjoy with small kids. I think by Day 11 Jack was getting homesick and some of his (pretty normal) 5-year-old behaviors were coming out now that travel was not as novel anymore. Thankfully, our hotel had a really nice pool (what a lifesaver) so I swam with him for 2 hours after checking in and we all reset our brains a bit. After that we explored the city and he sat patiently through a 2.5 hour dinner (it was busy and understaffed).
Day 12 - 14 (Lisbon again)
We chose to stay in a different neighborhood for 2 nights before our flight out. Despite Jack being about ready to head home, we were able to get him out exploring and spoiled him a bit with some souvenirs and Pokemon cards (this bought us some additional quiet time in the hotel). I took Jack on a half-day double-decker tourist bus and that was a hit; it was also pretty nice to just sit still and be driven around the city for a few hours.
Final Notes
- In hindsight, 2 weeks was a bit long for Jack. He was asking to Facetime his friends and grandparents near the end. I think 10 days would have been the perfect length.
- We managed to do just about everything we wanted, but I would personally have done a bit more research into some of the sights we saw because we sped through a few historic sights I would have preferred to spend more time at. I think planning in advance to trade more solo time would have been ideal for both my wife and I.
- Jack was capable of walking a lot more than I expected. I assume he takes after my wife who will walk 15km rather than drive somewhere if she reasonably can.
- The trip was not exactly relaxing (as expected), but doing so much every day tired us all out enough to enjoy 1-2 hours at a restaurant each night. Much local beer and wine (and lemonade) was consumed.
