Tips for flying with kids: Tips to make flying easier for your family
Learn how to enjoy stress-free air travel with these tips for flying with kids.
- Some families choose to have no internet or cell phone service while on vacation in order to have more quality time.
- Without electronic devices, children and adults alike have the potential to become more immersive and immersed in their surroundings and activities.
Jessica Perez has two children who are always on the internet. But she didn’t think about the fact that she would lose cell phone and internet service during the cruise until she boarded the ship in Miami.
She and her family embarked on Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas in early October. Perez told USA TODAY that his 17-year-old daughter is “very into school” and always working on something academic, while his son is “an average 11-year-old gamer who always needs to be connected to Wi-Fi.”
A 37-year-old onboarding coordinator and her husband considered purchasing a Wi-Fi package, but decided against it. “I thought, ‘Why not? No, this would be good for the kids to just eat without having anything in front of them, but also for them to have a conversation with us and enjoy what’s available on the cruise.’
During their three-day trip to the Bahamas and back, the Massachusetts family immersed themselves in a variety of activities, from a quiet disco to a balloon drop on the ship’s Royal Promenade, Perez said. “It was great to see the kids really enjoying the moment,” she said. “They’re supposed to be kids. That’s not something you see all the time because, again, they’re using electronic devices all the time.”
However, it is not completely without drawbacks. At one point, her husband thought he had lost his credit card and couldn’t freeze it without using the service, but he later found it. Other than that, she said, they “loved not having Wi-Fi.”
In an era where Wi-Fi and cell phone service feel essential, some families have found that vacationing without Wi-Fi and cell phone service fosters a unique kind of quality time. However, it’s not always easy to disconnect, at least at first.
“I don’t even want to check my work email.”
Anna Lietz and her family went a week without Wi-Fi in June. Her husband’s family has been staying at a cabin on California’s Pinecrest Lake “for generations,” which is also shared among family friends, but this was the first time they took their two children there.
The cabin owners and other families vacationing there decided that the lack of internet or cell phone service was part of what “made this cabin special,” said the 36-year-old Bay Area resident. Lietz prepared accordingly, downloading a few podcasts for herself and some comics onto her phone, which became part of her 4-year-old daughter’s weekend routine.
“When I think back to that week, I don’t think she even had to pull out ‘Bluey’ because she was so absorbed in herself, her cousins, and everything around the lake,” she recalled. Lietz, who works in customer experience marketing, believes the main reason for this is that children don’t look at their parents’ phones as much.
For Lietz, who also has a 1-year-old child, the adjustment became even more important. While the rest of the group had cell phone service, she didn’t, but still found herself with the urge to check her phone. “And there’s literally nothing new on my phone for me, so I don’t get that little dopamine rush that I’m used to from notifications,” she said. “So I think my brain finally realized there’s nothing on this device.”
That week, she and her family spent time in other ways, such as playing games and walking to a nearby candy shop. They sat by the campfire every night and sang songs. By the end of the trip, the urge to check her phone had subsided.
“And then, of course, there are moments where I leave and get back on the road and get back on Wi-Fi, and I’m almost like, ‘I don’t even want to check the news, I don’t even want to check my work email.’ ”
How to plan a trip without the internet
If you aim to be internet and device-free while traveling, travelers should consider their family’s interests during the planning stage.
“If you get[the kids]engaged and it’s something they really enjoy, they’re going to hang up their phones for longer and actually spend some family time and have fun,” said Karen Aguiar, a travel agent with AAA Northeast. For example, for her 13-year-old twin boys, that means going to the beach, pool, and water sports.
Some destinations are particularly suited for disconnection. “I think a lot of national park tours are about getting outside and doing things outdoors, locally in New Hampshire,” she said. “If you’re going out west, I recommend the Grand Canyon. It’s outdoors, so there’s not a lot of cell phone service. I think that’s great, too.”
Another option is cruises, where Wi-Fi is usually available at an additional cost.
But changes in daily life can be difficult, especially for families with children on the autism spectrum. If you think turning off Wi-Fi is too extreme, Aguiar suggested giving your device a little time to use it as needed before letting you do something else.
“And then we’ll take a little short break and give the iPad back to the kids. We might do it alternating or have a little bit of time in between, because it’s hard to say to the kids, ‘Okay, that’s it. I don’t have the device.'”
However, if travelers can step away from the internet for a few days, they may be able to find a different kind of connection.
“I think it becomes more immersive when you remove the distracting cell phone,” Lietz said. “You enjoy the conversation. We just sit and talk and play cards. I think I called it a ’90s vacation, because I imagine this must have been for our parents when we were little.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. Please contact us at ndiller@usatoday.com.
