How to Survive a Trip with Kids: 10 Funny Moments for Life

Let's face it - a trip with children never goes exactly according to plan. I, after several vacations with the children (and several funny events that were not planned), realized that in order to survive it with a smile - you also need to know how to laugh at yourself. So here are some mistakes from the field, from our family experience, that maybe could have been avoided with a little more planning. If you are planning a vacation with the children - take a tip: plan in advance, but leave room for mistakes, because those are exactly the experiences that will enter the family memory bank - and these are the things that we will really remember in the end.

Surviving a trip with kids:

1. When every inch counts and the book is too creative

After a wonderful day of sightseeing in Porto - a romantic cruise on the Riviera, you ate pastel de nata, you walked around the picturesque streets - suddenly, like magic, a small and captivating barber shop appeared. The tempting look made you think, "Why not? It's a perfect time to get a haircut!" You entered, you explained it well in clear English so as not to be too short. The book, of course, decides that the time for creativity has arrived. In 55 minutes of a spontaneous haircut show, he cuts, trims, and in other words - "turns your head into a modern sculpture". All that's left is to wear a hat, because that's what mobile works of art look like.

Surviving a trip with kids

2. When economic education becomes the art of negotiation

After spending 6K on flights, 8K on hotels, and 4K on a car, you arrive at Kfar Avirim and meet in the souvenir shop a couple of British parents who decide that this is the moment to educate them for financial independence. "No, we don't buy a wooden sword for ten euros," they say bravely to their son.

3. What happens when you put a sword in a trolley case

Speaking of a medieval wooden sword from Ubidosh - they decide to return it in a suitcase, and then of course get stopped at the security check. Suddenly all the security people are looking at us as if we are about to start a jousting tournament at the airport.

4.

My son, full of pride and independence, packed his bag for the trip, what we didn't check was if there was any "souvenir" left there from the last scouting trip - a multi-purpose knife. We didn't even have time to leave the country, and already the red alarms started going off. The security people jumped from every corner, and suddenly we felt as if we were caught trying to smuggle equipment for a secret operation in the Middle East...

5. When wasabi disguises itself as an avocado

So it's true, it seems to you that the avocados in Portugal are a little greener than usual, but why are we suspicious? You take a heaping spoonful of this beautiful green spread, only to discover, with a stinging suddenness, that it is not avocado but wasabi. That's how it is, even the spreads here are surprising... if only you had read this article first...

6. When the cruise doesn't end with getting off the boat

So dolphins are fun, but not the day before the flight! It turns out that it was precisely on my trip alone without my husband with two children that we discovered that I had vertigo that we didn't know about, and I discovered it exactly on the morning of the flight - when I was driving to the airport and still felt as if I was floating among the waves, even though I had already said goodbye to the yacht yesterday. So a tip for the next: dolphins? Yes, but not if you want the ground to keep swaying even on the way to the airport...

7. When the family shirt makes the child the star of the park

So, in an act of over-motivation, I decide to print family t-shirts for all of us for a trip to Italy, with the Gardland logo - the cute green dragon Prezzemolo. The little boy wears the shirt, and suddenly all the park employees are sure that a crazy fan from Israel has landed on them. They chase him for pictures from every direction, and at the climax - bring him up on stage to sing a song of praise to Prezzemolo. One small problem: my child? I don't know who it is at all, and I certainly don't know Italian. So if you don't want your child to become an involuntary Gardland star - maybe think twice before the matching shirts...

8. When an "innocent" beach turns out to be a place for world surfing records

A pastoral beach, you feel the sand between your toes, enjoy the waves, admire the silence. I decide to photograph the moment - directing them, already imagining how it will look at the Bar Mitzvah book... Then, suddenly, a huge wave of crazy height approaches from nowhere, throws the children to the beach, sweeps them away completely. After you calm down from the commotion and dry off properly, it turns out that this is exactly where the world record for surfing the highest wave in the world was broken - Nazra, of course. So next time, when you choose a "calm" beach, maybe make sure first that it doesn't star in the Guinness World Records list for surfing...

9. When the kids are hungry and the Portuguese kitchen is having a siesta

If there is one thing to remember when traveling with children - it is to adjust the meal schedule! Because after a 3 km route and three hours in the sea, the children get hungry to "dismember a whole cow now" at the level of Asa Inn, or devour a tray of sushi like a small snack. And then what happens? The Portuguese close the restaurants from 12:00 to 15:00: 00, and you find yourself wandering the streets, trying to find an open supermarket, because otherwise the kids might start thinking you're the menu...

10. When the children are hungry, in a moment they fly to the sky, and the waiters calmly sip wine

So after the previous day we were already tired of looking for an open supermarket for rolls, we learned our lesson and arrived like soldiers, exactly at the right hours - 12:00 to 15:00. We thought that this time we managed to catch them in time, but then we realized that this is only the first stage... In Israel, the table fills up in minutes, salads, plates are flying, but in Portugal? Here, if your food is served quickly, it's almost an insult. The kids are hungry on a "soon to eat me and the table" level, including one with juvenile diabetes, and we're starting to realize that the Portuguese attitude we so admire is a recipe for disaster when it comes to hungry chicks.

And the record? You should have seen the waiter's face when we asked to bring out all the food together and not a first course, a second course, etc... In short, hungry children, a mother with a diabetic child, and a waiter at his own pace - not exactly the best combination!

The moral: when the trip plans itself, life never stops making you laugh. Plan, prepare, but don't forget to take everything in good spirits - and really, don't put a wooden sword in your suitcase.

Nice to meet you, I'm Ilanit, owner of ILANITRAVEL, a Portugal travel specialist. I accompany families, couples, and individuals in planning their perfect vacation.

I entered the tourism industry out of my love for movement, new experiences, and getting to know cultures and people from around the world. I'm here to help you turn your dream into an unforgettable vacation.

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