6 TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN

1 Budget with discipline so you Jarosz have money to travel. and her husband allocate more money to travel and less to other things like clothes, cars or furniture. They go out to a fancy restaurant only once a year, on their anniversary. Both their cars have been paid off, and hers has 200,000 miles on it. These savings let them save up for trips instead.

2 Bring at least one other Jarosz has been on a adult. plane alone with her son, but usually she has at least one other adult, either her husband or father, along on trips. Sometimes she has even more help, such as when visiting extended family in Poland.

“Some people tell me they don’t like to travel with their relatives, but I enjoy it,” she says. When you have young children, “try to find someone, maybe a cousin or aunt. Just say, ‘I’m going for two or three days, would you like to come?’ ” Find out

3 Plan in advance. how to call the equivalent of 911 and learn the location of doctors, trauma centers and hospitals. Pack a first-aid kit. Take a car seat and stroller (airlines stow them free). Bring extra snacks, change of clothes, water, formula and baby food; Jarosz says she feeds Adrian local food using the same

precautions adults take in developing countries (no tap water, street food or peeled fruits).

4 Look for deals, but don’t restrict your trips only to child-focused destinations. “You’re not going to take your child hiking at Machu Picchu,” she says. “And I’m not going to take him to a five-star restaurant. We try to go places with other kids.” Jarosz says many cultures in the world are child-friendly, and many destinations you might not think of as child-friendly actually are. Go to places that the adults will like, too.

5 International travel is cheapest when your child is under 2 years old. Starting on their second birthday, they pay adult fares. Bummer. That’s why Jarosz took Adrian to Poland twice before he turned 2.

6 Try to have a kitchen. Whether it’s a rental house, condo or extended-stay hotel, a kitchen makes a lot of difference when traveling with children: “The first time we took Adrian to the Caribbean, we rented a house in Martinique and a condo on St. Martin, and since he wasn’t a year old yet, I was able to prepare his formula and food. And he had a place for his toys.”