Ok with a click of a button that seems so easy and smooth, your holiday is booked. A few moments of glee and then as you pass through the kitchen it happens.......the realisation of what you’ve just done! Booked a holiday for 5.....

In the years BC (before children) my hubby and i travelled wide and far including hurricane beating faraway places and places with insects bigger than my hand (that’s Kenya for any one with worse phobias than me). Then after the birth of our first cherub we rained in and headed for Majorca (mmmm 4 times) then we branched out and with the addition of cherub number two we loved the Spanish main coast. When number three arrived travel needed a whole lot of thought, however we did continue to travel, and a little further afield.

I can honestly say that travelling with three is easy when you have precision planned the experience with that of a NASA space mission. So if you have just clicked the button (or are about too) let me give you some wise words for the family of five family holiday.

Firstly make sure your destination is family friendly – if you have a buggy don’t book a mountainous resort look for a nice seafront resort with a smooth paved front. This allows for evening walks (probably past the bars) in a lovely environment and if cherubs are settled then you can always stop in an appropriate place (you know where i mean). I am finding its getting easier to spot family friendly holidays – i’ve loved Sensatori in Crete and Lykia world in Turkey. I consider these as probably the best all rounders for both adult taste and children’s needs however they are pricey.

I can assure you that you won’t remember to pack everything despite the precision and execution of your plan - you will arrive in your sunny destination with something significant missing. Take my last holiday for example where my middle cherub had one pair of pants for a week’s hols, he didn’t mind....so we washed and dryed them every night. I find you can spend a holiday kicking yourself for simple things like this. My option wash it or buy more then forget it and enjoy your holiday.....little point spoiling it for the 6 pairs of pants you left on the bed.

I must confess i do take packing for the plane as serious as i do packing the case – i pack pens, paper, stickers etc then i duplicate it with similar but different items. So i have 2 sets, one for going there and one for coming back. I then leave these in my case for the return journey and swap the whole lot....they’ll be most impressed when you pull out a new Thomas Tank book on day 14 of your tropical escape. This reduces boredom in the airport and the plane significantly. A friend once said she wrapped all of her pencil cases and drawing equipment in birthday paper – ok a bit more hassle but that’s passed another 5 mins.
Other things that i have found really useful are when packing for girls umpteen dresses take up less room (and weight) in the case than top and skirt combo’s. Boys really don’t bother what they wear as long as they have trunks and one pair of shorts for night. I also carry a small cool bag for our sun cream and keep it closed. This keeps the cream cool and doesn’t allow the sun to deteriorate the factor. This all sounds a bit too much like being organised but if it makes our holiday smoother then why not?

We also travel around Scotland especially to the beaches which are lovely. This type of holiday needs a little less planning but you need to add in some wellies for for great fun. Enjoy!