How to travel with equipment and children
Recently someone asked about traveling with both photography equipment and children. Since I have done quite a lot of that, I thought I would share my experiences.
We have two boys – ages four and five and we usually take one international vacation each year and fly domestically twice each year. Our domestic flights are usually either to New York City (which is an easy direct flight from Seattle) or to Rochester, NY – which is more difficult because we have to change planes and the aircraft are smaller.
So far we have taken our kids to Rome, Singapore, Thailand, Israel, and Mexico on separate trips. Our five year old has been to ten countries already and both are very used to aircraft and are seasoned travelers.
In every trip since I bought my DSLR three years ago, I have brought the majority of my equipment. The equipment has varied as I accumulate more of it but it started out as a fully loaded Tamrac Expedition 5 and now I use an Airport Accelerator from ThinkTankPhoto. The following are my recommendations for traveling safe and sane with both.
Photography Equipment
First, from a photography perspective things aren’t that difficult. If I bring a tripod, I always pack the legs and bring the ball head in my carry on luggage. I place the tripod in a layer of clothes to protect it. In my experience, most thieves do not think that a tripod has any value – they are far more likely to steal any electronics equipment.
I always carry on my camera body, lenses, and other equipment. The Airport Accelerator from ThinkTankPhoto works very nice for this. I have been able to fit it in every aircraft I have flown in thus far – even a small regional jet with only three seats across. I do not travel with a laptop though. If I had used the laptop bag I would have had to remove it and place it under my seat.
Traveling with children is a bit more complicated and IMHO most parents go way overboard. They attempt to carry everything including the kitchen sink on board and my wife and I often laugh at the parents obviously traveling for the first time with children.
Strollers
The stroller is perhaps the most important piece of equipment you will bring. It is also the biggest mistake I often see. I see all types of huge strollers that are not only an inconvenience in the airport, but are also an inconvenience wherever you go.
Infant strollers
For infants, you are probably stuck with the travel system strollers – many of which are made by Graco. For young children under one year of age, this is probably your only choice. You’ll check the stroller at the gate, but you do have choices from there.
First, on international flights some airlines have a bassinet in the bulkhead. Many of the US airlines no longer do this but I believe there are some foreign airlines that still offer it. You’ll need to call ahead to do two things.
1) Ensure that you are sitting in the bulkhead.
2) Ensure that you have reserved a bassinet on the plane.
These are both very important and I have found most airline representatives do not know much about this. Make sure that you find one that does. Also, when you check in make sure this is available. Most airlines are not very good with keeping these reservations.
Car seats
The other option is to bring a car seat on board and place the baby in the car seat. This is also a good option for children up to two years old. After that, the car seat is more of a hindrance than a help.
There is a bit of a trick to installing car seats on planes. Most airline personnel will not help you do to legal issues. When I see other parents struggling with installing a car seat on a flight, I often try to help where I can. The following are the steps to install a car seat on a plane.
1) Recline the seat fully. Do not worry that you’re not supposed to recline seats at this time, the seat will be forward shortly.
2) Place the car seat on the airline seat and bring the seat belt around the back per the instructions on the car seat.
3) Tighten the seat belt as much as you can. Even when you tighten it, you’ll notice that the car seat does not feel solidly secure.
4) Bring the seat forward. When you do this, you’ll notice that the car seat is in there and doesn’t budge.
Jogging strollers
I won’t say much about these, except to not do it except under extreme situations. There is probably only one situation where this is the best choice.
When we traveled to Singapore, we had two young children (10 months and 23 months) and we wanted to maneuver and walk on the beach. We chose a double jogging stroller that was on the smaller side as far as jogging strollers go. Most normal strollers can’t move on sand and the front to back strollers were larger.
It was a real pain moving with that stroller though. In the crowded markets we often couldn’t get down a path and it was difficult to find a taxi that could fit the stroller. Neither of our kids liked baby carriers so that wasn’t an option. The jogging stroller was the best choice but I have seen some more compact solutions now.
Umbrella strollers
Most umbrella strollers are too flimsy to withstand a trip very well, but the best strollers we have found are made by MacClaren. The one we have is the Maclaren Volo Stroller
These strollers weight less than nine pounds and are easy to sling over a shoulder when the kids are walking. We still use them for extended trips with our kids when we know there will be a lot of walking involved. They also have a good deal of storage for a stroller that is so compact.
Toys
I often see parents who seem to have brought every toy the kid owns on a plane. Kids do need toys, but there is a limit. Think high impact toys. If your child only plays with a toy for a few minutes at a time, it is probably not a wise choice to bring it. The following have worked well for our kids (both boys).
- Small metal cars.
- Schleich dinosaurs
- Leapfrog gaming systems and their variants
- Paper and large crayons
- Sticker books
On international flights – and some of the longer domestic ones now – they have televisions on the seats. These are great and can keep a child interested for several hours.
Another thing I do on the longer flights is buy a few new toys. New toys almost always get more attention than older ones and will often buy us an hour or more.
However, the key is to keep the toys limited. Other than my camera gear, we fit all of our carry on luggage in a single duffel bag. This includes some reading books for my wife and I, toiletries, changes of clothes for the kids, etc.
What else to bring
The following are also very helpful on the flight.
- A change of clothes for the kids. The general rule of thumb is your child is much more likely to wet himself/herself on the plane so take the average number of times the child wets himself/herself and double it. We still take at least one set of clothes even though our kids our older – they still have the habit of spilling on themselves.
- Enough diapers and wipes for the trip. Buy a small travel box of wipes and calculate how many diapers you will need for the flight and add a few to spare. We used to pack the rest of the diapers. On international trips, we would only pack enough diapers for the first few days and then buy more diapers there.
- A baby changing pad if you have an infant. Don’t count on being able to access the rest room to change a child. Sometimes you have to do it right on your seat. A traveling changing pad will be a great help.
- I strongly do not recommend drugging children for a flight. If the child happens to have a cold then bring something that helps alleviate this especially for takeoff and landings.
On your lap or buy another seat
Most airlines allow children to travel in your lap if the child is under two years of age. Except for the smallest of infants, I recommend that you always purchase another seat. This will make the flight much easier on both you and your child.
In particular, it makes it easier for the child to sleep, which makes it easier for you to sleep as well.
I hope this information helps you when traveling with children and your photo equipment. As you can see, it is quite easy to travel with both. The first flight can be a bit nerve wrecking with them, but remember to keep calm and try not to bring literally everything. I’ve found that the one thing our kids like best is the fact that they have full access to their mommy and daddy – and that they have their own TVs. 
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Tags: airline, children, photography, recommendation, stroller, Travel