55: How to Travel with Kids with Kate Team, Travel Blogger of "AdiosTeam"
Aug 02, 2023
Mary and Kim
Episode 55!
Tune into our latest podcast episode where we host the savvy travel-content creator and founder of @AdiosTeam, Kate Team. Kate has mastered the art of traveling with young kids and shares some of her tips and tricks for success with us!
Kate takes us on a journey through her hands-on experiences, planning and executing trips with her two little adventurers. She shares her go-to strategies for making travel enjoyable and less stressful for both kids and adults. She also shares some insightful hacks, like her preference for non-stop flights and tips on packing, that has made her family globe-trotting smooth sailing.
Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and leave a review! For more information and resources visit The Speech Source and follow us on Instagram @thespeechsource
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow our podcast! You will be the first to know when new episodes release. We would also love for you to leave a review and rate our show. The Speech Source appreciates your feedback and support! Follow here!
Tune into our latest podcast episode where we host the savvy travel-content creator and founder of @AdiosTeam, Kate Team. Kate has mastered the art of traveling with young kids and shares some of her tips and tricks for success with us!
Kate takes us on a journey through her hands-on experiences, planning and executing trips with her two little adventurers. She shares her go-to strategies for making travel enjoyable and less stressful for both kids and adults. She also shares some insightful hacks, like her preference for non-stop flights and tips on packing, that has made her family globe-trotting smooth sailing.
Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and leave a review! For more information and resources visit The Speech Source and follow us on Instagram @thespeechsource
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow our podcast! You will be the first to know when new episodes release. We would also love for you to leave a review and rate our show. The Speech Source appreciates your feedback and support! Follow here!
Welcome to the Speciesource podcast. Today we have an exciting guest on. Her name is Kate team and she is the owner and founder of audio team, which is an amazing digital account on Instagram, social media, and she is a travel content creator and she really focuses on traveling with young families, which is an amazing little niche for us, especially because we are talking about speech and language and feeding with kids, and it is just a whole another level when you talk about doing those everyday things when you're traveling and, kate, you do it so well.
Speaker 2:
Thank you. It's, you know, experiencing time, and the more I do it, I guess, the better I get. But also there are more different hurdles.
Speaker 1:
The older, the kids get. Yeah. Well, and Kate, you really travel the world with your kids and I mean show them so many different experiences. Where did you guys just get back from?
Speaker 2:
We got back from the Highlands in North Carolina. This is fabulous mountain town. It's about three hours outside of Atlanta, so we flew into Atlanta because then the roads weren't as windy.
Speaker 1:
I've never heard of that area. How did you find out about it, or do you have family there?
Speaker 2:
One of my really like best friends. She lives in New Orleans and that's where the New Orleans people summer.
Speaker 1:
Oh, how interesting. Is there a version?
Speaker 3:
I want to back up a little bit and ask the ages of your kids and when you started traveling with your kids.
Speaker 2:
Okay, so Margaret is five and Weezy is three. We started traveling with them when Margaret was four months old. Where?
Speaker 1:
did you guys go for road trips from Fort Worth Texas?
Speaker 2:
We really go to Crespiou.
Speaker 1:
Colorado. Oh, so long road trips then.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's about 14 hours.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, Okay. So how old were your kids when you went there?
Speaker 2:
I mean we started going earlier, but the first, with both of them I think, weezy was, oh gosh, five months old, and we realized so before that we would actually fly to Denver, rent a car and drive, or we'd, you know, fly to Crespiou. It's just more expensive. I had no idea how easy it was for road trips with such a young kid, and that's when we started doing every two to three hours we'd stop and I'd find a park on the way off the highway, and so the kids will both get to run around and stretch their legs and they live for those park pranks.
Speaker 1:
Did you look at that beforehand to make a map or route your trip and your stops, or do you just kind of find it on your phone as you're ready to stop?
Speaker 2:
On my phone so I'll look ahead. I know which towns we're stopping through, and so then I'll do a quick Google search and see and kind of compare it to the map and that's how I find them. And since then I now star them and I also have some, you know, negative stars that we will never stop there again.
Speaker 1:
I'm sure. Well, how do you plan the bathroom thing then, if you're going through and stopping at a park instead of a gas station or a McDonald's or something?
Speaker 2:
A lot of times we will stop at the gas station and then go to the park and then during the potty training phase we'd bring a little potty with us, because even you know you tell your little kid to go potty. They never completely do and for some reason running around in the park always makes them go. So when they're really little bring a little potty, because it has worked out in our favor before.
Speaker 3:
So whenever, looking at the road trip part, have you guys founds, when you set off on a really long trip Because for our family we like to leave really, really early to get like a big chunk of sleeping time for the kids in the morning, like three o'clock, four o'clock in the morning, early, and then they'll sleep for a big portion of that and then I feel like we've gotten a big part of it out of the way. Have you found anything like that that works for your kids? Maybe you leave more in the evening, or what have y'all found that works for road trips, just helping them get through long portions of it?
Speaker 2:
We leave at three in the morning from, you know Texas, and I make them sleep no TV, no iPads until seven, and then that's when we pull over for breakfast.
Speaker 3:
That's kind of our routine also. We've sometimes even made it to like eight, three, four, and then it's so exciting to like okay, we're like four or five hours in and now you can have your electronics.
Speaker 1:
Well, so then, what do you do after you stop for breakfast? How do you get through the long day? Do you kind of have just iPad time or set schedule for snacks, or how do you do that, kate?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I will say for travel days it's kind of like whatever works, Like I don't limit snacks because snacks are, you know, they kill time and kids live for those snacks. So I have a thousand different snacks. I don't do like Cheetos or things like that. They're super messy and we do pull over. We have a picnic lunch, so I have like sandwiches, things like that. But you know, if your kid likes to be on the iPad, get them on the iPad. I mean, really it's survival for travel days and that's flying or driving. As long as they're safe and content, you're good.
Speaker 1:
Let's dive into education a little bit. So Kim and I started the speech source because we saw that the aftermath of COVID and kids just being able to get out and experience their environment was so profound for kids and travel of course nobody could travel but also not even being able to go to your own grocery store, not being part of your school, not being able to go to the parks without just kind of being worried about the germ situation, and that really detrimentally affected so many children and we saw, like the world saw, the importance of having kids experience life in so many different ways. How do you view travel with your kids and what's your goal and what drives you to do this and make it a priority for your family?
Speaker 2:
I love exploring new cultures and meeting new people and different foods and things like that. I didn't want to stay home, I didn't wanna leave my kids at home, and says just started bringing them. And our trips are not all 100% kid focused. We do a few fun things with them every day, but we also do stuff for ourselves. It's so much fun seeing kids even at a playground in a different country, playing alongside kids that may not even speak their language.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, there's no language for play.
Speaker 2:
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3:
We tell families a lot of times if they travel and they're in speech therapy, they get concerned if they're going to be gone for two weeks or maybe even three weeks and missing that time in speech therapy. And I always tell families not to worry about it because consistently over the years I've seen kids come back from traveling and they've had these language bursts. And just being out of their routine and their environment and experiencing something new a lot of times really helps encourage language growth and have you seen that coming back from places with your kids ever?
Speaker 2:
100%. I've seen my daughter get more confident. She used to be very shy and timid and also you know, having two girls, they're 26 months apart.
Speaker 2:
Every time after we travel they're a little bit closer. So it's not only meeting other people, but it's them bonding together, because sometimes there aren't kids around and then they're having to hang out with each other and become friends. So there's a lot of different perks to traveling, you know, with kids, in regards to their vocabulary, and it's not just their words, it's honestly their personalities change for the better, that social communication too.
Speaker 3:
you know, having to interact with people that do things differently, that eat different foods, that don't speak your language, that's going to really help build that social communication also. So that's another great perk to traveling. I know that all kids have different comforts when it comes to food and eating. Some kids are pickier eaters than others, and especially with a lot of the kids that we work with, that's a scary thing. For some parents is to get out of their normal environment when they don't know if they're going to have as much control over food. And I think with road trips, like you talked earlier, it's a little bit easier because you can pack your snacks, you can pack your lunches, you can pack that food. But when you kind of get out of that, have you found any tips or tricks that work with your girls as far as meal times, or do you kind of just not worry about that when you're on vacation? How does that work for your family?
Speaker 2:
So I do. I do bring some snacks, I do bring some food, I go and get fresh fruit, things like that. But honestly, if my daughter just wants to eat tortillas and butter all day in Mexico, oh well, like I'll get back on track when we get home. So I don't really worry about it because it's just a short time of their lives. I do encourage them to try new things. Honestly, I just don't worry about it. But I will say, five and three year old, they're still picky.
Speaker 3:
Right. Yes, for sure.
Speaker 1:
Well, and for you as a mom, having to set them up for success and navigating a menu that you can't even read. I can't imagine thinking about how you would order food in South Korea and even be able to order noodles or something. How do you do that?
Speaker 2:
App there's, I think, is pop a go app and you can actually screenshot the menu and it'll translate for you.
Speaker 1:
Oh my gosh, what a game changer.
Speaker 3:
So we talked about some road trip kind of hacks finding the parks to give them time to get energy out, and then the snacks and the food. Do you have any tips for when you're flying on a plane with little wins? What are some of your go-tos to kind of help them get through any flight, whether it's an hour and a half or six hours? What do you go to?
Speaker 2:
Okay. So I always get to the airport an hour earlier than they say. So domestic is. Two is this is what you know. Tsa suggests two hours for domestic, three hours for international. I do four and three, so I do a big buffer because of parking security. If you're there early you still get stressed out because things always take longer with kids. So that's probably the first tip. People hate that tip Getting to the airport early.
Speaker 2:
We look and find the kid areas because some airports have like a whole plate area, so getting energy out helps. We always have food, so I have like a snackle box with a bunch of different snacks Before flight. I get my kids involved so they help with the snackle box. They also help pack a few things, like we always bring one or two books those are checked but a few toys and things like that Download movies from Netflix Disney app. Those don't take up a lot of space on your device. Headphones we practice headphones beforehand. A handful of new toys and I don't get new toys before every flight. I actually have a drawer that I just throw things in after the flights and then they're new the next flight.
Speaker 1:
Oh, good idea.
Speaker 2:
So with TSA you need to know the rules. I always have the information from their website about traveling with children because the formula breast milk, cooling packs, liquid medicine all those are excluded from the three one one liquid policy. You can even bring toddler water through, but the TSA agents may try to take them. They've tried to take those squeezable food pouches before from us and I just showed all the information to the agent. I will say with the certain airlines, I do search on their website what is allowed beforehand, because every airline has a different policy and people don't understand that. But it's all listed on their. You know the airlines websites. All you have to do is American Airlines traveling with children and all pull up.
Speaker 3:
That makes sense.
Speaker 1:
That's a good tip Do you have an airline preference when you guys travel, or do you just kind of go based on what the times are and what works for you?
Speaker 2:
Nonstop. That's my preference. So American Airlines, if I can, just because you know AA has the hub at DFW, there's more nonstop flights.
Speaker 1:
Well, we wanted to talk a little bit about safety when you travel, because that's a big deal too. It's a whole nother level when you've got little kids running in different directions, or that you just need to make sure that they're staying safe. When you're using public transportation or whatever it may be In another city, do you have some ways that you like to stay safe?
Speaker 2:
Right before a trip I ran into this little kid at Target and he had lost his mom. So I do a air tag watch for them. It would not prevent them from being kidnapped because it's very visible, but it would prevent them from getting lost because I'd be able to track them. So I do an air tag and if people are worried about kids getting kidnapped, you can hide it in a shoe. In regards to travel, I always research places and know where to go.
Speaker 1:
You know, as parents, when we travel, I feel like I definitely am very aware of the fact that my emotions and keeping them in check Like you said, getting to the airport early so that you're not stressed out makes a world of difference to set the tone for how the vacation day is going to go.
Speaker 2:
Yes, and that's why, honestly, I do have somewhat of an itinerary for every trip and I do. I'm one of those crazy people that have like downtime in my itinerary, but I have suggestions of parks and things like that, so that is something in the ID that helps. There are ways to enjoy a vacation with kids and have some adult activities mixed in there.
Speaker 3:
And I would say and I don't know, I'm sure this has been your experience because you have continued to travel but with everything with kids, you have to keep doing it over and over again for them to figure it out and learn the routine. I think they learn that routine at the same time that we're learning the routine and of course they grow and change and it gets easier. But have you seen that kind of in general with traveling, the more you do it, the more y'all are figuring it out and the more that the girls are figuring it out. Has that been your experience? 100%?
Speaker 2:
110%. My kids now play airport. That's so fun. So it is fun, like my daughter loves the toll road where the thing goes up, like every time. They have certain things they love, just about the travel day. But we do other than Crescent Butte. We do go to new places. So we just tell them hey, this is beach, this is city. That's how we explain it to them and now I am getting them involved and helping them pack that they've always been able to take one or two books and things like that, so they get excited.
Speaker 3:
Do you have any packing hacks? Do you use packing cubes or do you use certain things to keep yourself organized while you're traveling?
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, I have drawers Of step I've collected over the years. I love packing cubes and what I've done, I realized packing cubes are great in regards to unpacking. When you're at a destination, I'll do outfits and I do them in order, and then when we get to a place, I just throw them in a dresser drawer. So it's really easy. And then I have a few shoes, things like that. I also have an outfit planner that I bought from Etsy, so I reuse that every time. So I've got that. I've got a little bag for all the kid medicine.
Speaker 1:
I love it Well that's really helpful to have a system that works every time, and then your kids can learn the system and then, when they're old enough or able, then they'll be able to easily grab what they need to throw on for the day. Yes, it's always the goal, yep Independence while traveling. When you're in a city like New York, what's your best way of getting around the city?
Speaker 2:
I had a stroller for my five-year-old in New York and I did that the majority of the time. I think once or twice we did have to do a cab, but also in New York you can do a service called it's called Kid Moto. And they will pick you up from the airport and have a car seat for the age and weight of your child.
Speaker 3:
That was one of my questions, because we've traveled with the little foldable boosters that will open up and you can kind of adjust the seatbelt to make sure it's good just from getting from the airport to the hotel. But when there's smaller and you do need that rear-facing car seat, that's a lot to travel with. So it's really nice that they have those services for that. But I know it's probably not perfectly structured. But it sounds like y'all really try to stick to a routine to make it doable when you're traveling so much, and do you feel like that's just kind of been what's made it easier for y'all to be consistent with travel?
Speaker 2:
Absolutely. My kids thrive from schedule and, like you said, it's not always a set schedule and travel days when I say travel days it's like the day it takes for you to get to a place. Those are typically crazy chaos. But yeah, the structure of days they like it. And my husband does work some remotely and so typically that's why we go. We do a big activity in the morning, followed by lunch, followed by a break, so then he can work during that break.
Speaker 1:
I feel like one of the dilemmas for people who have a week off and they decide, ok, we're going to go on vacation. I know we're always thinking, ok, do we go back to a place that we absolutely loved or do we check out something new? So how do you guys kind of decide, like there's such benefits, so, like you said, going to Crestabute and you have this familiarity with this town and it's the same kind of situation versus going somewhere new? Like, what advice would you give to families who are trying to figure out how often they should return back to the same place?
Speaker 2:
I would try out a different place. How else are you going to find another new itspot? And I mean honestly. Some places I've found were by accident. We had a family trip to Barbados. I was looking at the islands and countries nearby and I stumbled upon St Vincent and the Grenadines and, oh my gosh, it was amazing. There was nobody on the beach. It was one of those places I want to go back because it wasn't crowded. I just would look at Instagram for inspiration on finding other places.
Speaker 3:
I remember I think we had just had our first kid and I remember someone telling us that one of the best things you can do for a family is travel, as far as keeping your family close and just feeling like a tighter family unit.
Speaker 3:
And at that time for us travel meant like maybe hopping on board with my husband's work trip and tagging along or staying in Texas for those first few years because that's what we could do. But we really tried to make it happen, even if it was a short road trip, just that process of packing your family up, getting in the car, going somewhere different, coming home it was almost the process of it and also the experience. But as I'm having a child go into high school, this has all really even made more sense to me, because those times are so precious when you can get it with just your family and, like you said earlier, with your kids being able to bond when they're together, when they're away. We've really seen that with our kids, especially if they don't have friends with them, they're having to bond with each other and I really believe that's going to make a big difference as they become adults in their future. And so travel, whether it's far away, or just getting away for the weekend. I feel like has been huge.
Speaker 2:
When we travel we are together like nonstop and it's really special. I love it. I love seeing all these new places with them.
Speaker 3:
What about your favorite type of luggage? Because this is something that we've gone back and forth on, with rolling luggage versus the backpack that I feel like the boys are great at carrying but they hurt, it's too hard for me. So do you have a favorite type of luggage?
Speaker 2:
I like the four-wheeled lightweight luggage and that's also because sometimes I'll be like pushing a double stroller or a single stroller to have another bag that you can push any kind of way you want, and we've had the same brand since I was studied abroad in 2008. So we had multiple Bricks luggage but they have multiple different kinds of those four wheels Because then you can push it anyway you want.
Speaker 3:
And do you have your girls carry a little backpack with their own toys or anything that they want to pack?
Speaker 2:
I pick it because I kind of want them to be surprised. But we have our little travel section of toys.
Speaker 1:
Do you have a favorite carry-on that you're putting all these things in?
Speaker 2:
I just got a new Osprey bag and I got it because it has multiple pockets. It's got a place for your laptop. But before that I honestly did the diaper backpack. I did this black backpack with a bunch of stuff in it and I just switched out with that like six months ago.
Speaker 1:
How are you keeping your wallet and those valuables or passports safe when you travel?
Speaker 2:
So for the travel day I got this. It's kind of like a notebook and it has a spot for each passport and all of your important cards and money and things like that.
Speaker 1:
I love how your wheels. You can just tell that you guys are having fun as a family and that you're just enjoying yourselves, and I think that's just what everyone wants to see. I feel like I'm better equipped to travel based on the tips that you've given and you're so giving with your time and your tips. Do you have anything that's next for audio's team? Are you going to maybe help other people do this, or do you have any other projects in the works?
Speaker 2:
We're just going to keep traveling as a family and kind of, we'll see what it takes us. I mean, who knows?
Speaker 3:
Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website thespeechsourcecom.
Speaker 1:
Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.