Family Travel Sri Lanka, flying and packing tips too

Last Updated on August 17, 2016 by Jenny Pena

Family Travel Sri Lanka

We have tons to tell about our family travel through Sri Lanka this summer! It was a great experience we can’t wait to tell you all about it. We visited many cities through Sri Lanka so we’re going to break it up into a couple of different posts.

Flying with small children

We chose Sri Lanka because of the short flight and our budget. Living in the Middle East during the summer can get veryyyyy hot so leaving for at least a month was much needed. Although most of Sri Lanka was hot too, it definitely doesn’t compare to the desert heat.

My husband chose our flights so that our kiddos naps wouldn’t be interrupted. Our flight to Colombo Airport left early in the morning and arrived in the afternoon in Sri Lanka. He also took the time change into consideration. These kinds of things can really affect your travels.

Since Jasmin is three she had to have her own seat. We prepared her by reminding her she’s a big girl with her very own window seat. We pointing to the seat belt sign whenever it was on and she knew she had to sit and wear it until it was turned off. If she was cranky this was a bit harder to explain but she did just fine overall.

Noah is still a lap child and didn’t need his own seat. They do, however, provide a infant seat belt that attaches to your own. This can be quite uncomfortable if the baby is sleeping or wiggly while the seat belt sign is on. I’ve had Noah in a wrap a couple times during the flight so they’ve let me keep him without the seat belt as he’s nice and snug in the wrap.
Thanks to the short flight it was pretty easy to entertain them without any troubles.

Preparing for new lands

Adjusting to new time zones, change in weather, and food can all take some time. We packed a little rolling suitcase with some small toys, coloring books and some of Jasmins favorites. We also took some small food items to last at least a week until we were able to find snacks and meals she would enjoy. Noah was easy to pack for, at 9 months he’s very much still nursing and only exploring new foods such as mashed fruits and fresh juices, easy items to find in the lush Sri Lanka.

All in all we traveled with

• One backpack
• One diaper bag
• One small suitcase
• Jasmins little toy roller bag
• One umbrella stroller
• 2carseats

After we checked everything in we kept only the stroller, diaper bag and jasmins toy bag. All very light and easy.
Once we arrived in Sri Lanka, car seats were strapped into our rental car, everything besides the diaper bag and toys into the trunk. Easy peasy!
I’ll write in another post about our driving adventures!

Couple of packing tips
Think: Minimalist packing!

• Pack light
• Don’t bring your whole wardrobe; pay for laundry service (quite inexpensive)
• bring at least a couple days worth of a favorite snack for the kiddos,
• pack simple, fun, light toys keep in mind you can buy for pretty cheap in Sri Lanka for hotel play and car rides.

Sleep

Their sleep time changed after a couple of days. They used to sleep around 9pm-10pm and wake up around 8 or 9 am in the morning. After a couple of days they started following the sun, waking up around 7am or earlier and falling asleep around 8pm. It was actually perfect since the weather allowed for us to be out during the day, have a nap right at peak heat of the day, and then enjoy the evening before sleep.

Our sleep improved with this trip as well. Wifi was poor and not much of nightlife possibility with two kiddos so we feel asleep early and slept a whole nights rest! Does wonders to your emotional stability throughout the day and energy!

We thank God for the opportunity to see other cities, a different culture, to see how people are living in another part of the world. It really gives us perspective, we are even more grateful for what we have been given, and what we can share. We feel like it was an amazing experience for Jasmin to live life on the road, experience other foods, environments, animals and people. She doesn’t stop talking about it!

Hopefully we all adjust well going to the crazy heat and desert life!