Moving Travel

Okay. The professional movers you’ve hired have your home relocation well in hand. Your possessions are packed, loaded, and ready to roll. The next order of business? You’ve got to get yourself and your family to your new home.

Certainly, travel of any kind presents challenges. But travel associated with moving to a new home – moving travel – can be especially problematic.

No, you’re not likely to experience horrible mishaps. Still, if the prevailing experience of others is any indication, you may come up against a delay or two in getting where you need to go; you may discover at the last minute that you’ve misplaced some of your belongings; and you may find yourself having to deal more than usual with people and circumstances you’d rather not.

There is a way to prevent some of these dilemmas – or at least mitigate the trouble they cause. And it can be summed up in two words: Plan Ahead.

First, prepare an itinerary. Map out your travel route, whether you’re going by plane or car. Set the time you plan to leave and the time you expect to arrive. You might even want to figure out where along your route you should be at certain times. Don’t keep this itinerary to yourself, either. Leave a copy of it with a relative or friend. Just make sure others are aware of when and where you’re traveling.

Draft an emergency list and keep it on your person always. This list will contain your emergency contact numbers, any medical conditions you or your family members have, the names and contact information of your doctors, and whatever other information you think important to ensure your safety and that of your family. You may find it helpful to have your kids carry this information as well – especially if, for whatever reason, you and they should get separated.

As long as we’re talking about separation, here’s a special piece of advice: STAY TOGETHER. There are few things as scary – especially for young kids – as family members getting separated from each other in strange, unfamiliar locations. Losing track of someone dear not only causes separation anxiety but may also cause you to miss critical flights and departure times. Obviously, some circumstances arise where you have to separate for a moment or two; bathroom stops come to mind. But as much as possible, try to stay within sight of each other; don’t let family members stray during your travel.

Keep a supply kit handy. Yes, we know: that’s just one more bit of Move Day “baggage” to carry with you. But this little bit of baggage can be a life-saver. It should contain, first and foremost, a first-aid kit. Snacks are also essential – as are bottles of water. Other useful items might be phone chargers, batteries, compact travel games and activity books to keep kids engaged when the journey starts seeming long. Whatever you think necessary for a peaceful, pleasant trip, take with you.

Split up your money. Use more than one purse, wallet, or other repository to carry your cash, credit cards, and other important items while you travel. That way, if one of them should get lost or stolen, you won’t be left destitute. Just be sure to keep track of where you’ve stashed these different backups!

Follow all travel safety precautions, especially when traveling by car. That means, more than anything, “keep seat belts buckled.” Don’t let fidgety kids unbuckle them and engage in horseplay while you’re driving. If you have to stop a few more times than you’d planned to let everyone stretch their legs and work off some energy, so be it. Maybe you arrive a little later than you’d hoped. But at least you arrive.

Finally, rest often. Tired drivers and tired passengers, such as bored, cranky children, can make for some pretty perilous travel situations. It’s a good idea when preparing your itinerary to plan a number of breaks along the way. Depending on how far you must go, you might consider planning an overnight stay or two at a reasonable hotel.

How do you find a reasonable hotel?

These days it’s easy! There are all sorts of online booking sites, any one of which can set you up with precisely the accommodations you want, when you want them – and at the lowest possible prices. We particularly recommend these hotel booking sites, often cited among the top three:

Booking.com. Customers report a high degree of satisfaction with this site’s service. They particularly like the ease of the booking process. You just enter your destination and travel dates, then use the site’s filtering tools to focus your results on the kind of amenities and other details you think important. Such searches are most helpful when you want to locate a family-friendly hotel. Once you’ve found what you’re after, you can click on the link to that hotel, view more information about it, and book yourself a room right away. Booking.com also has a mobile app you can use if you’re not near a computer.

Hotels.com. This site is known for offering sizeable discounts – sometimes as much as 50% – on total room costs. It also has a Welcome Rewards program that’s ideal for frequent travelers in that it gives them a free night at participating hotels for every 10 nights of stay. Not many booking sites have loyalty programs, especially one like this. Hotels.com also frequently has last-minute deals on hotels nationwide. Group travel service is also available if you’re traveling with a large party. And, like Booking.com, Hotels.com offers a convenient mobile app too.

Hotwire. This site keeps the name of the travel site with which you’re booking a secret until after you’ve purchased a room. You can still view photos, descriptive details, ratings, and reviews of the locations you’re considering. You just won’t know until after you’ve booked which one of Hotwire’s travel partners helped you get that deal. Hotwire’s travel partners love this because it better helps them book their unsold rooms. Customers love this because of the incredible discounts they get, because of Hotwire’s powerful search and filtering tools that help them quickly find the hotel they want, and because of Hotwire’s many useful trip-planning tools.

It’s our hope that these moving travel tips will help you and your family have a safe and pleasant journey to your new home.