Morocco has been on our minds many times through the years, but it just never happened. There was always something else, another preferred destination. We always said, oh we’ll go there eventually. So here we are, now a family of four, with flight tickets to Casablanca. I’m really excited to see what Morocco is all about. Before having kids it was so easy to go travel. We packed our stuff a few hours before departure and that was mostly it. Sometimes we had some accomodation bookings and some plans, but so many times we had no plans at all. Things change a bit once you start traveling with children.

What changes when you start traveling as a family?

You try to choose the destination more wisely (I wrote about choosing a destination already LINK). That means you check the climate and possibilities of transport, accomodation. With young children it all makes sense. Before having kids we just left home and made all the arrangements daily. Well, now we do plan and consider things. We book most or all the accomodation and we also try to book some transport (domestic flights, car rental). Another thing we do is plan what we’ll do and see each day (approximately as we never really  know) and adjust everything according to what our boys can handle. That means we prefer shorter car/bus rides and sightseeing must be limited. So basically we plan our trip in a baby and toddler friendly way. Happy kids, happy parents. Even while traveling.

We explored Lanzarote (canary islands) by rented car and found all these wonderful places.

Traveling as a family means more luggage.

This is a change. When we travelled by ourselves, we each had a backpack in which we carried our stuff that never weighed more than 10 kilos. Now we need two big sized suitcases (actually they’re normal sized, but seem big to us). And more hand luggage than we’re used to. So for our two week trip to Morocco we’ll take our two suitcases and they will be full. I’ll get into details on what to take for a two week family trip in a separate post. Our toddler will most probably also take his own suitcase (Trunki, can serve as a hand luggage and toddlers can also ride them, really great invention). I will have my diaper bag that is lately my only often used bag actually. But I like it, so I’m fine with using it all the time. Matej will carry a smaller backpack as a hand luggage which might be the heaviest piece of our luggage as inside there will be my laptop, his iPad, big camera and more…

Is there anything special about the destination that’s good to know before leaving?

Now we try to check. I usually browse the web and try to find out important information for travellers to our destination. What I want to know is how’s the weather (is it hot or cold, a lot of sun,…), are there many mosquitos (well in Morocco it’s actually not a big problem which makes me happy), how’s the food or is it possible to get any not too spiced, toddler friendly food. I also try to check what kind of baby supplies are available (diapers and wet wipes mostly). To be honest, we don’t really check much more. We always say, there are kids everywhere and so ours will also be just fine, we’ll adjust and face our travel challenges when we meet them.

Choosing the right accommodation when traveling as a family is so important.

What is better than waking up well rested while traveling? I believe this is important. It’s tricky to choose the right accommodation and until you step into the place you booked, you can’t be sure if it’ll suit you. But still, it’s good to plan ahead. I will be writing reviews on my blog too, it might help anyone of you. For a family stay it’s perfect if the place is kid friendly. We try to find hotels/pensions/guesthouses (anything) with a pool where it’s warm enough to use it. And if there is any outside space where children can run around, that’s great too. Some hotels have playgrounds and playrooms, it’s all worth checking before booking. And for the rooms, that can be tricky. We now have a 3 and 1 year old. So we have to find a room where we can all sleep safely (so important with toddlers). Sometimes you get a baby crib which can be useful. It’s quite a task, choosing the right accommodation and we do spend a lot of time browsing for the one we like (or should I say for the one that will suit us as a family best).

Tonight is our last night at home before leaving for Morocco. We have all the luggage packed and ready, accomodation booked, we arranged a car rental and have some kind of a plan what we’ll do. I’m so surprised and proud of how organized we are. It’s such a change from the days of traveling before kids. But things don’t always go as planned. We have experienced it before even as a family a few times! So let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Thanks for reading!

Ajda