Going on a Trip
Thanks for joining us!
This episode was written by Kara and voiced by Kara and T.
Episode art was drawn by Jean.
It was originally released in July 2025.
— Check out these pieces about taking trips —
Click on each photo for a link to the book on our Bookshop.org account
— Remember your travel with these! —
— Family trip to New York City —
In the summer when T was four, we took a family trip to New York City. It was hot and included a lot of trekking and it was also wonderful and worth every headache. A great reminder to take the trip when you can, even if your kid may not remember all (or any!) of it. It’s so important to be shaken out of the everyday routine, face some new challenges, find some new delights, and make some new memories.
— Going on a Trip Episode Summary —
Day trips, weekend getaways, and longer vacations —
I like to think of trips as being a few different ways - day trips, weekend trips, and longer vacation trips!
On a day trip, we do something fun for a day. We drive somewhere pretty close by, like a beach or a park. Sometimes we visit a friend in another town, go to a museum, or find a local carousel! You might pack a lunch to bring with you, or get one from a restaurant. And at the end of the day, you come back home to sleep in your own comfy, cozy bed.
A weekend trip is a bit different, because you’ll probably sleep over somewhere out of your home for a night or two! A lot of people do overnight trips on weekends because that’s when we’re off from school or work. And if you have more a bit more time for your trip, you have more time to get there!
For this kind of trip, you’ll need to pack a bag with some stuff from home, like your PJs and toothbrush and extra clothes. But you’ll be home again soon.
And then there’s a longer kind of trip. Maybe you go away for a week! Maybe two? Maybe a month?! These kinds of trips don’t happen as often for most people – they take a lot of planning – but wow can they be fun and special.
If kids are in school, there are certain times of the year that we have vacations, right? There are some days off of school around Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year, a spring break, and the big one – summer break!
Trips are often very fun, but they’re a lot of other things too! They’re expensive, because it costs money to pay for things like hotel rooms and eating at restaurants. And parents usually need to work in order to make that money, so they can’t leave their jobs for too long!
People can feel a lot of feelings about going on trips. Even when you’re excited to go, it can also feel hard to be away from home for a long time. Home is comfortable, and familiar and you may miss it. There’s even a word for this: homesick.
Feeling homesick is ok! Sometimes it’s a hard thing about traveling. And we can handle hard things, including sad feelings. And we hope that if we talk about it, and about what comes along with traveling, that you’ll feel more ready, and more excited! Going on a trip can come with all kinds of new feelings and experiences!
Packing our bags —
Your grownups will help with this, of course. But it’s nice to know what you’re bringing. If you have a favorite pair of pajamas, or an outfit that you’re most comfortable in, ask your grownups to bring it!
What should you pack? Think about the stuff you use everyday: PJs, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, shoes, socks, clothing, undies, a jacket…
This bag also needs to have the right things for the place that you’re visiting. If you’re going on a beach vacation in the middle of summer, do you need snow boots? Nooo. You’d need a bathing suit and sunscreen.
We also need to have the right amount of things! First of all, it all needs to fit in your bag. If you’re going away for 3 days, do you need 10 shirts? You do not. If you’re going on a camping trip, do you need a pair of cowboy boots and flip flops and fancy shoes and sneakers? Nope.
We also usually pack a smaller bag for T that’s her personal stuff. Things she likes to have with her, that keep her occupied and happy. She always makes sure to have her water bottle. There can be fun things to pass the time like card games or Legos.
In either of these bags, you may want to consider bringing a little thing from home that brings you comfort. You can’t bring everything you love from home, but I bet you could find something. For a younger sibling, it might be something like a small blanket or a pacifier. But the thing is, you’ve got to make sure you don’t lose it! Whatever you bring is your responsibility, so think carefully about what it is. it.
How will you get there? —
A road trip is when you travel on a road, which is usually in a car! Car trips can be fun because you have control over your travel! Your family can decide when to start and stop. You can pull over and take breaks along the way.
Another way of traveling on the road is by a bus! But with a bus, you’ve got to get on and get off when they tell you, and where they tell you! There is a schedule that plans the times, and there are specific bus stops. Some places even have big bus stations, where lots of buses come through!
There are buses all over the world! Buses can be so fun - you get to sit a little high up and see the streets around you. There are buses that can take you long distances and also buses that go through towns and cities. In San Francisco, there are many that go through the city streets, which is especially fun, because there are lots of hills! And there are tour buses that are double decker buses! Where there are two levels, and the top level can be open, so there’s no roof!
Trains are awesome – they get a lot of people from one place to another, quickly! Like buses, trains have schedules, they leave at certain times and they will not wait if you’re late!
But unlike buses, which drive on the road, trains run on train tracks! So they follow specific routes, and usually stop at train stations.
And, if you’re traveling really far away, sometimes we will fly on an airplane! Airlines are exciting, and they’re probably the most overwhelming too.
Airplanes leave from an airport, a building where there are lots of people getting on and off of airplanes. People often have a lot of bags, and there can be a lot of waiting on lines. Ugh.
A trip on an airplane is also called a flight and flights have scheduled times to leave. It is sooo important that you make that flight, because missing it is a big deal, if you miss it, you may not be able to go on your trip! But you know what’s silly? Flights also get delayed, which means that we have to wait until they’re ready! It’s not the most fun, but it happens.
When you travel on an airplane, you sit in a certain seat and you can’t just stop whenever you want, like on a road trip, right? You’ve got to hang out on that airplane until you get to where you’re going. Sometimes people have meals, and even sleep on it if it’s a long flight! There are also seat belts at your seat, which you have to wear at certain times. When the plane goes up in the sky and when it’s going back down to land, we cannot get up, it’s not safe! But it’s a really cool time to look out the window.
On all of these types of transportation, you can usually put your personal bag, that little one you packed with your important entertainment and snacks, right near you. Under your seat or in a rack above you.
But a bigger suitcase is put somewhere else! In a car it’s in the trunk, on a train it’s by the front of the car, on an airplane it’s in the cargo hold under all of the seats! Another reason it’s important to really think about what you need to have right next to you, what would make your trip as fun and comfortable as possible.
Where will you stay? —
Friends, have you ever gone camping? What’s the one of the most important things to have? A tent! And also a sleeping bag. Camping is all about being out in nature – you bring some of the things in your life, like things to sleep on, food, and shelter - into the outdoors with you.
There’s not usually electricity, so you can’t watch TV or turn on a light! You need to make sure to bring a flashlight or lantern. People cook food over campfires. At campsites, there are shared bathrooms that people take turns using.
In a hotel room, your bathroom is usually attached to your room. Hotel rooms usually have one or two beds. They also have a TV, maybe a few chairs, a closet or some drawers to put your things in, and a mini fridge. The size of the room can vary, but you don’t usually have a lot of extra room beyond the beds.
Hotels can have other things in the building though, like a restaurants or a pool! You could also possibly get room service, where the people who work there bring food right to your room! You can have a hamburger in bed, or french toast in your PJs!
When you’re staying in a house, however, there is no chef to cook for you! Unless it’s a reaaallllly fancy vacation. People can rent houses from others to stay in, or maybe you stay with someone you already know!
They’re awesome because there’s usually more space than in a hotel - maybe there’s a living room, a kitchen, a dining table. There may be fun games to play with. And there may be more than one bedroom!
What will you do on your trip? —
There’s a saying we having in English that “the world is your oyster”. To me it means that you can do anything you want, or go anywhere. Anything is possible!
I especially feel this way about going on a trip! We do things differently than we do during our normal days. There are lots of possibilities! You have meals in different places! You walk down streets you’ve never seen before! It’s so much fun.
What you do in a place does depend on what’s available to you, and what season it is. One way of thinking about it is looking at what’s around you? What’s special about the place you’re visiting? Maybe you’re going to a place in nature that’s famous for big trees or cool rock caverns. You could do some hikes, have picnics outside, make a leaf rubbing! If you’re going to a city, they may have beautiful old buildings, outside sculptures, or fun parks!
Another question worth asking, that I bet your grownups are already thinking about, is what do you like to do? Do you love to swim? Is there a lake or public pool you could try? Do you like sweet treats? Maybe there’s a yummy dessert that you could try! T had gelato in Italy even before we let her have ice cream back home, and wow did she love it!
Travel is about finding things that make you happy in a new place, and about trying new things. Maybe you’ll love the new thing you did, maybe not!
On your trip, you may be going specifically to visit some people. That can be really fun, and a bit intimidating. That’s ok, you don’t have to be best friends!
When we visit people and stay with them, we usually bring a little gift from home, to say thanks for having us!
When you’re visiting someone, people often do a lot of chatting. But you can also do fun things! Take a walk together. Play a game that they have that you’ve never tried. Write a story together. Bake something. Make an inside scavenger hunt.
No matter where you are, being in a new place, or “on the road” can be interesting because you have to think about things that you normally take for granted. When do we need to leave the house? What kind of shoes do I need to wear? When and where will we eat?
And, even if you have a plan, sometimes things change! Flights can be delayed. A restaurant may have a long wait. Someone might get sick! You could get on the wrong subway line! Eek!
We need to be flexible, which means we need to find a way to be ok if things change. And we need to be patient - sometimes we have to wait longer than we’d like. It’s hard, but it’s good for us all of us – babies, kids, and grownups – to deal with uncertainty. We can handle it! We can pass the waiting time by playing games like “I spy” or word games. Or if our plans change, we can find something different to do, that may turn out to be great!
It’s always important to pay attention to your feelings, and especially when you’re on a trip. It’s ok to be overwhelmed, and to ask for a break when you need it.
To help things go smoothly, no matter where your trip takes you, make sure you always have snacks, water to drink, and always use the bathroom before you leave a place!