We just returned from a wonderful and relatively low-key family vacation. Many of my readers know that I live right outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, and our vacation spot was Chattanooga, Tennessee – about two hours south of home.
Chattanooga is a small city with a BIG personality – lots of things to do and some pretty rich history. A lot of things to do in Chatt are family-friendly, which made this a really good travel spot for our family.
If you have little ones (or big ones that WERE little ones), you know that travelling with a toddler is no joke.
As I share our vacation with you, I also want to share my four tips for traveling with a toddler!
#1: Don’t over-plan but do HAVE a plan.
An itinerary may seem too structured for your preferred vacation – but I have found that a prepared schedule helps my little know what to expect, and that’s about half of the battle. It also means you can evenly spread out activities so you’re not OVER-stimulating your little one.
I also pre-bought tickets so I would reserve spots at various activities, learn about their COVID measures and requirements in advance, and get all of the parking and address information. I put all of that information in a spreadsheet that I shared with Jake in advance.
Our itinerary looks pretty blank, honestly, and that’s because it is. We committed to 2-3 things per day and no more. We wanted little man to enjoy the experience and not been TOO exhausted – and we planned for family downtime and playtime at our AirBNB. (By the way, we do love an AirBNB for vacations – it feels a little more family and budget friendly, since we can eat breakfast every day there and even some lunches or dinners, too. (We did a few packed picnic lunches to save on funds but also to make sure we always had something little man would eat. We also cooked 3 of our dinners at the AirBNB and took our instapot with us to cook.)
By telling our little that we were going to the zoo the next day, or the movies later, he was able to be excited and have some expectation of what was going to happen.
#2: Do go places that meet your toddler where they are.
We were very purposeful in going places that would pique our son’s interest. He’s VERY into animals – I’ve never met another three-year-old that consistently asks to watch documentaries about sharks – so we knew the zoo and the aquarium would be a hit.
We also knew that places like that are family-friendly and engaging for kids. He could play with interactive exhibits, point out colors of animals or types of animals, and there were seating areas or benches for moments when we needed to take a break. And here’s the big one – there were restrooms that were likely to be clean for a potty-training kiddo.
Our boy is also a big fan of outdoor adventures, so breaking up the road trip (even a short, couple-hour trip) by planning a picnic lunch and a walk on a paved, wooded park path was a reprieve from the car ride (and car seat) and a chance for him to get his energy out.
#3: Don’t have expectations of a perfect trip – just a good one.
I’d be lying if I said it was the “perfect” family vacation. We had some toddler melt down moments – and some moments where Mom-mom was less than graceful in her frustration (let’s just say that mastering eyerolling was NOT just a teenage phase for me) – but it was still a REALLY GOOD family vacation.
I don’t always believe that lowering your expectations is the right outlook to have. But when planning for travel with a toddler, I think that two cliché pieces of advice apply: 1) lower your expectations and 2) look for silver linings.
Little man did NOT like the historic carousel in Coolidge Park. It is SUPER cool – but he was NOT prepared for the up and down feature combined with the quicker rotation. I did NOT prepare him adequately for the added feature of up and down movement, and that’s on me. He wanted to ride a tiger – which makes sense, it’s his favorite land animal – but it was too high and he switched gears to the rabbit. Then it started and he cried for the first half, even though I held him. Here’s your Instagram versus reality photo set… He smiled at the end and said he liked it, but I think he was humoring me. Bless him.
We also did have a moment when we had to peel him from the splashpad fountain at Coolidge Park, because what kid wants to leave a splashpad?
Oh – and it rained on our last day when we were supposed to take a nature walk through the
Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center – so we just checked out the welcome center and the wall of reptiles and amphibians… It wasn’t what we planned, but still kind of cool.
Overall, though, we had a great trip. Here are some of our best moments – picnicking and walking at Fletcher Park in Cleveland, petting goats and seeing giraffes at the zoo, riding an historic train, and watching the otters play and petting a de-barbed stingray at the Aquarium.
#4: Do find something for everyone.
While this was absolutely a kid-friendly vacation through and through, we also did do things that were of interest to Jake and me.
We both love history – so the train ride was really neat for all of us. We both also love books, so we went to McKays; we spent most of the time getting little man’s books, but just being in a bookstore is good for our souls, so we weren’t complaining.
Jake also LOVES alligators and crocodiles, so getting to see them at the aquarium was a highlight for him – and they were SO active! They were sliding off of the rocks and swimming right up to where we were.
I love sharks and sea turtles, so seeing those at the aquarium was a highlight for me.
Jake and I also had a date, earlier in our relationship, to the drive-in movie theatre in Maryville, TN, and we learned that we both have great memories of going to the drive-in as kids. We were so excited that a drive-in theatre was playing the new Paw Patrol movie, so we drove about an hour to Athens, TN to see it for our boy’s first movie and drive-in experience. It was a blast – and we do highly recommend the Paw Patrol film to our parent and grandparent friends.
All in all, it was a great vacation – we loved spending time together and exploring our state. I hope these four tips will help you plan your next family vacation. Let me know what other tips and tricks you have for traveling with littles in the comments!
Here’s my favorite family picture we took on the trip.
For anyone who is interested, here are links to the places we visited:
- Fletcher Park – Cleveland, TN
- Chattanooga Zoo – Chattanooga, TN
- Swingin’ Midway Drive-In – Athens, TN
- Tennessee Valley Rail Road – Chattanooga, TN
- McKay’s Bookstore – Chattanooga, TN
- Tennessee Aquarium – Chattanooga, TN
- Coolidge Park – Splashpad & Carousel – Chattanooga, TN
- Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center – Chattanooga, TN
Also, we were masked when inside (except for some pictures when we were away from the crowds) and even outside if we were in a large crowd. We’re both vaccinated, but little man is too young and we want to be a good example to him as we travel and go into enclosed spaces and as we strive to keep him well.
Kate with a Twang 