Holidays and trips are periods and experiences that you always look forward to doing, and if you share them with your children, even better. Ecotourism is growing more and more and it is a good option for travelling with children, as it involves travelling by integrating into the community you visit, visiting protected areas or sites, or workshops where fun for adults and children does not conflict with respect for the environment. Start planning your family trip with personalised eco- friendly items for travelling with children and make your holidays an adventure different from traditional tourism so that in addition to enjoying yourself you can leave a positive mark.

Get ready to travel with children sustainably

Travelling with children cannot be improvised. If you choose a charitable destination, you can consult local development initiatives in which NGOs participate . In this way, you will help communities and natural environments in an active way. Learning about their culture, buying in charitable shops and discovering local recipes with organic crops that become the most fun school for children.

Responsible tourism starts with preparing yourself well for the journey. Travelling with minors requires planning and organisation well in advance of the trip, considering the solution to any unforeseen events that may arise.

To do this you only need a few tips and you can use some gifts obtained as merchandising for companies , which will ensure that the experience with your children is nice, fun, educational, supportive, respectable and sustainable.

Take into account the age of the children to adapt them to the activities you can do at the destination, check the documentation, vaccines required for travel, first aid kit, such as band-aids or pills for motion sickness and if you really bet on ethical tourism, you can let yourself be guided by the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) , a non-binding code of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCET) which broadly covers the economic, social, cultural and environmental components of travel and tourism.

The variety of places is unlimited, but choosing the way to enjoy this adventure is just as important as choosing a destination. We propose respectful and supportive tourism as an alternative to mass tourism.

And since you certainly won't be able to avoid the car trip, we recommend some tips to make traveling with children more bearable by using the ecological merchandising that more and more companies are choosing to personalize or advertise their logos or messages.

5 tips for traveling by car with children

Long trips are always accompanied by the question, “when do we get there?” , more often than you would like if you are not well prepared, so we offer you recommendations to make the trip with children as pleasant as possible.

1.- If possible, traveling at night is a good option. If you have small children, bring a blanket or travel pillow so that they can rest longer. 

2.- Prepare a backpack that you have on hand that includes water bottles, different layers of clothing to cover temperature differences, a solid snack and wipes.

3.- A very important part of long trips is entertainment. Alternate travel songs and the helpful “I spy” with activity games and coloring. Avoid electronic games that can cause dizziness and noises that bother you while driving.

4. Plan stops to refresh yourself, rest, eat something and stretch your legs.

5.- To avoid car sickness in children, drive smoothly, keep the interior ventilation of the car, if they are asleep, much better, encourage them to look at the landscape, not to be hungry or with a heavy stomach.

Personalized gifts that should not be missing on a trip with children

1. If you take small children on long trips, you will find thermal recyclable bottles very useful as they allow you to prepare meals on demand for the child, without having to wait to find open places where you can attend to him.

2. If there is more than one child in the back seat, it is ideal to keep them entertained for most of the trip with traditional sustainable games that encourage healthy rivalry and the much appreciated peace of mind during the trip, such as the traditional game of tic-tac-toe.

3.- In the car, along with a first aid kit, you should always carry a personalized travel blanket to cover possible drops in temperature or to facilitate a good rest.

Destinations and accommodations

Sustainable tourism chooses destinations where tourists always leave a positive footprint. It carries out activities in which the environmental impact is as minimal as possible, and generates benefits for the local community.

You can choose sustainable destinations where boredom is not allowed with outdoor activities, nature excursions and games or activities with local families. If it is in Spain, Soy Ecoturista can give you some ideas, scheduled excursions in protected areas such as visits to the Doñana park or ecocultural safaris in the Ebro Delta, etc. But if you also want to support volunteering and solidarity, visit NGOs such as Haces necesita that will help you complete the trip planning.

To sleep, look for eco-friendly accommodations, where caring for nature is an added incentive for your vacation. This type of tourism allows accommodation with families, a unique experience to get to know another culture, with different customs and foods that promote KM 0 foods.

Farmers and local restaurants are involved in organic food, which is therefore respectful of natural resources, in which the planet, tourists and locals benefit from a sustainable economy.

Tourism is undeniably a great source of income that, like the rest of the economic sectors, we must address in a sustainable way. It prevents the deterioration of natural environments and allows tourists and locals to enjoy new experiences with different cultures that enrich them. Do you want to be an ecotourist?