Packing Tips And Hacks
Caitlyn Knuth
The opportunity to get out and explore the world alongside your kids is an inspiring experience for many parents. It can be thrilling to show little ones new places and watch them have experiences that just might change their lives in the long run. However, for all the fun that traveling with kids includes, it also comes with some serious risks. This is true whether your adventure keeps you in the U.S. or takes you abroad.
Kids have a way of wandering off in crowds. When you’re traveling, pairing unfamiliar terrain with small children can be a dangerous combination that leads to children getting lost. Child Find of America estimates around 2,300 children go missing daily in the U.S. While some of these incidents are the result of lost or stranded children, other cases point to stranger abduction as well.
Even before you reach your destination, there are opportunities for small children to wander off in places like busy airports or train stations. Anything you can do to reduce the risk of this happening is worth your while. For parents, proactive steps can start with something as simple as being strategic about your children’s clothing choices while traveling. Dressing your kids in bright colors can be extremely helpful for both keeping an eye on little ones and finding them quickly if they do wander off unexpectedly.
Get everyone in on the bright color clothing standard
Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock
Dressing your little ones in bright colors is a simple and easy way to make sure they’re more visible at all times starting at the airport where you’re likely going to be facing some daunting crowds. When your kids are dressed in vibrant shirts, patterns, or even neon apparel, it makes it that much easier for you to spot them should they happen to wander away without you noticing. Putting a bright hat on your child also improves the odds of being able to find them more quickly than neutral tones that blend into their surroundings.
While dressing your kids in bright colors is a good idea for visually keeping track of them while traveling, it’s also smart for the entire family to dress in similarly bright colors. They will give your kids a clear point of reference if they wander away and find themselves looking for you.
Once you’ve decided on the bright color everyone is going to wear for your trip, it’s important to make sure little ones can identify and name it correctly. An often overlooked but extremely important point on this front is that if you’re traveling abroad, you’ll want to make sure you and your children can translate that same color name too. Knowing how to describe clearly and confidently what color of shirt you’re looking for on a missing child, and vice versa, in the language of the country you’re visiting could prove vital.
