Before I had kids I was told all the time to travel I wouldn’t he able to do it as much once kids came along. But honestly, thats just not how I was raised. While I haven’t mustered up the courage to fly with the girls yet, we have still found ways to travel ever since our oldest was around 8 months old or so. They might be in a closer radius, we have not gone much further than 8hr road trip yet, but we still get around and Airbnb has made it that much easier for us to have a good time as a family.

I didn’t really use Airbnbs very much back then, and would get a hotel room but would sometimes feel stressed, especially at night with a baby. I mean let’s be honest not everyone is like us, a family with a baby that can/will cry at night. Some people are there to relax and that’s not easy when it’s 2 am and you have a screaming baby in the room next door(was usually the norm for us on the first night, thankfully has gotten better as girls got older). I usually would try to book a family-friendly venue since I’d hope that would involve more families with kids. I mean don’t get me wrong I’m not really someone who strives to make everyone happy but I try to give people the understanding I would like to receive myself. I recognize that what I’m ok with is not everyone’s cup of tea.

So, after going on a couple group vacations with extended family where we used Airbnb or Vrbo we quickly realized the benefits.

Don’t get me wrong, there are pros and cons to everything. If you’re looking for a relaxing vacation where you don’t have to do any cooking or cleaning for yourself then this might not be your first choice. But if you’re like us and you enjoy your privacy and letting your kids be kids, well then…

And there are ways to make your trip easier too, plan easy quick meals or prep before your trip for less work or even get takeout if that’s your thing. Cleanup duty is done as a family and rather than figuring out a way to repack I’ll either put all the dirty clothes in one bag and the clean in the other or pack a trash bag to throw dirty clothes in, so much easier than trying to repack everything. It’s also important to be aware of what amenities are already provided, that way you avoid bringing things you don’t need.

So, to summarize, it’s private, you have the amenities of home (sometimes even nicer than what you have at home), and you get to let your kids be kids and not worry about other people. I mean don’t get me wrong my girls don’t run around screaming at the tops of the lungs(often), but I still don’t want to have to constantly shush them for being a little too loud just because we are conscious of the fact that there are other people or families in rooms above, next door, and/or below. I love that they can run and jump when they have the opportunity to and at the end of the day when they just konk out from pure exhaustion I know that they had fun too.

Everyday we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

Charles R. Swindoll