HA! I guess I can blog about this considering we've traveled from Zambia to the States multiple times. Let me tell you, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. There's no "easy" way to get from Zambia to the States. If you fly through London, then you have to go down to Jo'burg which makes three flights. If you fly through Dubai, then you have a tricky 14 hour flight to Chicago.
Here's some tips:
1) Break up the trip. No one, NO ONE, can feel great if you haven't slept for 48 hours. I personally struggle with sleeping on the plane. I did find when I traveled by myself in September that booking an exit row window seat is well worth the money. I was able to sleep for an extended amount of time on the 14 hour flight with an exit row window seat. First of all, you've got plenty of legroom. Secondly, you don't have to ask your row-mate to move so you can get up. Thirdly, you don't have someone's chair two inches from your face if you can't sleep. The only con is that you have to put your bag in the overhead bin for take off and landing. That's hardly a con for me. :)
When we flew now with the kids for Christmas, we went through London and spent the night. So Leon and I only missed one night of sleep. If you're travelling with small children, there's a good chance you may not sleep deeply or long with the kids. Leon and I would sleep restlessly because we were worried about the kids waking up. We even had a guy sleep walking who tried to crawl over Jules. That was weird!! And, it reinforced that I wasn't super comfortable falling into a deep sleep with strangers around my kids.
We made a mistake on the way back, though. We had two overnight flights: one from Boston to London and one from London to Dubai. Big, big, big mistake. We spent the day in London at Windsor Castle (which was nice) BUT again, Leon and I didn't really sleep those two night flights even though the kids did. I don't know how to describe how tired I was when we reached Dubai.
And that first breakfast in Dubai is one we won't forget. Food and coffee everywhere accompanied with a side of overtired children. Yep. Not pretty.
If you are planning on taking a plane ride any longer than 10 hours, I highly recommend sleeping before you get on that flight. So, get a flight in and then sleep. A 10+ hour flight is WAY more doable if you're not tired.
2) Chill out. This is much easier said than done. Kids can sense when you're uptight. It's not fun for anyone. Laugh, chase, tickle, high five to break up the monotony of "grab your bag, let's go, hurry we've got to find our gate, don't touch, don't look, don't breathe, just listen to me" dialogue.
Let the kids help as much as is age appropriate. This time, our two year old and four year old enjoyed throwing their shoes and coats, water bottles and bags up and into the trays at security. And they loved pulling the small rolling suitcases. Again, it's a little bit hectic because hello, #steeringskills, but happy kids equals happy parents. :)
If you're travelling with a child on your lap, you'll probably get poo on you (has happened to me once!). If your child wears a nappy for sleeping, there's a chance you may have plane brain and forget to put one on them and then they'll have an accident (yep!). If you have an active child, they WILL roll all over every available floor space and lick everything and put their mouth on everything. EV-REE-THING. Germs are real. They'll survive. Chill out, mama! :) (I do draw the line at toilet germs. No touching anything in those plane toilets!!!!)
3) Overpack the (rolling) carry-on. This is not a husband's favorite piece of advice, at least not mine anyways. ;) I always, always over-pack on nappies and wipes. Loads of wipes. I pack for a three day trip what we would use in three weeks and it's so nice! Wipes everywhere! For everything! And a change of clothes for everyone. It's kind of obvious to pack extra changes for kids, but don't forget Dad and Mom, too.
Each airport is different at security checkpoints with water in the kids' water bottles. I think we pushed the limits a bit considering the kids are two and four. But don't worry, if you have kids with bottles, security will just put the kids bottles through additional screening. Some airports let our kids send their water bottles through, others did not. No biggie for us; whatever worked at the moment is how we rolled.
Oh! And meds. We always give our kids some form of OTC to help them sleep (even had a flight attendant recommend for us to do so!). Melatonin also works.
So, if you're planning a big international trip (not just jumping the pond), I hope these few tips help. I promise you -- you'll make it one piece and airplanes do eventually land!
