As a parent, you want your kids to have amazing experiences during their vacations. You want to challenge them with new ideas and adventures, and you want to inspire them with new sights and experiences. However, first and foremost, you should want to keep your kids absolutely, 100 percent safe — and it isn’t always easy to do it all.

Before you consider where you’ll take your family and what activities you’ll do during your travels, you should consider how you can be certain you and your kids will be safe and secure for the duration of the vacation. These tips and tricks should get you in the mindset of travel safety to ensure a happy and healthy trip every time.

Travel Insurance
You insure your home, car, and health during your regular life, and there is no reason you shouldn’t extend the safeguarding of your investments while you travel. Travel insurance is comprehensive; you can pick and choose what aspects of your trip you want to cover, and ignore the rest. For example, most travel insurers offer plans that cover:
• Trip cancellation
• Lost and delayed luggage
• Worldwide phone service
• Rental car damages
• Emergency medicine and evacuation
When you are traversing the globe with little ones in tow, you certainly want as much help as possible when it comes to luggage and communication with home, but the final item, is certainly the most valuable. When you or your child gets sick on the road, you can’t trust your domestic health insurance to cover any expenses accrued in a foreign health care facility. Worse, you may require evacuation back home or to a more reliable hospital in a nearby country, which is exorbitantly pricy.

Plus, even if your travel insurance refuses your claim, you can legally pursue them; without insurance, all of your costs will come straight out of your pocket, no matter what, which may mean sacrificing your child’s health because you cannot afford the full cost of health care. Your past travels may not have warranted insurance, but now that you have kids to look after, insurance is absolutely necessary.

Proper Procedures
Before you set foot in an airport, your family should prepare a set of standard procedures to keep everyone safe. These procedures should cover proper behavior in moving vehicles, including planes and cars, as well as methods to stay sane, safe, and sound while away. Some suggestions include:
• Know the safest configuration for your child in moving vehicles. All children should have their own seats, so bring a car seat if necessary.
• Stay within sight of each other at all times. You may even need to accompany your kids on restroom trips for total security.
• Designate a meet-up point in the event of separation. It should be easily accessible and found nearly everywhere you travel, like a police station.

Contact Information
Even at home, your kids wander off; when they travel, the chances of them getting lost and finding trouble is increased tenfold, especially considering the wondrous new experiences promised by unfamiliar locations. Though you might not be able to fully prevent your kids from following their fancy, you can ensure that they know how to get back to you.

First, you should tell your kids to memorise your accommodation facts before you leave: They should know which hotel and room you are staying in. If you are opting to bring along a cellphone, they should have that number committed to memory, as well. More detailed information, like your name, your home address, and any particular allergies or health concerns, can be written down and stored in your child’s pocket for a responsible adult to find in case your kid wanders too far astray.

Emergency Equipment
You should always travel with a minimal first aid kit, which should include bandages, antiseptic, pain killers, antihistamines, and other medical necessities. However, some kids have additional needs that may require special emergency equipment. If your child has an allergy, asthma, or some other potentially deadly health condition (like diabetes or hypertension) you absolutely cannot forget the tools necessary to alleviate any critical symptoms. Additionally, if you hope to take your kids on any active adventures, such as kayaking, rock climbing, or cycling, you should bring helmets, life vests, and other appropriate equipment.