Traveling with Children

My last entry documented the routine that my boys and I entered into to facilitate the passage of our summer days. Truth is that routine did not last the entire summer.
On July 31st, our family flew to my wife's homeland, Spain, for a three week stay. It was incredibly fun and, from a traveling with children standpoint, wonderfully successful. It was not the whimsy of fate that led to the pleasant travel. There are definite, identifiable keys to peaceful, efficient travel with one's brood.
First, I will address the actual journey. To reach Spain from our city, one needs to take three flights and one hour long taxi ride (we have tried other routes in the past, but as this was what we did this last time, we'll treat the latest route as the best). First, there is a ten-hour flight to London. This is followed by a two-and-a-half hour flight to Barcelona. From there, one must take an hour's flight to Bilbao. From that fair city (this is a joke that will only resonate with people from San Sebastian or other San Sebastianites world-wide), an hour's taxi ride delivers one to San Sebastian, the Jewel of Spain (my opinion).
A lengthy journey by anyone's standards. So, how does one achieve a stress-free day of traveling that, including lay-overs, lasts 20-and-a-half hours? My first piece of advice would be to fly British Airways (we take them to London). Not only do the jolly accents of the crew create a nice environment, but every seat has a screen embedded above the facing tray-table. This screen contains countless movies and TV shows, many of which are perfect for entertaining a child during countless airborne hours. (It goes without saying that many of the offered movies are not child-friendly, so one needs be aware). It also helps that the flight to Spain leaves at 6:45-what my wife calls a "night-night" flight. The power of suggestion seems to work on my boys as they sleep for much of the ten hours to London. (My sleep is never terribly sound because the allure of limitless movies is too great, making sleep seem uninteresting). Another factor aiding our family in our quest for pleasant journeys has to do with experience. Both of my boys have travelled to Spain many times, from the age of eight months (in my older boys' case) and from ten months (in my younger son's case). Their having completed the journey in the past makes present journeys easier. So, what makes for easy traveling with one's children? Picking the right airline, having a flight leave at night thus encouraging sleep, and having children that have flown frequently seem to be the keys. Of course, none of the factors that I have mentioned have anything to do with parenting, but one needs to take credit when one can.
Honestly speaking, enthusiasm helps as the most boring airplane magazine can seem interesting to a child if a parent gushes over it. Bringing lots of books is, obviously, a good idea. Materials for drawing also come in handy to pass the time. Another key component would be patience and calm under pressure (otherwise known as the ability to ignore hateful stares from fellow passengers who were apparently never children). We have had flights that have been difficult in the past. Luckily for our dyad, my wife is both patient and cool under pressure. So in past, more trying journeys, while I wilt in the seat trying to avoid glares, my wife has picked up whichever boy is having a problem and coolly carried him to the back of the plane to soothe him. Now, luckily for me, my boys don't have any significant problems on the plane so I can finish a journey feeling as refreshed as possible without feeling the guilt that goes along with knowing that one's wife has done all the real work on the flight.
So, we did have a relatively hassle-free journey to Spain. Whether we actually did anything to ensure the positive journey is a matter of debate. Possibly, any family with five and eight year old boys would fare well on a Transatlantic, behemoth of a journey. Regardless, we arrived safely in Spain and had a wonderful three weeks.