Episode 26: What Are Your Travel Safety Tips For Families?

Episode Title: Episode 26: What Are Your Travel Safety Tips For Families?

Hosts: Astrid & Clint, creators of The Wandering Daughter

In this episode of Worldschooling Q&A, Astrid and Clint tackle a topic that's top of mind for many traveling families: how to keep your kids safe while exploring unfamiliar places around the world.

Drawing from more than four years of full-time travel across 18+ countries, they share practical, experience-based safety strategies that go far beyond fear-based thinking. From modeling calm and awareness to creating family emergency plans, this episode is packed with tools parents can use immediately.

They discuss real-world scenarios like airport arrivals, public transportation mishaps, and what to do if a child gets separated — along with preventative habits like headcounts, daily outfit photos, safe words, and knowing local emergency numbers. Astrid and Clint also share a powerful personal story from Rome that highlights why preparation matters.

This episode is a must-listen for any family worldschooling now — or dreaming of it — who wants to travel confidently while staying grounded, prepared, and connected.

 

🎧 Ready to dive in?

 

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📋 Episode Chapters: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:13 – Welcome to Worldschooling Q&A 00:01:04 – Today's Question: How do I keep our travel safe while worldschooling? 00:02:07 – Modeling calm, awareness, and emotional regulation for kids 00:03:26 – Fear vs unfamiliarity and planning ahead for new destinations 00:04:04 – Airport arrivals, transportation plans, and avoiding overwhelm 00:05:16 – Traveling with young kids: headcounts, group movement, and roles 00:07:25 – If a child gets separated: names, photos, and staff support 00:09:21 – Emergency plans, reunion points, and real-life lessons from Rome 00:11:44 – Safe words, emergency numbers, and communication strategies 00:14:43 – Unexpected safety tips, carbon monoxide detectors, and final thoughts 00:15:51 – Outro & How to Support the Show

 

👉 For full show notes, resource links, and a complete episode guide, visit: https://thewanderingdaughter.com/episode-26-travel-safety-tips

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
And then one of the first things I'llask you is what is your kid wearing?
And if you're most like usand most parents, you're like,
sometimes in the morning it's a littlechaotic, you get your kids dressed,
I dunno what they wear.
Or they've got dressed themselvesright and you don't know.
Yeah. Yeah. This isworld schooling q and a.
I'm Astrid, creator of the wanderingdaughter. As a traveling family,

(00:22):
we've spent four years travelingfull-time to over 18 countries and six
continents. Wherever we go,
we try to learn as much as we can aboutthe countries and cultures we visit.
While we didn't coin the term, welike to call this world schooling,
using the world as our classroom.
Each week my husband Clint and I willanswer one question about world schooling

(00:43):
and share our experiences of travelingthe world with our kids ready to get
started. Great. Let's dive in.
So our question for today is,how do I keep our travel safe,

(01:05):
especially while visitingunfamiliar places?
This is a question I think peopleknew to world schooling asks a lot,
especially people whohaven't traveled a lot.
We traveled quite a bit with ourkids even before world schooling,
so I think this is just something that'sbeen with us for a long time. But yeah,
why don't you kind of start.

(01:25):
Yeah, there's a lot of fearsometimes of the unknown and so
I think one of the things that you haveto keep in mind while you're traveling
is to balance that fear andthat with curiosity and an
open-mindedness.
Yeah, I think a generalrule of thumb I have,
whether traveling solo or with thekids, I think especially with the kids,

(01:48):
is always try to be calm and slow
down. So by slowing down and being calm,
you're able to observe more,remain kind of alert and aware,
but not jump quickly to judgment too.
And kids will pick up on your moods and

(02:12):
they'll subconsciously pickup on what you're feeling.
And so if you are feeling anxious, they'regoing to start to feel anxious too.
And so it's important tomodel staying calm and
in an unknown situation or model,
just being aware of your surroundingsbecause eventually they'll start to pick

(02:33):
that up subconsciously ormaybe not subconsciously.
And I think what's important to youis if there are situations where it
does require a little bit elevatedamount of stress or awareness and you,
your normal practice is to be calm,
but then in that situation you get alittle bit more tense and you get a little
bit, the kids will pick up on thattoo and they'll subconsciously,

(02:57):
they don't even have to be awarethat this happening subconsciously,
they'll be like, oh,
I need to be a littlebit more alert right now.
So it's really important tojust try in normal situations,
be calm because a lot of unfamiliarityor anxiety that comes around
unfamiliar places,

(03:18):
sometimes inappropriately gets logged as a
safety concern.
And.
Most times it's not a safety concern,
it's just because someone'sunfamiliar with their contact.
Or biases that they carry or whatever.
Something you can do ahead of timebefore your trip is just to have a plan.

(03:40):
We are planners. We like to havesome kind of plan of like, okay,
let's look at the placethat we're staying at.
What are the things that are around there?
Is it going to be awell frequented place or
is it a little bit more secluded? If so,
what are some things that weneed to keep in mind about that.

(04:04):
Knowing? How are you goingto get around that place?
How are you going to getto and from that place?
I think landing in a newairport can be intimidating,
especially if you've never goneoverseas or to a developing country.
And landing at the airport can be intense.
Some places such as Indonesia,very touristy areas,

(04:25):
when you land,
you're bombarded immediately withlots and lots of people vying for
your attention.
And so I think that's a greatexample of kind of have a
plan. If you know that that'ssomething that might bother you,
then just book transportation aheadof time so that when you get to the

(04:46):
airport you have peace of mind of Ican ignore everyone here except for the
person that's driving meto where I need to go.
So.
That can be helpful. Yeah.
Yeah.
Why don't we talk a little bitabout traveling with small kids.
I mean our kids are teensnow or tweens and teens,
but we have done travel withthem when they were young,

(05:08):
even as young as twoyears old or under two.
And so what are some considerationsfor traveling with small kids?
So preface this, we met whileworking in a daycare of little kids,
and so we kind of got, I guess luxurydidn't feel like it at the time.
We had the luxury of learningfirsthand how to herd many

(05:31):
kids together in one location while ona field trip and safety stuff involved
there.
I think one thing that I think a lot ofparents don't think about this is really
important with group travel as well.
So if you're traveling withother families is counting heads.
Exactly. I like referencingthe movie Home Alone,
if you've ever seen that becausethey do a headcount at the beginning,

(05:53):
but then they miss one importantone because of a situation.
But it's important. Count heads,we count bags and we count heads.
Those are the two things we'realways counting, making sure,
especially traveling another family.Okay, there's six kids with us right now.
We got six kids. Cool,four adults, good, 10 bags,

(06:16):
we're good. Just always kind ofthat counting wherever you're going,
wherever you're transitioning.
It doesn't have to even be whenyou're in a car going somewhere.
It can be literally like we just gotup from sitting down at a restaurant,
we're about to leave the restaurant.How many bags did we have?
How many people do wehave? Okay, we're good.
And you don't have to make a bigshow, but it's just a quick glance.

(06:40):
Vocal,
be out loud about it though.I will tell her four bags
or four kids, two kids, whatever.
And the other thing iswhen we worked in daycare,
we would have a bunch of kids andwe're walking through a city street.
We'd have one teacher in the front andone teacher in the back so that the kids

(07:00):
are in the middle and there'salways somebody leading the way and someone that's
behind. If you're travelingsolo with your kids now,
that would be a different thing.But if you have a lot of kids,
maybe an older kid can be moreof the leader and you can be in
the back so that you're ableto watch all of the kids.

(07:21):
So that was one trick fromour daycare experience.
What is something, if a kid gets lost,
what is something that we can instillin them in case something like that
happens?
There's a couple things.
One is I think it's important for yourkids to know your full name so that our
kids know our names that,

(07:42):
so if a grown a policeofficer or somebody,
they get lost and someonefinds them, they're like,
what are your parents' names?
And they're able to say your full name.
Then that will be helpful for the person,
the grownup. Another thing, whatwas something that you wanted?

(08:02):
It's a good idea to knowwhat your kids are wearing.
Right? Yes.
So if your kids get separated fromyou say like an amusement park or
something,
generally it sounds like asuper panic moment and it can be
incredibly terrifying,
but there are systems in placeto help kids reunite with their

(08:23):
parents. And one of those is the staff.
And this isn't anywhere in the worldactually. The staff is usually trained to,
if they see a kid bythemselves that's really young,
that looks lost to guidethem to a safe space.
And.
Then to ask some questions aboutwhat their parents are. Well,
the same thing parents can do. Youcan go to a staff member and say,

(08:47):
I cannot find my kid. Please help me.
And then one of the first things they'llask you is what is your kid wearing?
And if you're most like usand most parents, you're like,
sometimes in the morning it's a littlechaotic, you get kids dressed, I dunno.
What they were.
Or they've got dressedthemselves and you don't know.
Yeah.
So one way you can circumnavigatethat is is that the word circumvent,

(09:07):
that is to take a photo of them.
Every day. Every.
Day, so you know exactlywhat they look like.
One that's great because you're alsotaking daily memories of your trip.
There are some general family stuff too.
I think this kind of seguesinto that of have a plan,

(09:28):
like an emergency plan. Whathappens if you do get separated?
What happens if you do get separated?
We had an instance inRome where Clint and I
were doing the headcountsand everything, but it was
a busy bus station and we were justwaiting for the bus to get on and

(09:50):
been the end of a long day.
And I thought that Clinthad my son and Clint
thought that he was with me.
And we all get on the bus andwe're about a block away when
I do my head count and I realize thatour son is not on the back on the
bus with us.
And at the time he was five years oldAnd it was the

(10:14):
scariest experience of our lives.
We didn't speak Italian and we're justtrying to tell the bus driver to stop the
bus and we jump off the bus,
we run back to the bus stop and wefind him right where we left him.
There was a woman that was therewith him and he was crying and stuff,
but it was, I don't know,just so scary for me.

(10:38):
But we're also gratefulthat he knew to stay in
the spot where he was at instead of tryingto find us or trying to do something
else.
Getting on and off of Metrois public transportation is
one way. That's how we were on abus. But we've also established,
we ride a lot of subways.

(11:00):
And.
So we've just established,
we've reiterated with theirkids time and time again.
If you get on the trainwithout us for some reason,
get off at the next stopand we'll meet you there.
If we get on the train and you'releft behind, stay at that station,
we'll come back.

(11:20):
So.
Just have a plan. Whereare you supposed to meet?
We go to an amusement park ora big location, be like, Hey,
buy this giant clown statue.If you get separated,
let's meet here.
I joy back there.
And then if they go to astaff member or something,
then they can tell them I'm supposedto meet at this clown statue.
And then they can help them go there aswell. What's another thing that we do?

(11:44):
So we have a safe word sometimes
it's never had to come up, butwe do tell the kids as a family,
we come up with a secret,safe word that we say.
So in case a grownup approachesthem and they're not with us,
they can say, oh, well we know yourparents and we know the safe word.

(12:05):
Or they'll ask, well,what's the safe word?
And then if they saythe correct safe word,
then the kids will knowto go with the grownup.
Yeah. Another situationthis might come up is,
we actually heard this from family,
friends of ours who werefull-time traveling.
They were in a hotel where there wasa situation that came up that was

(12:30):
kind of a dangerous situation andthey used the safe word just by
saying it among the family
is kind of what I said earlier aboutthe heightened alert thing. Like, oh,
I need to pay attention right now.And it can be, in fact, I think
you want it kind of bea silly and unique word.

(12:51):
And.
Don't share this with a lotof people don't. In fact,
try not to share it outside of yourfamily. It can be a normal word,
but just try not to share it outsideof your family. So for example,
if you make yours, I don't know.
Bubblegum.
Bubblegum, that's a great one. And youdon't use it in everyday conversation,
but if all of a sudden you're walkingalong the street or a sudden and

(13:13):
everyone's kind of doing the otherthing and then the parents start saying
bubble gum, bubblegum, the kidsare like, why are they saying?
And then they'll click, oh,that's our safe word, I,
something's happening.
I need to tense up or I needto ask them what's happening.
Or.
Stay close, see what.

(13:33):
My parents are doing.
So that kind of goes along withwhat to do in an emergency.
Once you pick the safe word,
talk through some potential scenariosand how you would handle that.
Again.
Emergency planning.
Along with emergency planning, what'ssomething we always do in every location?
Oh yeah. Knowing what the emergencynumbers are. So in the US it's 9 1 1,

(13:57):
but in other countries it'sdifferent. So just search it up,
see what is the emergencynumber for that country,
and also know how to saypolice in the local language.
The great thing is, so far everycountry we've ever been to,
they all have an emergency number.
So it's a common thing allthroughout the world. So yeah.

(14:20):
I give a lot of these tips,these safety tips on my blog.
I have an article actually that is allabout how to prevent your kids from
getting lost.
And I share more detail about thatexperience with our son in Rome
and the other experiences too.
Why don't you end with what is somethingelse that's like kind of unexpected

(14:42):
safety thing?
Yeah,
we mentioned this in another episodeand we travel with the carbon monoxide
detector. It's really small,it's battery operated,
it's super benign as far ashaving it in our luggage,
but we traveled with it because therehave been stories of people dying because
of carbon monoxide poisoning.

(15:02):
And.
In most of the world, carbonmonoxide detection is not mandatory.
Now we've had European friends tellus that's such an American problem.
It might be,
but it saved us and we were in MexicoCity staying in a place and we told
the story in another podcast. So I wantto dive too deep. But long story short,

(15:22):
we woke up in the middle of the night toreally high carbon monoxide and we had
to get out of the apartment and we gotout of the apartment and we woke up
because the alarm went off.
And.
It was really, really high. Soit's something that we just like,
we tell everyone now, it's likeit's a critical part of our hacking.
We take it even traveling in the uswe don't need it. A lot of times.

(15:44):
Sometimes it stays in thebag. Well you never know.
Yeah.
Cool. Anything else? Alright.
Well that's all for today.
Thank you for joining us on this episodeof World Schooling q and a with Astrid
and Clint.
Be sure to check out the show notes forany links we mentioned in the episode
and visit my website,
the wandering daughter.com to divedeeper into world schooling and family

(16:07):
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(16:29):
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(16:50):
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Until next time, happy travels. Bye.