Little Lady Bub at Gardens By the Bay in Singpore

Jet lag. When I tell people how much I love international travel with my kids it is the number one question they send my way. How do you handle the jet lag? Long plane flights with young children present various challenges – on our last international flight I momentarily forgot I was traveling with a human child and mistook my toddler for a pet monkey. The good news though is that time differences, or jet lag need not be one of these challenges. The reason – time differences can work in your favour, allowing you to experience aspects of your destination you would miss if you automatically switched to the destination time.

Unlike adults who understand the concept of jet lag and time delay my young kids don’t. This means that when we travel their intrinsic body clocks set the pace of our days. Yes, we do gradually manage to transition to the destination’s time zone, but not in a hurry. During those in-between days we use the kid’s (and our) jet lag to our advantage. Want to know how?  Lean in close and read carefully because how we make jet lag work for us is my top family travel tip. These are my suggestions for how to use the time difference between east coast Australia and my favourite family friendly destinations to your family’s advantage.  They are just the beginning though.  Once you change your perspective and view time differences as a plus and not a negative, the world, with your little ones in tow is your oyster.

Los Angeles

A few years back we travelled with our two young boys to Disneyland. Rather than transition to the local time we took advantage of the time difference, and Disneyland’s midnight closing to experience the park at night.  We would wake in the early afternoon, hit Disneyland for some afternoon character experiences, and then stay into the night to enjoy the vibrant night atmosphere, fireworks and shows. The best bit – at night there were no queues for the children’s rides. If we hadn’t used the time difference to our advantage, and transitioned the kids immediately to local time they would have missed out on a huge part of the Disneyland experience.

Using the time difference to our advantage we were able to experience the different shades of Disneyland

Singapore

At two hours behind our Melbourne time zone my kids woke at 4am local Singapore time on our recent trip. This had huge advantages for missing the heat of the day (which can be draining in Singapore). There was for example, plenty of time to arrive at the stunning Jacob Challas Children’s Garden for its 8am opening.  Gardens by the Bay, and the iconic super trees are open to the public from 5am.   Alternatively, Singapore’s famous wet markets, a cultural institution open in the wee morning hours. Heading to the Tekka or Chinatown Wet Market first thing gives an alternative insight into Singapores market culture.

The Jacob Challas Children’s Garden in Singapore opens at 8am

Honolulu

I don’t know about you but in our home sunset means one thing – witching hour. Taking the kids out to watch a beautiful sunset, or heaven forbid partake in some sunset dining is a no-no. The time difference between Australia’s east coast and Honolulu banishes witching hour to long after sunset. A perfect opportunity to raise your cocktails to the view of the setting sun off Honolulu I say.

Image credit: Tripadvisor

Shanghai

Shanghai is crowded which means walking the streets with young children can be a little intimidating. The three hour time difference meant that our kids were awake and ready to hit the streets early, missing some of the crowds.    Head to the alleyways of Old Town for an early morning stroll.  An informal morning walking tour of Old Town gives a special insight onto the lives of the city’s inhabitants as they cook their breakfast street-side. There are many street vendors in Old Town and this is a good location to purchase some cheap toys.

Tempting food from the Old Town street vendors in Shanghai

This post is an entry for a Virgin Australia Competition for Problogger Event.

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