Winging It: Family Holiday How To!

Planning a getaway with the kids this month? Andrew Spires has some essential travel tips to get you started The stages of a family holiday closely mirror the stages of having a family. When your first child is born, terror keeps you rooted to within a mile of home, but then slowly, as you get used to each other, the fear subsides and the adventures begin. A wise woman once told me that “fear is simply inexperience” and that’s a great lesson to take on your family holiday. When the kids are lit tle… avoid aeroplanes. Saying this, flying with an immobile baby is leagues easier than f lying with a wriggling toddler who’s obsessed with walking the cabin aisles, but if you can avoid the obstacle course of airpor t security with a pram and all the accoutrement s that follow a small child, do so. Here’s a fun story. I took my kids (then aged 3 and 1) back to the UK single-handedly and it’s not an experience I want to repeat. I was so stressed getting off a packed train with the kids and their bags and prams that I left all our passpor ts and ID cards behind. These useful bits of paperwork were quickly destroyed by Her Majesty’s Government. Perfect! Back to air travel. With the three-year-old sleeping, I nipped back to change the baby. I didn’t realise there’s a folding changing table in a plane toilet, so I attempted the nappy change on my knees. My lit tle sweethear t had filled it and was proceeding to kick her legs violently whilst windmilling her hands, covering me in what looked like a mix of Hershey’s syrup and French’s mustard. The cabin crew were trying very hard not to laugh when I emerged covered head to toe in poop with a giggling baby. Hong Kong has loads of great spots that are far enough that it feels like you’re on holiday but close enough that you can max your time without losing it all to travelling. If it’s culture you’re after, I can’t recommend Cheung Chau highly enough. Take the slow ferry and sit up on Level 2, out the back. The breeze is heavenly and the view will keep the lit tle ones entertained. There are a few AirBnBs on the island that include a barbecue on the roof, so you can relax in the evening with the children close enough to hear their cries. If you’re in the mood for a lit tle adventure, Saiyuen Camping Adventure Park, on Cheung Chau’s southwestern tip, is an oasis and offers an array of pre-erected tents and star domes. But be warned: while Saiyuen makes camping easy and semi-luxurious (aircon!), you’ll pay more for a night there than you would at the W in West Kowloon. Just as easy to reach from DB, Gold Coast Hotel is class if you have lit tle ones. There is a mini watersplash park built into the grounds, an electric-car racetrack, a beach not a Frisbee throw away and a great parade of shops, restaurants and bars. The hotel also boasts a huge jungle gym and soft-play area that you can use to knacker out the lit tle ones. The fee is HK$80 per kid. Well worth it! From Gold Coast Hotel, it’s only a 10-minute taxi ride to Tuen Mun Park which is my favourite kidcentred park in Hong Kong. Make the most of its fantastic playground and water-splash area, then have a peek into the free-to-visit reptile house with giant tortoises and ball pythons. Once the kids are old enough to walk unaided through airpor t security, it’s time to venture fur ther afield. Vietnam has always been our go-to. The people are lovely, the food delicious; it’s a shor t flight and it’s beautiful and cheap once you get there. I’d avoid the two big cities until the kids are older, and instead venture to Hôi An or Phú Quôc. Hôi An is a beautifully preserved trading por t dating back to the 15th century and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The flight from Hong Kong is only one hour 55 minutes, then it’s a half-hour taxi ride from Da Nang International Airpor t. The town is pret ty by day but comes alive at night. Take a boat trip down the Thu Bồn River and check out the floating flower candles that people send off as wishes. Grab a banh mi roll from a street vendor: a soft baguette filled with crunchy grated cabbage, carrot and onion; a thick spread of paté; sliced chicken and fish sauce. Pair your banh mi with a cold can of Saigon beer and you’ll be chasing that food dragon as long as you live. Most Hôi An hotels have bikes you can borrow or hire. Traf fic out in the fields to the west of the town is ver y light so cycling is safe and a great way to explore smaller villages. We did a cycle tour that included lunch, but we could quite easily have done this ourselves and avoided an obnoxious American chap banging on about the Vietnam War. Don’t be that guy. Although it’s not great, there is a beach 10 minutes out of Hôi An town. If it’s sea and sand you’re after, take a taxi back up to Da Nang, or book a hotel along the Da Nang seafront. Be sure to get a room with a balcony. Phú Quôc is a little fur ther from Hong Kong but wor th the three-hour flight. Nestled at the junction of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, it’s a gem of an island that’s still very underdeveloped. Book accommodation close to the beach and night market. Although the market itself isn’t much to write home about, there are some great little cafés and restaurants in that area. Phú Quôc’s three main ‘attractions’ are a water park, a safari park and Star fish Beach. Take the cable car to the waterpark: it ‘takes off’ from a bizarre, fake-Roman town built in 2018 and then flies you over picturesque fishing villages to the south side of the island. The standout at traction for us was Star fish Beach. Anywhere else, this would be a chaotic tourist trap but there can’t have been more than 15 people when we visited in April. My kids and I rented a scooter and the hour ride from our beach shack to the star fish was an adventure in itself. They have Grab (like Uber) on the island which is cheap and reliable, but not as fun! Once at the main pier, you ditch wheels for a hulland- zoom speedboat ride over the water to a pristine beach festooned with star fish. There are rope swings over the water and the option to rent loungers. It was a magical experience and one I hope the kids don’t forget. What I’ve learned about holidays with kids is not to squeeze them into your old kid-free life, but to be water, and flow them into your new one. Shor t journey times are your friends. Snacks, plain paper and colouring pencils are your life raf t in a sea of boredom. The ABC game is indispensable for kids aged 5 and up: think of a topic – names, for example – then think of one for each letter of the alphabet. Keeps us busy for ages. I asked my two, aged 7 and 9, what their best bit of Phú Quôc was. Remember, we’ve had motorbike journeys into the forests and swings over star fish… Their answer “that blue-ice drink” and “King Kong Supermarket”. So I guess it doesn’t matter where you go, so long as you spend quality time together.