We have been traveling a lot this year. We headed to Florida in January for the WDW Marathon, South Dakota Business Trip in February, Texas in March, Miami in June, Back to South Dakota in September, Chicago in September as well, and most recently to Florida just last week. Traveling can be hectic! Especially if you’re flying… with a toddler. There is so much to try to remember and coordinate. Here are a few tips to help you travel with less stress this holiday season.

I usually like to wear loose layers, depending on where/when I’m traveling. I almost always work up a sweat trying to get through check in and security so it’s nice to have layers. Let’s talk about shoe choices… Please don’t wear shoes that will take you forever to take off and put back on. You will have to take your shoes off for security. I chose my slip on boots last time to make it easy. Don’t wear a belt if you don’t want to have to take it off. Keep your pockets empty until you pass through security.

And please- for the love of chocolate – don’t wear your pajamas.

This one is more for those of you traveling with monsters toddlers/infants. When you travel with kids you know you already have a lot of stuff… sippy cups, extra clothes (just in case), Pull ups, blankies, DVD players, and of course the handful of random toys they collect that you can’t leave the house without…. You don’t want to try to get a kid, your carry on bag, laptop, camera, AND a full size suitcase. Check with your airlines on baggage fees. I’m usually a pretty frugal person, but in this instance I’ll pay the $25 to save my sanity during airport excursions.

This one should be a given, but I’ve heard way too many horror stories of people missing flights. One time I missed a flight by 5 minutes. Seriously?! Yes. Make sure that you leave enough time to get to the airport, check in, get through security, find your gate, and get starbucks. Some people boast that smaller airports don’t require as much time, while that may be true at other times of the year I wouldn’t risk it during the holidays.

Since we’re talking about getting to the airport… let’s talk about how to get there. Instead of begging for rides or paying a random taxi driver, I’ve found the easiest way to is drive your own car and park it at the airport. Then you have to figure out which parking place to use. My recommendation: The Parking Spot

Dropping off the car was a breeze. Just drop it off and hop on one of the friendly shuttles going back and forth to the terminal every 5-7 minutes. We went with the covered parking option, but if you don’t mind it the uncovered parking is a little cheaper. It was nice not to worry about our car the whole week we were gone.

Coming back we were pretty exhausted. Our flight home was delayed and when we landed in St Louis we were just ready to get home. We got our luggage and headed out to the parking shuttle station. Some locations have just one Parking Spot Lot, but STL has 3! One thing to make sure of is that you remember which of the 3 Parking Spot locations you parked at. Your claim ticket should say this. We waited a few minutes before the Parking Spot 3 bus pulled up and as we were getting on the friendly driver told us our ticket was for the main Parking Spot… Whoops! Just another few minutes before the right shuttle came back around. The shuttles were very clean, something I am always looking for. Little Dreamer loved riding on the poka not (polka dot) bus!

A short ride and we were at the parking garage, where they had our truck ready for us! The parking garage is well lit, which is something the CSI and SVU fan in me appreciates. It felt safe, which as a woman is something I appreciate. No sketchiness here!

They also offer all sorts of different car care options while you are away – including washing and detailing. Nothing like leaving a dirty car and coming back to a clean one. If only that happened to my house! The lovely people there helped us get our bags into the car and we drove through the exit. There was someone there to assist us quickly, and they also had self checkout stations.  

They offered us a complementary bottle of water, which was just what I needed after a long day of travel. Had it been before 9am we could have gotten a complementary copy of USA Today as well! They also have a rewards program called The Spot Club that lets you earn rewards points for each stay!

Overall I was very pleased with our service at The Parking Spot and will be returning again on our next trip.

Have you tried The Parking Spot? What are some of your Holiday Travel Tips?

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Thankful Thoughts

21. Thankful that my husband did the dishes last night when I was overwhelmed with homework.

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.