🌞 The holiday gazette (for parents who've got this) no.1

EDITION 1: we're packing our bags (not our sanity)

The big departure is coming up?

Light at the end of the tunnel (or maybe just the sun glinting off the windscreen)?

Summer is coming, the suitcases are piling up, the children are buzzing with excitement… pure joy, all round

We know that going on holiday with little ones who want a fruit pouch every 12 minutes and lose their socks at every stop is both an immense joy and a genuine logistical challenge — so here are a few tips for a smooth departure… and a (serene) certain arrival. Everything you need to make life easier between overflowing suitcases, overexcited children and a vague-but-promising itinerary…

Travel starts, of course, with the art of packing... or how to squeeze 42 completely unnecessary items into a tiny bag! Or what we think is essential but will never be used: The 4th swimsuit "just in case", the 6 pairs of socks when they'll be in flip-flops the whole time, the board games in their boxes (spoiler: no, you will not play Monopoly at 10pm in a 20m² holiday home)

Let's be honest: packing for the whole family is a sport, BUT there is a secret technique: pouches.

And guess what? Mezamé bedding sets come in lovely fabric pouches… which make perfect luggage organisers! One pouch for swimwear, one for day-one outfits, another for pyjamas… everything's sorted, neatly packed, nothing explodes when you open the suitcase, and you can even try a bit of independence (stranger things have happened).

Before you leave, pack a little activity kit for each child with: stickers, felt-tip pens, a mini book, figurines or cards. (To whip out at the restaurant, in traffic jams or basically whenever the "I'm bored" hits.)

Team tip: keep a pillowcase (or two) handy for dirty laundry. It takes up zero space and stops the little one's shorts from perfuming the entire suitcase...

Whether you're driving for 3 hours or 12 (godspeed), welcome to the ultimate family holiday adventure: the journey — the one that turns perfectly functioning adults into entertainers.
Welcome to the kingdom of the car seat, the strategic wee stop and the playlist everyone hates except the one who chose it.

Don't forget: the journey is part of the adventure — we're not luggage.
So with a little preparation and a healthy dose of flexibility, even the kilometres can become funny memories (or at least not too painful ones).

And between us: if everyone arrives in one piece, more or less calm and with both socks, that's already a win.

First things first, slap on your favourite sticker to let other drivers know they'd better not tailgate us.

Next, no successful journey is complete without a strategic snack supply. Go for: dried fruit or cereal bars (nothing that melts), fruit pouches, water (no juice, unless you enjoy sticky seats forever) and of course a little bonus treat for critical moments (like a traffic jam near Valencia).

Then, a true game-changer: pack the mini ciao bazar in the car, one at each child's feet. It becomes their own "personal chaos corner": books, cap, tissues, plastic dinosaur, treasure collected at the motorway services… everything goes in. Result: you keep the chaos contained, and you won't have to dislocate your shoulder to retrieve the little figure that fell to the other end of the car. (Don't hesitate to throw in a muslin cloth too — always comes in handy.)

The earplugs & soundtrack tip — a great playlist, an audiobook, a series of stories or even a family karaoke session (for when you just want silence or a podcast about sleep). Find it all here

A few magic games to pass the time (or make it fly)

• 1, 2, 3 animal: everyone thinks of an animal, the others ask questions.
• The silly object game: "You're a fork — what are you doing in the jungle?"
• Tell me a story with blanks: "Once upon a time there was a… (child chooses), who lived in…"
• We look for words starting with each letter of the alphabet, in order. (A for Ant — but kids always think it starts with an N! B for Bear, C for Cat... all the way to Z for Zebra!)
• We make up a story together, each person adds a sentence in turn. "Once upon a time there was a beaver who lived in a suitcase." "One day, he decided to go to the supermarket on roller skates." "But he'd forgotten his wallet…"

Time for a break (leaving with all your children)

Express picnic, with challenges (find a red flower / invent a cloud name) all set up in comfort on their mat

Scavenger hunt at the motorway services: find a cuddly cow, someone in flip-flops, a funny sign — and it works from the car too: motorway bingo!

Right, you're ready... Or nearly. Because you're never truly ready for 7 hours on the road with three mini passengers, but with a bit of humour, a few fruit pouches and a whole lot of love, it should go (just) fine... and if you survive this, you can survive anything.