Holidays can be buckets of fun

Giving lots of practical advice, new website stickyfingerstravel.com claims it will help take the hassle out of travelling with kids, writes Sheila Wayman.

HOLIDAYS ARE central to childhood memories. Magical days of sun and sea linger in the mind, as the smells, the tastes and the sights are recalled.

Although family holidays can be a challenge, as the longing of parents for relaxation conflicts with children's need to be constantly on the go, they are usually fondly remembered. It's a time when rules about meals, bedtime and treats are forgotten as the whole family escapes from the home routine.

For Tara Cosgrove, who grew up in Dalkey, Co Dublin, one early holiday stands out. She was nine when her parents took her out of school to go on a month's coach tour of Europe. An only child, she was also a lone child on the bus.

"I distinctly remember Pompeii, Rome, Florence, the Cliffs of Dover . . . That was my formative travel experience."

They used to spend their summers in Clogherhead, Co Louth, and her memories are: "it was always sunny - it wasn't; and we were always on the beach - we weren't".

Travel was in the blood. Her father, Tom Meagher, was a ship's captain in the merchant navy. "He gave it up when I was two but I grew up with his stories. My favourite story was Mary Poppins in the Amazon."

Years later, after a career in law, she saw a business opportunity in travel, one which she could combine with raising her two young children. She had scaled down to part-time working after the birth of Emily five years ago and decided to leave her solicitor's job after having Tom, who is now three.

"I wanted the extra flexibility and independence of working for myself. I dipped my toe in the property market, investing, and that went well. I was doing it at the right time."

But another idea was nagging her. After becoming a parent, she wanted to travel with the children and could find nowhere in Ireland providing independent advice on family trips. So last autumn she started setting up an internet site catering for parents travelling with children. Tomorrow she will launch Sticky Fingers Travel.

"I am not a travel agent and not a web developer, so the question is why am I doing this? I just love travel with kids. There are two things I want to do with the site: number one, give information to parents; number two, provide a forum so parents can swap stories."

She is a great believer in "the wisdom of crowds" and says parents like to share advice on the best child-friendly hotels and restaurants, entertaining places to visit and where good value for a family can be found.

She and husband Peter, who she met in Sydney during a year out in Australia - "he's from Donnybrook!" - travelled widely before the arrival of Emily, and other family circumstances, grounded them temporarily.

"We did not do any real travelling for the first year and half." Then they went to "a very child-friendly resort in Spain".

They became considerably more adventurous after that, including taking Emily at just under three and Tom at 10 months on safari north of Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

A good deal of the Sticky Fingers site will be devoted to travelling around Ireland.

"Airport travel has become a lot more stressful. Luggage allowances are down - 15kg between an adult and an infant is nothing - and security measures are up. At the same time there has been a huge improvement in hotel facilities here and in attractions."

She points to the big increase in hotels with self-catering facilities which are ideal for families. "You stay in your house, get the fluffy towels and can use the hotel facilities - without having to endure a cramped double room with the pull-out bed. We've all been there."

As kids' clubs become more popular both at home and abroad, Cosgrove advises parents to look closely at what these are offering.

"Check them out on the ground when you get there. There is no point in asking the receptionist."

Questions you should ask include: Are staff qualified? What level of supervision is there? If swimming is involved, is there a lifeguard and how many adults for how many children?

From her own experience, Cosgrove says, "a small baby is very easy to travel with - it doesn't need a lot of space but needs lots of equipment. Once they are crawling and walking it is a harder age. With toddlers it is all about preparation, you make a list and check it and check it.

The old thing of 'ticket, passport and money' doesn't work any more. Travel with kids is fantastic but you must prepare and go to the right place."

You also have to manage expectations, yours as well as the children's.

"There is a huge transition from travelling pre-kids to post kids and there is an element of compromise, balancing the needs of adults and children. But adults can get vicarious enjoyment from their kids' enjoyment. It's the thing about discovering your inner child. Building sandcastles is great fun - for the first, second or third times . . . ''

The good news, she adds, is that children are rarely disappointed by holidays. They can be relied upon to forget the rain, the squabbles, the food they didn't like. It's the good bits they remember and will recall with great nostalgia to their own children in years to come.

www.stickyfingerstravel.comwill be launched tomorrow, May 21st