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Bonus Episode: Choosing Travel Destinations for Kids with ADHD, Autism, and Anxiety
77 Plays18 days ago
“When the plan feels manageable, the whole trip feels lighter.”
In this bonus episode, we talk about how to choose travel destinations that feel more supportive, flexible, and realistic for your family. Instead of trying to pack everything in, we explore simple patterns that make travel easier, like balancing stimulation with calm, choosing places with space to move, and allowing room for rest and reset.
You’ll also hear how outdoor spaces, swimming, and slower pacing can help children regulate and enjoy the experience more fully. We look at why some destinations feel overwhelming, how flexibility changes the flow of a trip, and why doing less often leads to a better experience overall. This episode is a reminder that the best trips are not the busiest ones. They are the ones that actually work for your family.
Topics Covered:
00:00:00 – Welcome to Family Travel that Supports ADHD, Autism, and Anxiety
00:00:06 – Today’s focus: Picking a place that works for your family
00:01:05 – Not all destinations fit every family
00:01:56 – Balance stimulation and calm for better trips
00:02:39 – Pacing matters: do less, enjoy more
00:03:27 – Outdoor space supports regulation and movement
00:04:26 – Swimming as a powerful reset activity
00:05:04 – Avoid pressure to “do everything” on trips
00:06:33 – Flexibility improves travel experiences
00:07:09 – Best trips fit your family, not a checklist
About Your Host:
Dr. Josette Bianchi is a board-certified pediatrician, mom of three, and a travel lover who believes families should feel confident exploring the world together. Through Family Travel that Supports ADHD, Autism, and Anxiety, she shares practical tips, real-life experiences, and encouragement for families raising children with big feelings, sensory needs, or behavioral differences.
Combining her medical background with her perspective as a parent, Dr. Bianchi helps families plan flexible, sensory-friendly trips. Each episode offers simple ideas, honest stories, and helpful tools to make travel more manageable and more meaningful for neurodiverse families.
Connect with Dr. Josette Bianchi:
- Email: familytravelsupport@gmail.com; josettemarie@gmail.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josette-bianchi-40902943/
- Instagram: @familytravelthatsupports
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
If choosing a travel destination feels overwhelming, especially with summer coming up, you're not alone. In today's bonus episode, let's talk about how to pick a place that actually works for your family.
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to Family Travel that supports kids with ADHD, autism, and anxiety. the podcast for families who love to travel and have children with big feelings and challenging
Insights from Josette Bianchi
00:00:22
Speaker
moments.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Josette Bianchi, a mom to three children, a board-certified pediatrician, and a travel lover. If you're raising children with ADHD, autism, anxiety, or other behavioral differences,
00:00:34
Speaker
and the idea of travel feels both exciting and overwhelming, this podcast is for you. Each week, we usually follow a simple 3-2-1 format. Three places to visit, two places to eat, and one helpful travel tip for a given location.
00:00:48
Speaker
But today we're taking a short break from that format and doing a quick bonus episode.
Choosing the Right Destination
00:00:52
Speaker
Just a few minutes to talk through something that comes up all the time. How do we actually choose where to go in the first place?
00:00:58
Speaker
And I thought this would be the perfect time of year to tackle this with summer coming up around the corner. Because the truth is, not every destination works the same for every family. When you're traveling with kids who have ADHD, autism, anxiety, or just big feelings in general, the location itself can really shape how the whole trip
Balancing Stimulation and Calmness
00:01:16
Speaker
goes.
00:01:16
Speaker
Over the last few episodes, whether we've talked about a big city like Philadelphia, smaller city like Rochester, beach destinations like Myrtle Beach or Ocean City, there are some patterns that keep coming up. So today I wanna pull those together and talk through how we think about choosing destinations that tend to work better for families like ours.
00:01:36
Speaker
And just to say, sometimes you don't get to choose. Sometimes you're traveling for a wedding, visiting family or something specific. So this isn't about rules, it's more about patterns and ways to make things easier when you do have a choice, or maybe how to tweak things and try make the best of it when you don't have a choice.
Outdoor Spaces and Activities
00:01:54
Speaker
Okay, so one thing I've noticed, and I talk about this a lot in previous episodes, and we'll probably keep talking about it, is to look for a balance between stimulation and calm. So one of the biggest things I've learned is that kids can enjoy stimulation, but usually not all day.
00:02:10
Speaker
So places that offer a mix, those type of places tend to go better. For instance, a boardwalk can be fun. It has rides, noise, energy, but it can also be a little bit overwhelming and it doesn't work for extended periods of time.
00:02:26
Speaker
It really helps if there's a quieter beach nearby where you can reset later that day or the next day. Same with museums. They can be great, but not if you try and do the whole thing. So pacing, selecting a few areas, those techniques can be really helpful for all kids.
00:02:42
Speaker
We've learned to just pick a couple sections when we go to zoos, museums, things like that, and just let that be enough and enjoy what we're doing and not try and add too much. And this is something i didn't fully appreciate at first, that more is not necessarily better. And you don't want to leave fun for fun.
00:03:00
Speaker
Stay where you are if you're having a good time and just enjoy the moment. Locations where you have some options and being able to shift the pace makes a huge difference. Destinations that offer some calm options to offset the more stimulating activities work really well for our family.
Pressure-Free Destinations
00:03:16
Speaker
i really like beach towns and places with solid state or national parks for this balance. Okay, so another key element to choosing a great destination is outdoor space. It makes a huge difference, and it keeps coming up over and over again in our episodes.
00:03:33
Speaker
Kids do better when they can move, especially kids with ADHD, but honestly, most kids in general. When there's space to run, walk, explore, everything just tends to go more smoothly.
00:03:45
Speaker
So that could look like a beach, a park, a trail, or even just open space near where you're staying. Doesn't have to be complicated. Just has to be available, somewhere open where your kids can move.
00:03:58
Speaker
And it's also worth thinking about what works for your family physically. Not every trail or playground works for every child, and that's okay. So trying to do a little research beforehand about what's available in the area and what might work for your family and their physical abilities.
00:04:14
Speaker
There are lots of ways to be outside. It's just about finding what works for your family. So for us, swimming is actually huge. One of my kids really loves to swim. They all like to swim, but one of them really likes to swim. And swimming really helps him reset and calm.
00:04:31
Speaker
And there's a lot of good data to support that it helps kids with neurodiversity, especially those with ADHD.
Flexible Travel Plans
00:04:38
Speaker
We try and find places with outdoor spaces as well as those that have availability of a pool on site when we travel because we know that that helps our kids and especially our son.
00:04:49
Speaker
Okay, so for that last piece we want to talk about, I like to choose places where you don't have to do everything. And then a lot of people who may know me and listen to the show may be laughing at this, but this is a lesson that has been hard learned. And so I want to share it with everyone because this has not always been how I've been, but my children teach me a lot every day. And this is one lesson that they have taught me.
00:05:15
Speaker
So some destinations are set up in a way where it feels like you have to maximize every second. We know about those destinations and we've all been there, right? And that can be fun, but it can also be a lot of pressure, especially if you have children that can have challenging moments and you're trying to balance the travel planning, the packing, also with sort of managing things in regulating your child, right?
00:05:43
Speaker
And I really don't want to hate on Disney because I personally really enjoy Disney, but I feel like it can be a good example of this. Because at least for me, when I go to Disney and I've been and I've taken my kids, it just really feels like you have to pack everything in to make it worth it.
00:06:00
Speaker
It's expensive. There's so many awesome things to do. There's so many different things that each of the kids is interested in. It's really hard to limit when you're at Disney because for me, I want to just pack it all in, see it all, and make myself feel like it's worth it. But that doesn't always work best for my family, and I have learned that.
00:06:21
Speaker
Other places are a little bit more flexible. You can go for a couple hours, take a break, maybe come back. We've talked about those on the show. Maybe we've talked about a few places where like if it's not working out, you can leave and then still use your pass at another time.
Encouragement and Engagement
00:06:37
Speaker
I think those options are really super helpful. And for many families, having that flexibility really makes a huge difference. Trips tend to go better when you can adjust the plan without feeling like the whole day is ruined, when you can switch it up and pivot if you need to.
00:06:52
Speaker
Okay, so final thoughts for this bonus episode. At the end of the day, the best trip isn't the most exciting one necessarily. It's the one that works for you and your family.
00:07:03
Speaker
When you choose destinations that allow for flexibility, movement, balance of calm and stimulation, travel really starts to feel possible again. Remember, travel doesn't have to look like anyone else's version to be meaningful. Meet your family where they are and keep wandering without limits. You've got this.
00:07:20
Speaker
If this episode resonated with you, please follow or subscribe to the show and share it with another parent who might benefit as well. We'd also love to hear from you. feedback, questions, places you'd like us to cover on the show. And you can find us on Instagram at family travel that supports.
00:07:36
Speaker
We share tips, info on upcoming episodes. We also ask for listener input for future episodes. And remember, this podcast is for general informational purposes and educational purposes only and is not to be considered medical advice for any patient.
00:07:51
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.