Traveling with kids: The scheduling mistake on a trip almost ruined it for us

• On a trip to Canada, my family missed an important ferry ride, messing up our travel plans.
• My five kids almost had a meltdown over this mistake and it was challenging.
• Now we know how to prepare for everything and protect our vacations against travel mistakes.

My husband and I are planning a three week vacation with our five children over the age of 15. Before we leave home, we usually have several destinations, camping reservations, and various activities.

We like to make sure we’re prepared for anything, but sometimes things go wrong. This is normal with any travel plan, but it is especially difficult when traveling with a large family.

On our trip to Newfoundland we ran into serious problems and had to recalculate our schedules. The weather was against us and almost ruined our vacation.

Time zones can be a problem when traveling by car or boat

Heading northeast to Newfoundland from New Jersey, it became later before we knew it. On vacation, we rarely look at our phones, so we don’t notice the hours passing with the time zone changes.

Stopping at the visitor center once we arrived in Nova Scotia in Canada, I checked with an attendant at the courtesy desk about our ferry reservation to Newfoundland, leaving at 8am the next day. She said the confirmation I printed at home was wrong. The boat we were supposed to be on had already left that day. Only two ships leave port – and I missed them both.

With nowhere to go and no time to mourn the loss of the boat, we had the attendant schedule the truck, trailer and seven people on the next available Marine Atlantic ferry to Newfoundland, leaving at 1:30pm the next day.

We had to quickly book accommodation for that night which was stressful.

The next day, we again forgot to factor in the time it would take for the ferry to cross the mouth of the Saint Lawrence Seaway – about seven hours – and another time zone change to Newfoundland, half an hour later.

Our time schedule was thrown

Once our ferry docked in Channel-Port-Aux-Basques and we picked up our truck and camper, it was evening in Newfoundland. We traveled the only road available – Route 1 heading north – and passed a town early before arriving at Deer Lake Campground around 10:30pm. The only vehicles on the road had been the trucks carrying wood. I didn’t see gas stations, shops or hotels.

The owner of the campsite was sweeping the shop floor. I knocked on the door as my 9 and 11 year olds cried next to me. The three younger children were sleeping in the van. My patience was spent.

Once the owner woke up, he told us there were no sites available. Our reservation had been given to someone else because we didn’t arrive on time.

Seeing the exhaustion etched on our faces and hearing about our confusion with the ferry reservations, the campground owner found a flat lot near Deer Lake and helped us set up camp while the kids snoozed in the van. Soon the neighboring campers installed electricity and some lights for us to see. They also ran hoses from the bathrooms for water to our pop-up camper. Thanks to their assistance, our camp was set up by midnight.

After sharing adventures in rural Newfoundland, we knew we needed more time to get to the Marine Atlantic Ferry dock to travel back to Nova Scotia. I checked the ferry loading time and checked the weather. The next morning, we broke camp long before dawn in a torrential downpour. We drove the lonely dark road of Route 1 along the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the rain hammering us horizontally. But I did the ferry launch with time to spare.

Include extra days in your itinerary when you travel

Due to our difficult trip to Newfoundland, we have readjusted our family vacation planning.

We now include extra days in our travel plans. An extra day can make a world of difference if we can’t catch the next flight or boat to our destinations.

We also now confirm all bookings we make with the original sources and companies. We make sure they can contact us if flights or ferries are canceled or rescheduled.

Finally, I memorized all the time zones we were traveling in. We look at our phones to notice any time changes, even on vacation. Now, we always have alternative accommodation in case of an emergency.

But we will never underestimate the kindness of strangers, especially those who welcomed an exhausted family from New Jersey to Newfoundland.