If there's one thing I've done a lot of, it's travel with kids:  15 Atlantic crossings; 2 Pacific crossings plus another dozen trips coast to coast in the US;countless, endless car trips; and a train trip or two thrown in for good measure.  There may be more; it's just hard to count that high.  And most of the long-haul flights I've made sans hubby:  just me and three, small, wiggly, noisy, dashing-off-in-a-crowded-airport boys.  Toss in two kids with dietary restrictions and a middle child who tends to experience stress by a) throwing up -- usually on me; or b) lying on the floor crying uncontrollably, and you've got a perfect recipe for creating a travel expert mom.

As you might suspect, I've collected a few hard-won tips and strategies over the years, so I thought I'd start a series of articles to share some of the things I've learned for how to survive traveling this Christmas with kids; whether you're going to the next state or the next country, I hope there's something here that makes your life a bit easier!