We have a trip coming up that requires a flight. Something I have learned after years of travel is that reserving parking at the airport before arriving reduces stress immensely. There is nothing more frustrating than leaving early for the airport, getting stuck in unexpected traffic, running later than you had planned, and then trying to figure out where the parking lot is, how much it costs, and whether or not there’s a shuttle from the long term parking lot (or if said shuttle circles frequently enough). Most large airports have a web site you can find using Google that will link to parking. *One word of caution here, take care not to link to off-site parking without intending to or you may find yourself parking at a local hotel and then trying to find a cab to catch your flight. Make sure you are on the official airport parking page.

Once on the airport’s official parking page, you can prepay for parking based upon your expected parking lot arrival and departure times. The airport parking team will send you an email with a link typically with a QR code which you can either take a picture of on your phone or download to your electronic wallet (also on your phone). This morning when I went through these steps for parking, the email I received also included an option to print the code, if you prefer a hardcopy. Once at the airport, pull the picture up of the QR code (or the piece of paper you printed with the code), scan it, and the arm should lift to allow you access to the parking lot. To get out when you return from your trip, show that same QR code to the scanner.

Travel is undoubtedly one of our favorite things to do as a family. All the “kids” are out of the house now, so our trip to Croatia was a wonderful way to get everyone together for a week. We had never been to Croatia and Mark and I heard it was beautiful, though I think the girls fascination may have had something to do with Game of Thrones. Beautiful memory on a cold, snowy, winter day.