The Christmas trip is in our rearview mirror. Some notes:
- On our first leg, CM and I started talking about blogs and things we can post about. She then commented that we’re exhibiting the defining symptom of computer nerdness: talking about the computer when you’re not on the computer. [-20 cool points]
- We knew this already, but it was fun to see it in action: God uses the little guy to bring joy and love to our families. They had a lot of fun with him. We pray that God uses him more and more as his life goes on.
- The above can be said also about the Wii, but to a far lesser extent.
- Our little Japanese car tried its best, but was unable to fit our luggage and Christmas gifts from two families. CM’s family will deliver our gifts on their next visit. Here’s what we brought home. (Not pictured: car seat, stroller frame, hurricane candle thingy)
In all, it was a very fun Christmas and the drives weren’t bad at all. He slept most of the time and we sang the praises of the Internet. I think I’m learning the answer to the title of our blog.
It’s 7:00 am and I sit in a dark living room. We want to leave as early as possible to drive 1.5 hours to Cool Mum’s family’s house. Too bad that the other two are asleep and nothing has been packed.
Our Thanksgiving trip proved that packing to travel is a momentous task that now may require using a shoehorn and Crisco to fit all of our stuff + Christmas presents into the little Japanese car. I’m not looking forward to doing all that, then unpacking, then packing again for my family’s, then unpacking, and then packing again to come home.
Y’know, last year when CM was pregnant, we were confident that this Christmas, the families would be coming to us. That’s how it works: first you get the baby, then you get the power, and then you get the families coming to you for Christmas. (if there’s any blog that can work Scarface into a baby post, it’s us!)
We were wrong. That’s what we get for acting all cool and “Oh, look at us! We can go to Europe with the baby!” It’s hard to argue that hitting the interstate is suddenly too much.
Well, we’ve got some packing to do. Safe travels and Godspeed.
(photo: Dr. Stephen Dann)
1 baby carried in a hotsling
2 budget-traveling parents
3 bags (backpack, small duffel, and diaper bag)
3 places of lodging over 15 nights
8 towns and cities visited
20 hours spent in airplanes over the course of 4 flights
20 hours spent on 12 different trains
23 hours spent waiting for trains and planes to depart
1100 pictures taken with our digital camera
And it was all worth it. It was an incredible trip. The baby loved it and so did we.
BUT…
We don’t recommend this itinerary for those traveling with a baby! Here’s what we learned.
1. Transportation connections with a baby in tow are the ultimate test of patience, agility, and strength. Minimize these as much as possible. Fly right into the city/town you’ll be staying and try not to move much if you don’t have to. We didn’t do this (obviously).
2. Sometimes you need a stroller, sometimes you don’t. It depends on the trip and the baby. Our specific trip was made possible by the baby sling. There’s no way we could’ve handled all of the train station stairs, village alleys, and cobbled streets with a stroller.
3. Go on the trip before the baby starts eating solid foods and crawling. We did this. It will make your life SO much easier. I think 4-5 months old is such a great time to go.
4. Be prepared to feed or change a diaper anytime, anywhere. That blowout will happen at the most inconvenient moment. Trust me.
5. Decide ahead of time that you will laugh about or at least instantly forget all of the mishaps and remember only the great times. Like when the Italians treat you and your baby like rockstars. Or when you get your two daily servings of gelato and don’t feel a bit of guilt. Or when the scenery is so beautiful that even cool dads are content to just wander.
This morning, we packed up and headed to Cool Mum’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving. As usual, it took twice as long to pack the baby’s stuff than ours. I’m continually amazed that someone so small could require so much stuff for a weekend trip.
Mum & Dad’s packing consisted of 3 bags (the brown bag had shoes) and hanging clothes.
Little Man’s baggage consisted of the white mesh hamper with clothes, play yard thing with the baby birds, jumperoo thingamabob, Pack and Play, striped diaper bag, quilted blanket, bag stuffed full of clothes on hangers (under the light blue onesie), and a stroller (not pictured).
But I don’t mind hauling his stuff around. You need a lot more clothes when you poop and drool on them all Thanksgiving weekend.
