So far, Norah Grace has gone on a driving tour of southern Ireland, spent weeks relaxing and visiting family in the US, walked around Trapani, Sicily, and backpacked her way from east Germany to the south, including a night in Austria. She's stayed in bed and breakfasts, hotels, motels, and tents. She's taken trains, planes, cars, buses, and one boat (a hydrofoil ferry--she loved how fast it went). She's a well traveled nine month old little girl. The easiest trip was Ireland, when she was just three months, because she had the opportunity to sleep in the car seat whenever she pleased.
Trapani was tough. We thought just bringing the wrap was the way to go. It would be easier than the stroller, we thought. She'll just sleep in it while we carry her, we mused. We can stick to our normal ways of traveling and she'll go along with us, we assumed. Learning experience.
The long weekend backpacking in Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria, Germany had its ups and downs. Overall, I enjoyed it, but have you ever tried sleeping in a tent with a seven month old that likes to roll around all night and wake up from time to time to hang out for a bit? It does not lend to a long, restful sleep. A big downside of camping with a baby: limited options of retreat. There's no quiet hotel room for baby to nap in.
Our next attempt: a cruise. Tomorrow we head off to Venice to cruise down our way down to Greece and Montenegro. This seems to be a good idea, in theory, at least. We get to see the sights, have multiple eating options, and retreat to the stateroom is always possible. Plus, tag team parenting. One parent can hang out with her in the room and the other can head off to read or eat or see what this "happy hour" thing is that people are always going on about. We're hoping for a playroom to give our little girl a place to burn some energy off in. If not, she can always army crawl her way down some cruise ship hallways. We'll see if this works. I'll let you know how it goes.
Travels with baby tip number three:
Pack for convenience. Amy had the idea to pack up Norah Grace's clothes in freezer bags, each labeled by which day they are to be worn (with a backup clothes bag, of course). This saves time while traveling and gives you a convenient place to bag up dirty clothes.
Trapani was tough. We thought just bringing the wrap was the way to go. It would be easier than the stroller, we thought. She'll just sleep in it while we carry her, we mused. We can stick to our normal ways of traveling and she'll go along with us, we assumed. Learning experience.
The long weekend backpacking in Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria, Germany had its ups and downs. Overall, I enjoyed it, but have you ever tried sleeping in a tent with a seven month old that likes to roll around all night and wake up from time to time to hang out for a bit? It does not lend to a long, restful sleep. A big downside of camping with a baby: limited options of retreat. There's no quiet hotel room for baby to nap in.
Our next attempt: a cruise. Tomorrow we head off to Venice to cruise down our way down to Greece and Montenegro. This seems to be a good idea, in theory, at least. We get to see the sights, have multiple eating options, and retreat to the stateroom is always possible. Plus, tag team parenting. One parent can hang out with her in the room and the other can head off to read or eat or see what this "happy hour" thing is that people are always going on about. We're hoping for a playroom to give our little girl a place to burn some energy off in. If not, she can always army crawl her way down some cruise ship hallways. We'll see if this works. I'll let you know how it goes.
Travels with baby tip number three:
Pack for convenience. Amy had the idea to pack up Norah Grace's clothes in freezer bags, each labeled by which day they are to be worn (with a backup clothes bag, of course). This saves time while traveling and gives you a convenient place to bag up dirty clothes.
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