One of the most common questions I get related to traveling is, "did you bring Leon?" Well the answer is yes. I always bring Leon, I work full time so I am not about to spend my precious vacation time away from my favorite person ever. So I put together a few of my most important tips so that these shocked parents can get out of the house and go on a fun vacation with their kids.
1. Book Hotels with Restaurants
This is the number one best thing you can do to maintain sanity while vacationing with kids. I always look for hotels that have restaurants attached or very close by so that we can put Leon to bed and go down to enjoy a meal by ourselves. After a long day of adventures with varying nap times, by 7pm, Leon is a cranky little monkey that desperately needs to get some sleep. He would be (and has been) a disaster if we tried to take him out to eat. It's never enjoyable to spend the whole meal taking turns chasing your child around making sure they don't touch anything life threatening, so its better to just avoid this from the start. Do yourself a favor by staying somewhere with a restaurant (or at least a bar)!
2. Download the Baby Monitor App
After reading my first tip you are all probably thinking, you just abandon your kid in a hotel room by yourself? The answer to that fine piece of judgment is no.... well, kind of. If you have two phones and wifi, you can have a baby monitor anywhere you go. So, after putting your child to sleep, you can peacefully have a glass of wine and a nice meal (or daiquiri's by the pool) while hearing them on the monitor in the event they wake up. This app has its downsides, loosing connection and not being able to actually see the baby once its dark out, but it serves the purpose. I keep my phone on the table and when it looses connection it will make a beeping sound and it is easily reestablished. And if it's too dark to see, there is a flashlight you can turn on in an emergency that will light up the room enough for video to turn on. Warning, it is very bright and may wake your little babe so use it sparingly (I learned the hard way). Even without seeing them, you can hear, so if you use a sound machine you'll always be able to hear that in the background and will know if your little one wakes up. But really, you are only away from the room for an hour, max two, so having sound for a short period of time is really fine. When we were in Iceland, we even went to a restaurant next door to our hotel, connected to wifi, and had an incredible dinner at a very fancy restaurant, all while our little guy was snoozing happily in the hotel next door.
3. Go to the Dollar Store
That's right, you heard me. Go to the Dollar Store before you leave and spend $20 on new toys that will be exciting and entertaining for your little one. Babies love anything new (as evidenced above), Leon playing with a wine skin while Mommy and Daddy were sipping vino in Napa. I got this genius idea from my sister-in-law who is also a well traveled mamma of 4. Once you get on the plane and baby starts getting aggravated, throw a new shiny toy in their direction and they will hopefully stay occupied for 10 minutes. Then when they are bored with the first toy, don't worry you have 19 more! Put those toys away for the rest of the trip and hopefully, when it comes time to fly back, they will seem like brand new again :)
4. Avoid Destinations where Mass Transportation is Needed
Mass transportation creates a lot of additional things to think about. If you are in a big city how do you take a cab? Are you supposed to carry around a car seat? Or if you need to take a long train ride, do you need to bring a car set on that? In my experience, its been easier to go to places where getting around by a car or walking is the best way to go. We bring our car seat on the plane, use it there, and then put it in the rental car to use for the rest of the trip. The rental car is great because you can go on day trips and the babe can snooze in the car during nap times. Or if you go somewhere where walking is easy, bring your baby carrier! I use that thing so much while on vacation, its small and fits everywhere and Leon snoozes while we explore the city.
5. Book a flight and GO!
Don't be scared or nervous to travel with kids. Who cares if they scream the whole plane ride. Who cares if they go to sleep late or ruin their nap schedule. The memories you will make while traveling with your kids are so worth it. We look back on our photos and videos with so much pleasure. We never remember the tears on the flight or the end of day fussiness. And now Leon is so used to going out of town that as soon as I tell him, "we are going on vacation this weekend," he will run around the house all week yelling, "we're goin' on bay-cay-tion!!" So go ahead and plan your next bay-cay-tion! You can thank me later ;)
