Often times we travel to decompress and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Unfortunately, many of our "vacations" end up being even more stressful, as we endure uncomfortable flights, poorly planned iteneraries, and spend our vacation time feeling sluggish and irritated.
As a teacher I'm a BIG "planner", so I have always tried to plan most aspects of our travels to avoid the frustrations that can come with lack of preparation. This has been an easy task when planning for family trips that have never involved little ones, and getaways with my husband. I'd never planned a trip that involved a child, let alone an infant. So when my husband suggested we take a mini vacation to Atlanta last fall; I was excited and nervous about how our little one, (who would be making nine months old the day our flight departed), would handle the trip. Here are a few things I did, or wish that I had done.
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Our Son Roman on his first flight. |
Packing:
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In the airport rocking my cheetah sneakers. |
We scored a good deal on airline tickets by flying Spirit and deciding not to check any bags. Checked baggage equals extra fees so I found a suitcase that met the measurment requirements for Spirit's free "personal item" and purchased one for both me and my husband. I used packing cubes to organize our outfits for each day. We did not pack any shoes, and only brought the one pair of shoes we wore on our feet to the airport (i.e. my cheetah print keds.) I also puchased two TSA approved toiletry bags to pack our toiletries and things to clean my skin for the trip. I also packed a travel makeup kit with the essentials making sure to include a neutral eyeshadow and lipstick that could be worn with all of my outifits.
Roman's diaper bag also traveled free, so I used a few boxes of plastic storage bags from dollar tree (with the sliders) to efficiently organize his clothing. Each storage bag contained his clothing for the day; two outfits, two bibs, and two burp cloths. I packed one storage bag with all of his pj's for the duration of the trip, and I folded his washcloths and towels for bathtime as flat as possible and put them in a storage bag as well. I used a sandwich bag to pack sample sized baby items for Roman's toiletries. I included his prescriptions/medicine, and a travel sized febreeze and tide laudry detergent with them . We purchased the squeezable baby food pouches for when we were out and about and we poured an entire weeks worth baby formula into a freezer bag. This made it easier to fit into our diaper bag, and allowed us to store other items on top.
All of this preplanning worked out wonderfully. It was easy for us to locate and access everything we needed.
On the plane:
Trying to sleep is impossible; the draft from the A/C keeps you awake, the blankets they provide are not thick enough, or the air is stuffy and warm, and almost difficult to breathe in.. It’s a lesson learned, but it’s a tough one - and it will probably keep you up for the entire flight. To avoid these irrirations, try dressing in layers to be prepared for whatever the temperature of the airplane might be. Take a scarf with you as well, and use it as an extra blanket in case it gets too chilly up there. Try wearing comfy leggings, packing a cozy cardigan in your carry on, or bringing a supportive neck pillow if you plan to take a nap. Lifehacker.com has a great guide to assemble your own travel emergency kit as well, so have a look.

Convenience

Sidenote: Spirit allowed Roman's stroller to fly free as well. We purchased a light weight foldable stroller that worked great for this trip!
I also decided to purchase a cute little backpack to wear instead of a purse to hold snacks, water, and any extras I might need for the baby. I didn't use any sort of organization system like I used when packing our suitcases, and though the backpack idea was a solid one, I found myself rummaging through my bag searching for items throughout the day.
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Look at how stuffed my bag was on our trip to the Aquarium! |
In the future I will make sure my day bag is as organized as my suitcase. Wallets like the ones from ibricraft.com would have been a good idea to keep attraction tickets, room keys, credit/debit cards from getting lost in the abyss of my bag.
Activities & Outings.
I'm looking forward to taking the lessons I learned on our first family trip to plan an even better trip for Roman's 2nd birthday in 2018!
Thanks for reading!
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