Calling all travelers!

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monte

Registered User
Hi ladies--I'm writing an article about traveling with baby along. It will be part "how-to" with tips and practical advice, but also about the advantages of bringing along baby: ie, going at a slower pace, perhaps meeting people you wouldn't otherwise, experiencing the new place in a different way. The difficulties of travel with kids are obvious and easy to focus on, but I think there are a lot of gifts to be had too! So, if you have stories about how your child helped you to enjoy or experience your trip in a different way, I'd love to hear them--please pm me. And thanks in advance!

warmly,
Monte
 
Monte, are you going to share the article with us? would love to publish it on geobaby :)
 
well u get to see stuff that u would never or avoid seeing like zoos, aquariums , museums etc, u also look for souvenirs from that place but what your child will like and remember instead of only what u like.

we prefer night flights as he sleeps. Also try getting the extra seat as it makes life easier. Also we make a tent to avoid the lights in the cabin.

with a small child we didnt plan a whole lot we took each day as it went. Not rushed as u mentioned above.
 
hi monte, sorry i am not PMing u but i thought it would be a good idea to share our experiences with everyone......after having kids the most important decision on which destination to go / or which hotel is biased towards checking out what kind of children activities are available .... the packing of bags sp. the hand-bag is extremely important in terms of what items are kept where.....u don;t want a baby wailing away in the aircraft while u dig around looking for his bottle or toys! it is so much more exciting going ona vacation with kids....you tend to see things from their point of view and enjoy the sights like u r seeing them for the first time! beach resorts are a heaven for kids to lose that extra energy plus u don;t have to bother about them falling down and hurting themselves.....we always make sand castles which are more fun when u have to break them!.... having a baby in a pram helps you look for lifts and escalators while otherwise u would mindlessly just keep using the stairs......also having meals is extremely important so u ahve to take a compulsory break during the day for lunch/dinner which u otherwise would just snack away on a sandwich while window shopping.....the bigegst advantage is that everyone around u sufddenkly gets exteremely friendly and there are smiles exchanged unknowingly "cute baby" etc which makes u feel at home ina strange country......people go out of their way to assist you with the stroller or at the airport u can skip queues.....of crse te memories that u carry back home in yr camera are worth a lot more having yr precious ones in there!
 
On a trip to Vietnam with one 2 year old and myself heavily pregnant, we found ourselves talking to local people a lot more because of their interest in our child and my huge bump. The staff of one small family restaurant really took to our kid and practically 'baby sat' every time we went in there - keeping her amused for the whole meal, bringing her things to play with (we ended up going there quite a lot for some reason!) We just had to be careful (you never know!) as they wanted to take her outside and show her to their friends/ relatives/ half the street.
 
agree w/mushi - the bags that you take on board are so important. We have 3 bags - 1) the food/bottles 2) the toys (that are large enough that we are not looking for them always on the floor), books, blankets and changing gear 3) money & passports. As soon as we find our seats, we immediately take out 2 books and a toy for him to entertain himself while we organize our gear. Our diaper bag is always in a separate pouch (wipes, diapers, nappy sacks and a few disposible changing pads) so it's easy to store under the seat in front of us and this way we don't have to take a huge bag with us. We also only bring disposible bibs. We have 2 bottles tucked in the magazine holder and finger foods and sterilized pacifiers ready to go. In the above compartment is an extra set of clothing for our son, toys, blankets and books. Depending the flight length, extra bottles, food jars etc...

I think most large chain hotels are family friendly and we often chose the most luxurious one because of the food quality for our son and the customer service. We tend to eat a lot in the hotel since we can always shoot upstairs with my son if he gets tired and we don't have to carry around so much stuff. The Four Seasons in Bangkok had a proper travel crib (not a pack n'play), a welcome baby kit (shampoo, cream, diapers etc...) and a diaper pail. We like hotels that are within walking of shops so we can take the stroller and not always carry him in our ergo.
 
u use the blankets and put it over your seat and tuck it on the head rest and the same with the seat ahead of u
 
Thanks so much everyone, for what you've shared so far. Any other specific stories would be great too! Wanfamily, we had a similar experience in Vietnam--we joked that we got dinner and babysitting at one restaurant we would go to! And the "tent" is a great idea for the airplane.

warmly,
Monte
 
we were in Singapore and our son is super friendly and once he sees u 2 days in a row u are his new best friend. We met so many people at the hotel breakfast who would come up
and talk to us and u give suggestions as to what to see and do in the city.
 
talk about travelling i am off to singapore soon..any sugegstions on child-friendly hotels there?
 
I think most hotels in the tourist area are child friendly. What exactly are u looking for in Child Friendly hotel?
 
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