The Fine Art of Traveling

Traveling for me is an art that I continue to refine.  It seems to change as the kids age and as we add more children to the mix.  I have only traveled by myself a handful of times, so it is different than when Joe and I are together.  The first time I traveled by myself it was just me coming home from Greece for a friend’s wedding.  It was one of my most favorite trips!  I spent time reading, listening to music and sermons and really enjoyed the time.  The next time I traveled alone, Abby was 20 months old and I was 4 months pregnant with Elijah.  She was on my lap on the 10 hour flight from Rome and I remember thinking the flight might never end!  The 1-2 year range has always been one that I find to be one of the most difficult because they are so active, yet have very little understanding of what is going on.  And the only other time I traveled on my own was the trip to Bandirma, Turkey (2 flights and a ferry boat ride) when Abby was 3, Elijah was 20 months and I was almost 6 months pregnant.  That was one of the toughest trips not only due to the length and connections but because they lost my double stroller!

So this time as I approach traveling with a 5 year old, 3 year old and 19 month old, I am little more prepared for what lies ahead.  Of course, you never know if you will have canceled or delayed flights or other surprises, but you do the best you can to prepare.

One mistake I think I already made was telling the kids too early that we were coming home.  Abby has been counting the days down since Thanksgiving (it was 13 days away at that time).  For Abby, this leads to a lot of high emotions that she has trouble controlling.  These high emotions have translated into a lot of behavior problems.  It is a great teaching opportunity though in how we can handle excitement and anticipation with a big “Lord-willing” over all of it (James 4:13).

When we are flying east to west, I typically try to adjust the kids an hour or so in their routine to have a little less jet lag to deal with.  So bed times, nap times and meal times were a bit later the last few days.  (When we are flying west to east, I usually don’t bother because to try to get the kids to bed early when we have our last few days at home is pretty pointless!)  I then try to anticipate an adjustment period of 1 day for every hour of time difference once we get to our destination.  So for example, being 6 hours in time difference from Italy to New Jersey, I can expect that it will take until around Tuesday of next week until they are settled.  They often surprise me and settle in quicker when they are home though.

Then comes the challenge of packing.  The actual suitcases are not too hard, you just have to work within the 50 pound weight limit for each bag.  It is the carry-ons that can be a challenge.  I have found that when traveling with the kids, the less I have the better.  But I need to make sure they still have enough to do.  Since Abby and Elijah are a bit older, they each carry their own small bag.  So in each of their bags they get a few books, some paper and pencils/colored pencils (Color Wonders pads and markers are also a great travel item), an empty water bottle, a few snacks, an extra pair of underwear and shirt, and their own headphones.  Abby also likes to be the carrier of our travel map.  For those of you who have kids who watch Dora, you know that Dora has an adventure map for everywhere she goes.  So we started doing our own adventure maps so we can check off each stop of our trip.

For me, I try to keep it to one bag, even though I could technically carry two (one personal and one for Naomi).  I tend to use a backpack where I put diapers (usually around 2/3 diapers for every hour traveled), wipes, wallet, passports, tickets, camera, extra snacks, my own water bottle, Naomi’s cup, DVD player, DVDs, laptop, extra underwear and t-shirt, gum and lip balm.  We also use a stroller.  Right now, we are only using a single stroller because Elijah is old enough to walk.  Whether I am using a single or double stroller though, I always make sure we use a stroller with a very large basket underneath.  Eventually someone’s bag is going to have to go in that basket (if not everyone’s!)  I also need to carry a car seat for Naomi to sit in.  We typically keep the kids in a car seat on the plane until around 2 years of age.  The FAA recommends using a car seat until 44 pounds, or using a a product like CARES, which I am going to order when we are home.

We also have a few of the normal rules of our house that we break while we travel:

1. More television is allowed than normal. We typically try to limit the kids to an hour or so of television per week.  But when we travel, the DVD player gets its work in!

2. Snacking often is acceptable. We usually try to stick with a routine of meals and snacks.  But when we travel and the kids are tired, snacks come out early and often!

So that is the basics in my art of traveling course.  Please pray for us as we travel today!