My husband has family in Germany and since they had traveled halfway across the world to be at our wedding, we had planned to make the same trip the other way in return. But Aidan came shortly after, throwing life as we knew it into a buzz along with any ideas of travel – completely turned off by the thought of taking a baby on a 10-hour flight to a country with long summer days and ice cold winters.
Then Aria came and before putting off yet another trip, we thought, “If we don’t go now, we’ll probably never go. Let’s do it!”
By now, we had a spirited toddler, a 6-month old baby and had still yet to enjoy uninterrupted nights sleeping. Well, at least we’d get to take advantage of the infant and child discounts.
We realised early on that if we wanted to see everyone, we’d need to cross the entire German fatherland, which involved ground travel spanning a country three times the size of Peninsula Malaysia. And we wanted to achieve this within two weeks with a toddler and a baby!
Most of our friends thought we were crazy but it turned out to be the most rewarding journey – one of the most memorable trips the Conrad family has ever made, one we all talked about for weeks after.
How did we do it? Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Bring an awesome partner who’s on the same page
Nothing will test your partnership skills more than being on the go with young children. If your spouse has been an equal partner in raising the kids, you’ll reap the benefits like a well-oiled machine that knows precisely what to do and when.
Managing expectations with your partner is important so decide early who’ll be in charge of parental duties like managing the packing, travel documents, checking in, changing diapers in moving vehicles, putting which kids to sleep while on the road, how the luggage will be managed and the like. Knowing exactly which zip on which bag to dig in for an extra pair of blanket will greatly save a hassle.
2. Throw all the rules you lived by traveling solo out the window
If you’re a well-seasoned traveller as a singleton, unlearn everything! Gone were the days when it was just you and your backpack. With kids, you can only dream of packing light and thinking you can “be spontaneous” is just asking for trouble.
Being prepared and keeping to a well-planned itinerary is the sensible thing to do because you’ll be organising around the schedules your kids thrive best in, giving you the best bet for a smooth sailing holiday. Make new rules with your spouse so you’ll know what to do if you get off a train with both kids onto a freezing cold platform in a non-English speaking country and turn around to see the doors of the car close with your husband behind it and chug away – along with all your jackets, luggage, phones, money, passports and diapers. (Don’t panic, don’t get on the intended connecting train, stay put until he finds you and then laugh about it later).
3. Leave what can be bought at your destination
Bring just enough (with a bit extra) for your travel – but buy the rest at your destination. This saves from stuffing your already bursting bag with things like milk and diapers. Remember, there are babies too wherever you’re going.
However, leaving meds behind may be a bit of a gamble especially if you don’t speak the same language. You don’t want to risk misreading the instruction leaflet on how to consume constipation capsules. Also, what you may be used to getting over the counter at home may require a doctor’s prescription elsewhere.
4. Keep in mind that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong
As with everything else in life, having the right frame of mind is winning half the battle. In this case, keeping low-to-no expectations will help you prepare for the worst. So even through baby’s jetlagged whines and running out of diapers for the toddler in the middle of nowhere, you’ll be as cool as a cucumber as you relax daytime naps in exchange for staying up to play with baby in the dark and laugh instead of cry when you wrap the older one up in his sister’s diapers that are two sizes too small for him. It’s all about attitude.
Do you have any other fun traveling-with-kids lessons to share?
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Khairun is a mum to two kids and owner of Recovr Resources Sdn Bhd, a growing social enterprise in the recycling and equal employment industry.
