It’s no secret that we love to travel. Be it a weekend away in Abu Dhabi, a far flung trip to Petra or a Caribbean Cruise, generally if it involves heading away we are up for it. The problem these days is not so much the spontaneity of travel with children but the logistics of travel. From the logistics of getting to the airport to actually flying.
Children mean stuff.
A LOT of stuff.
It’s no longer the case of throw a backpack on, jump on the tube and head to the nearest airport. Nope. These days we have all manner of baby paraphernalia to cart round with us, and we have a love of flying to far flung destinations rather than the more sensible driving holidays where you can pack your car up with all your baby wants needs.
No. Not us.
I blame the plane obsession on my pilot father-in-law, who passed it onto my husband, who in turn passed it on to the Big One. I have never known a child so thrilled about all things plane. Except, I’m told, my husband when he was the same age.
It’s all about the planes.
And being all about planes, means we have to head to airports. With limited luggage allowance. I mean, just what makes the grade and what doesn’t? You know that the ten thousand toys that take the place of your spare t-shirt, the one that you don’t normally need, except today when you didn’t pack it and the Baby chooses to vomit cheese all down you at 40,000ft. But that is a whole other post in itself.
Then you have the logistics of getting to the airport. Stress before your holiday even begins.
Do you book a taxi? And then, do you take your car seats with you in the taxi and then the plane, eating further into your luggage allowance in some cases.
Do you hire car seats? Both at home and when you get there? Do you even drive when you get on holiday?!
Do you risk it all and head on public transport, braving the tube if you are in London, adding hours to the, already long, journey.
Do you take the easy option and drive your own car? Parking in perfectly placed airport parking, that doesn’t (always) have to break the bank. Meaning you have your own, in my case still grotty, car seats for safety when travelling without having to take them onto your final destination.
And that is just the logistics of getting to the airport.
Never mind getting on the plane, or the flight….
Still, even though I can guarantee on every journey to the airport I get flustered, I get panicky, whatever method we use to get there, I fall out with the husband. I vow never ever again. Then we get to our final destination and have these moments.
And that makes everything worthwhile. The logistics of getting to the airport. The airport itself. The flight.
Everything is perfect.
Until the next temper tantrum (from me most likely) that is.
Eek you are so brave even attempting it! Thanks for making me feel a bit better about the fact that we’re currently unable to fly as a family!
Nat.x
We travelled with Roo when she was 5 months old and had such a terrible experience that we haven’t been aboard since
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Oh no – what happened??
There mere thought of taking kids through an airport and then onto a plane fills me with dread, so kudos to you for actually doing it!
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Brave or stupid?! Who knows but we keep on doing it to ourselves!!!
Travelling with children is definitely easier said than done. I completely get what you are getting at airports are a nightmare but the holidays are always worth it!
Oh the joys! Years ago I had three of them under 6 – including one as a baby, and we flew several times – long haul too. I have to say they were angels! I didn’t realise how lucky I was. Kaz x
Great post. We are s travel loving family too. Our last trip was when we took our youngest to Australia at just 5 weeks old. We’re off on the Eurostar 2mo and I have to say this frightens me more in terms of how much I’m taking then a plane trip lol x
We haven’t travelled much, but we have caught the bug now. It is tricky with kids, these are great ideas though, I am always up for making things as easy as possible. x
So true! I can be really hard, but I don’t think it’s as scary as people think. We’ll be doing a long haul with three 5 and under soon. I’m not too scared… yet! H x
Wow I have to agree, you’re so brave for attempting it! I’ve just had our second baby 10 weeks ago and the very thought of attempting any type of holiday scares the life out of me! #effitfriday
We’ve just got Poppy’s passport through and are off to Portugal in July. I’m hoping it goes smoothly and we’re hoping to go further a field next year while she’s under 2! #effitfridays
We’re going on a plane for the first time as a family of four this summer and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it! #effitfriday
I thought I was going to have to attempt a Ryanair flight to Ireland a few months ago with my three-year-old, but the plans changed. Even the car seat issue was doing my head in – not least because we’d need one at the other end for driving around.
Now, we’ve a newborn, and all the issues have been hiked up 1000%. Baby travel essentials on a list as long as your arm.
All my friends keep telling me it’s harder to navigate everything travel related when you have kids so I am doing all my travels now and hopefully will have picked up enough tips for when I have kids lol
Ahhhh! I`m absolutely TERRIFIED of flying so just the thought of heading anywhere near a plane makes me panic anyway but the thought of trying to tackle an airport, waiting around and killing time on a long haul flight with kids is enough to bring me out in hives!!! Cruises are the way forward for me…I hope anyway, given I`ve yet to try it with kids! xx