The Rose Garden: Pack Your Bags
My honest opinion on traveling with kids. Plus, ideas and things to make it easier!
Welcome to The Rose Garden, your place to find small beautiful things in the Land of Oaks and Roses.
Two years ago, I took a series of flights with my kids and vowed to never do it again. The highlight was wrestling my daughter onto the dirty airport floor I was trying to get her to sleep on during an unexpected 12 hour layover post airport covid testing while my four month old screamed for me in the background. And that was just the beginning! Within 10 days, we spent a total of 30 hours in airports/flight. I have yet to recover from the experience. But here’s the thing, I’ve never taken a trip with my kids that I regret. I know that I’m in a very special and short window of time where they are in awe of everything, and bringing them to new places is an actual magical experience despite the bravery it requires to get there. And for all of us traveling with kids, that is what we are: brave!
Bravery for me comes from preparation. Below is a list of things I do to prepare. To be clear, this is not an ideal parenting list. This list is about saying f*ck it, traveling with kids is hard, and I want to do anything/everything I can to bring joy and ease to the experience. It’s a great opportunity to practice not caring what other people think, and prioritize what works best for your kids and family. I hope it helps and enjoy!