travel for two, two for travel: by car + plane

By Rachel Ostlie

[Editor's note: This is Part 2 of a travel. Find out a bit more about Rachel's lessons learned from a previous trip. Holiday travel, here we come!]

My second trip was a combo car-airplane trip, and significantly less eventful since my significant other came along. Two babies and two parents is fairly manageable.

We were off to visit my relatives in British Columbia, but airfare is much cheaper through Seattle, so we planned to fly and then drive up past the border. The trip going there was better planned: we had a four-hour flight, followed by a nice break in the Seattle area (including lunch at the Space Needle) and then a 2.5 hour drive to Canada. The kids did well with the short spurts, and little baby even slept on the plane. The biggest bummer was that my 2.5-year-old daughter fell on some steps as we were exploring Seattle and cracked her head open. We ended up driving around for two hours, being given directions to one hospital and getting lost, stopping at a pharmacy that couldn't help us, going to a clinic that wouldn't accept children under the age of six, visiting hospital that only accepted patients with a certain type of insurance, until finally being taken in at an ER. Thank God that most emergency rooms take anyone, I didn't have the kids' insurance cards on me and had to fax the info when I returned home.

Another upgrade from the previous trip-- my husband got an iPad. We put a few videos on it, and while I'm not big on my kids watching TV (we don't even have one in our home), this was a good time to make an exception. No installation necessary.... I just strung some yarn between the driver's and passenger's seat and hung the case on it!

Our return trip from Canada was a little more rocky, involving an early morning, my husband's passport that had expired, a border that didn't open til 8, forgetting to fill the rental car with gas before returning it, and checking in a mere two minutes before they closed our flight. We were grateful, however, for our effective packing. With all the security checkpoints and the cost of checked-in bags, I believe we found the sweet spot for travel with two parents and a baby bunch.

Our equipage consisted of: two rolling carry-ons (one with babies' clothes and one with parents' clothes), a backpack filled with activities/toys for each child, a latop bag for the dad, a backpack/diaper bag for the mom, an umbrella stroller with a hold-on handle, and two carseats in bags. The carseat bags were a life-saver, because you can check them in for free. We went ahead and tossed in our extra shoes and toiletries, saving us the hassle of stuffing them in the carry-ons, and then taking them out at each security checkpoint. (Note: I wouldn't abuse of this, since the spirit of the law is to help parents with kids. Packing your baby's entire library in a carseat bag would be fairly suspicious and may result in paying luggage fees.) Also a life-saver was the hold-on handle (from www.greaterthanonekids.com, but if you're crafty you could make your own). Most of the time I had little baby in the umbrella stroller (which fits through those x-ray machines) and big baby holding on to the handle, which was colorfully made to look like a bee. Any extra hand counts when you are running through an air terminal, I can tell you that!

Lessons learned:

1. Get a GPS or learn to use the one on your phone. You never know when you will have a sick baby that needs medical care in a strange city. 

2. Bring some basic first aid items along wherever you go. You never know when you will have a sick baby that needs medical care in a strange city. 

3. Bring your insurance cards along wherever you go. You never know when you will have a sick baby that needs medical care in a strange city. Do you see a theme?

4. As mentioned in the previous post, get a portable DVD player/iPad/something.

5. Bring an extra sippy cup or buy the disposable multi-pack kind. Our daughter lost hers mid-trip and we spent a lot of time cleaning up spilled drinks.

6. Have plenty of snacks and toys. The winners on this trip were pretzels, stickers, and pipe cleaners. You can seriously do anything with pipe cleaners... make glasses, a tiara, or bracelets, practice shapes, make cars or animals to play with each other, share with other kids, etc.

7. Be creative with your packing, and decide if maxing out your carry-on allotment is worth the hassle. My husband and I grew up overseas and are seasoned travelers, so we enjoyed the challenge. Others may prefer to relax a little more on their trip.

8. Be creative with baby transportation. Double strollers are not airport friendly... so consider options like slings, soft-frame baby carriers, hold-on handles, and sturdy umbrella strollers (which you can check in at the gate).

9.  Pace yourself. Give breaks to babies and parents (sitting in a vehicle or plane does not count) for everyone's mental sanity.

10.  Do not expect to enjoy the travel, but find joy in the small things (like naps, being prepared with extra napkins for that spill, or being together a a family).

In the end, traveling with your bunch is much like any other day: Be prepared. Expect the worst. Hope for the best. And enjoy the ride.

Comments

[Renee]

Thanks for all the tips! We're preparing to take our bunch on vacation to Mexico in February, when they'll be 13 mos and almost 3 years old. I think your final words are probably the most important: "Be prepared. Expect the worst. Hope for the best. Enjoy the ride." Well said!

[Heather]

I think spare outfits for everyone in a carry on would be a good idea. The babies and parents clothes in separate suitcases is okay until one of the suitcases is lost by the airline...then what?!!

[Olivia]

Great tips for traveling with a bunch. I just wanted to leave a small suggestion from a mom of a very young bunch who also happens to be a 911 Fire/EMS Dispatcher. If there is ever a situation where your child needs medical attention (especially when it involves a head injury)and even more so when you are not familiar with the area, pull over and call 911. Best case scenario the paramedics will evaluate your child and release them (with directions to the nearest hospital if merited) or worst case scenario they will be able to quickly transport your child to the nearest emergency facility. In certain cities (including the one I dispatch for) children are transported to a specific hospital that specializes in treating children. The one thing about children is that they may seem fine after the incident but that can rapidly change. So if in doubt, call 911. Hopefully in the end, your kids will have a great story to tell their friends (getting to see a big red fire engine and ambulance)and mom and dad will have directions to the nearest urgent care/ER without the stress of searching for hours in a strange city.

[Langley22Margret]

I opine that to get the loan from banks you must present a firm motivation. But, one time I've received a collateral loan, because I was willing to buy a house.