Fun is the FUNDA of Life: Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!

Fun is the FUNDA of Life: Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!: Couples are on top of the world when they want to start a family and they have a super baby. Many people in the world are unde...

Travelling with an Infant – Fun and Challenge!!!

Couples are on top of the world when they want to start a family and they have a super baby.

Many people in the world are under the myth that we cannot travel with an infant. My wife and I were also under the same myth till we had our little one in this world. I will introduce him to the world of blog in my next write up. But in this write up I would like to emphasize more on the planning and execution of travels across the globe with the little one.

Travelling across the globe sound exciting but if it is with the little one then the reactions form others are weird. Nevertheless it just involves lot of preparation, stamina and co-operation between husband and wife. Of course lot of time.    

Idea of travel: First point before you begin a long travel is to have your own enthusiasm to travel and make sure you are not forced by anyone to travel. 

•  Choice of places: Safety, distance, weather, mode of transport to the place and to all the destinations once you land, availability of preferred food are the main points to be considered.
• Avoid places where you might need to compromise of safety like countries where there are high crime rate, political unrest or risk of specific diseases.
• Before deciding the place keep in mind to have evaluated a couple of options.

Now let us get into a bit of details once you have decided on the options. 

How to plan a travel?

• Read about the place and the surroundings you would like to visit.
• Make points on how to get to the main destination (choice between flights, trains and bus). I would suggest to take a flight if you have the option as it is going to get difficult in bus due the space constraint and long duration of journey. Babies don’t like it.
• Make points on how to reach the places of interest from the main destination. Try to download all the necessary applications for navigation. Make all the reservations for the stay either in a hotel or in a serviced apartment depending on your interest and availability of options. Always choose an option to stay which will give you the best access to the public transport, do not bother much about the aesthetics of the apartment as you do not stay there for the whole day but only for the night.
• Make points on the weather, availability of escalators and lifts for strollers (if not then you should carry the baby and the stroller at the train stations).
• Based on the mode of transport you choose make a daily plan from the time you get up to the time you get back home for sleep. Make sure your detailed daily plan has the travelling time, feeding and changing time for the baby, time required for purchase of entry tickets (if any), breakfast, lunch and snack time. Mainly keep some time buffer every day as your kid might get cranky and you might not be able to meet the timelines. Try not to over strain yourself as you need to take care of the baby once you are back.
•  It is good to have one main activity and rest small activities for a day. Try not to have many activities on the same day. Keep buffers in case you miss a connection.

Choice of mode of transport:

•  Car hire is the best mode of local transport if you are legally allowed to drive in the country.
•  In certain countries the taxis are expensive so if one can afford then it will also be great.
• Buses and trains; make the choice and prepare yourself to carry the kinder wagon / baby stroller. In some countries there are no proper facilities like escalators and lifts to take the strollers, then you should always have a baby carrier to carry your baby.

 Food:

• Read about the food habits and the timings for lunch and dinner of the place you are visiting. In some countries people have early dinner so if you go late to the hotels and you might end up empty stomach.
• If you are a veggie and you prefer to cook for yourself then find an accommodation with kitchen, confirm with the owner about the availability of basic utensils.
• Carry with you the basic veggies raw materials like rice and some ready to eat stuff which you can heat up.
• But if you are a bread lover then you can survive in most of the countries.
• Else you might pack your lunch.

Suggestion – try all the possible food in each country. It is a different and wonderful experience in itself.

Choice of Accommodation (if you want to rent a serviced apartment)

• It should be closer to the public transport (max of 5-8 min walk)
• It should be well connected to the main station so that you can change buses or trains without hassles. 
•  Check if the apartment owner is kid friendly.
• Check if you would have to share bath rooms. It becomes really difficult when you travel with a baby to share bathrooms. 
•  Does he have a cot for the baby and some basic stuff for the baby?
• In some countries the apartments do not have elevators so make sure to enquire the floor in which you would stay and if there is an elevator, else you might end up lifting your stroller up and down every day.
• If you wish to spend a lot of time at the house than experiencing the local place and culture you should go for a bigger place with a garden and pool etc., to have some fun.

 Points to be noted and prepared for the flight:

• Call the airlines well before the trip to confirm a few aspects like your child is registered for the flight so that he gets a separate boarding pass (it is a must), to ensure that the basinet is available for the seats you have selected and in case required some baby food is available.
• If you have a layover while booking your tickets, it is advised to go for a higher lay over as you and the baby get a break from the continuous journey and you will have sufficient time to change diapers, pick up some snacks and mainly some play time for your baby.
•  Leave early from home to the airport so that you don’t mess up in case you are stuck in a bad traffic or missed a train etc.
• Try to reach the airport well in advance before the check in time as you would require some time for your baby like feeding, changing etc., before boarding the flight as some flights might not have sufficient space for diaper changing.
•  Pick up some snacks or purees for your baby to eat during the flight. Keep sufficient baby food for the duration of the travel.
•  Split your hand luggage into two parts if both the parents are travelling so that it is easy to carry and keep all the baby essentials in one bag which should always be with the person who has the baby.
• Dress the baby in such a way that you can do quick and easy diaper changes.
• Feed your baby during take off and landing.

Check list: You will find a lot of check lists in general for travel but when you are travelling with a baby then the below are very important:

• Plane tickets where the name of baby is mentioned along with one of the parent or a separate ticket if the baby above 2 years.
• Passports, ID cards, Birth certificate of the baby, travel insurance.
• If only one parent is travelling then it is better to carry a No Objection Letter from the other parent.
• Copies of accommodation reservation, credit cards, currency, driving license.
• Important medicines along with the prescriptions.
•  Baby blanket, toy and touch and feel books, other books based on the age.
• One diaper for every couple of hours, lots and lots of wipes.
• Two sets of cloths for the baby.
• Baby food, formula milk.
• Adequate feeding bottles for the whole time of travel as you may not find place to clean the bottle and sterilize the same.
• Plastic bags in order to dispose drapers or carry the old clothes.
• Diaper cream, baby cream.
• Toys for the baby to keep it busy.

Note – This write-up will get updated more with more experience. (suggestions are also welcome based on the reader's experience)