What is in the mysterious 2nd suitcase

We are packing again.

Leaving tonight from Singapore to Quingdao, China. I share a suitcase with my daughter and I make sure it all fits. If it doesn't, some of the clothes have to go. But I am not that switched on, I travel with a second suitcase- it holds "the stuff". And by the way, it is filled to the brim- everytime we fly. But what is in it? If you asked me I couldn't really tell you. I caught myself telling someone that it had sippy cups, plates, spoons, a little folding high chair, a couple of toys, two or three books. But that alone cannot even fill a carry on bag. So what is the rest- a bag with the pool stuff (but that is small) Her little hairclips (thats a stretch) . I am actually sitting here not able to tell you what fills up the mysterious 2nd suitcase. It is bigger than the clothes one I assure you. Without doing an inventory I can't really tell you anything else- but the fact stands that when you have a kid there is just a lot of "stuff" . Unexplainable, unidentifiable, stuff. Make sure you don't forget any of it! : )

Baby Sitters in Foreign Countries

We are currently on mainland Spain living in a hotel for 4 weeks- it's actually going pretty well and we have our routine down now. I thought the adjustment from our home in the Canary Islands to here may be a problem but our little girl didn't even see it on her radar. So here we are and quite happy to be in a place of plentiful food products!

Because my husbands job requires some evening social activities- we are always trying to figure out how to get local babysitters. We are not required to go to events- but hey, they are fun and who doesn't like to go out once in awhile. I know the babysitting services can work but I would just prefer to have a recommendation from someone who actually has used the service. I usually ask around to some of the local people that are working with my husbands sailing team to see if they are interested or know someone good. But it is not easy. So far I have been lucky but things will get tougher as the language barrier becomes a problem. Next stop- South Africa....

If you have thoughts or recommendations on finding childcare overseas- send them our way...

Send in your thoughts on great vacations with little ones...

Do you have a favorite vacation spot with your little ones. Although we have traveled a lot with our little one- we haven't actually been to too many places just for vacation.... But we did take the little one car camping on the American River near Auburn, CA when she was 3 months old and had an amazing time. Loaded up the car with everything but the kitchen sink and off we went. We met up with two other families and just sat by the campfire and enjoyed sitting by the river. (And the mom's snuck away to raft down the river- it was mother's day!) If you have a favorite vacation spot- resort, country, city, activity - let us know about it....

Passports: Thank you Glenda...

So, as previously reported- I had sent my passports from Toronto to Houston TX for a Chinese Visa- and somehow on their journey they were lost. Let's see- the overnight Canadian company Puralator handed them off to DHL in the U.S., who proceeded to open them, put them in another envelope, and then put a new address on them to the wrong place- a family in West Virginia. Then, as a result of major layoffs DHL had that week, they handed them straight over to the U.S. Postal Service- Yes you read that right- $60.00 for overnight delivery turned into a regular old piece of mail. And consequently- no one could figure out where the passports were- because the tracking codes had changed so much. That was until I got a call from Glenda. Glenda works in the Houston Texas processing center for the U.S. Postal Service. She said- "honey, tell me your story" and I did, and she informed me she was on the case and would call me later that day. Well, miracles happen- she tracked the passports down- put them in her hot little hand- and made sure they were delivered that day.

All is resolved and we are now back in Europe with visions of attaching our passports to our body with a staple gun. It all worked out but I would say that lady Glenda luck was on my side this time!

Did I really send our passports away.....

We are currently in Canada and have devoted most of the past two weeks to trying to get my 16 month year old under control after so much travel. Just in case you are wondering- it's not really working but anyway-

I have been told that I need to get our visas for China done in the U.S. and since we aren't going to be back in North America again, I thought I would just Fed Ex the application and passports to a service in the U.S. (from Canada) and then they will take care of it, send them back and we would be good to go. We had 15 days to get this done.

WELL- Fed Ex from Canada takes about 5 days and I have been told customs can hold our passports for up to 5 WORKING days to verify them. So- now I am praying big time that they make it back here by the time we are suppose to leave or I will have one grumpy husband on my hands. Yikes. I will keep you posted on this one.

Can we file this under- what not to do??????

A must have when you are traveling: Adaptability (a note from Stockholm)

The munchkin and I arrived in Stockholm this week. We are just here for 8 days to visit my husband before heading back to Canada for a month. The "corporate" apartment that his company has found for us is teeny tiny but when we got here I thought- "it's fine, it's only a week". To put it in perspective, it is like a small hotel room, open the door and there is just a bed (no table, no couch, chairs)- but this is not a hotel room so you can't call room service or drop your laundry down at the desk. So it has been about 5 days now and I have decided the following-

First, to my surprise, the small size is not a problem- our little one seems to be perfectly happy running in circles, and I am not worried about what she is up to at anytime. So as I put clothes away she is busy pushing a little walker thing I bought into the wall and then turning it around to take 6 steps in the other direction before turning it around again. She thinks it is quite funny, and consequently, so do I.

And second- I have adjusted to not having a bath tub, washer dryer, high chair, kettle, and dishwasher but accordingly am counting the days til we leave. I realize now that it is easy to go without one or two of them, but all of them makes things a little unpleasant. There is the small voice in my head saying- "most of the world has none of this, and they are just fine, so grunt up!" but still- just one or two would make a huge difference. We came prepared- we brought our little chair that clips on any table- but the problem came when there was no table. So it was time to adapt- We have friends here so I managed a mid-trip laundry yesterday at their house and now that problem is solved. I also managed a long bath for the baby there so now I don't feel so bad for the 30 second showers she gets. We sit on the floor for a picnic most meals- and it is generally working or I wouldn't be changing so many diapers. And a little elbow grease on the bottles and dishes is not a bad thing. Honestly, we are managing just fine- this is Stockholm, not remote Nepal.

So, I am going with the flow (or the lack of flow I guess) and am reminding myself about that humor thing that always needs to be top of the packing list. Stockholm is an awesome city for babies and kids, and there are honestly playgrounds on most blocks. Public transportation is incredibly easy, and the restaurants and public bathrooms are ready for kids. It can be a tad bit expensive (especially for our declining U.S. dollar) but I found a fantastic second hand toy store here and we now have some fun little Swedish toys covering the one little empty spot in our room...

One month to go...

In one month from now, my husband and I, along with the 15 month old munchkin- will really start traveling. Over the next 13 months, as we start our trip around the world- we will get on at least 40 planes, 8 of which are "long haul" flights (over 6 hours) at least one train (from Gothenberg to Stockholm) and quite a few boats. Since the baby is now officially a "toddler" things should probably really get interesting. The glory of the first tantrum on the plane awaits me. My mind is racked with constant packing concerns- that's the gear head in me. Because of the number of stopovers, we were not able to get e-tickets- so along with the responsibility of making sure I have my kid, diapers, AND food- now I have to make sure I have these damn tickets- and that the little one doesn't eat them.

This should make for some good laughs and no doubt will lead to many a good stories for Baby Jetsetter....

Madrid Airport has a new international terminal- 2 hours away from the other terminals

I missed my connection in Madrid as I mentioned in my last post. They have opened a new international terminal there and I was not prepared to do the following when I got off the plane: Walk 10 minutes to passport control, wait 20 minutes for passport control, take 22 minute train ride to new terminal baggage claim (you did read that right, it is 22 minutes) wait 30 minutes for luggage, get on bus to Terminal 2 which is 10 minutes away. Total time, more than it takes to get to the next plane. Cost of new ticket for short two hour connecting flight- $500. Ouch......

Practice what you blog...

So the delay in my blogs was due to all the traveling the baby and I were doing this month. Eight flights in three weeks, two overseas. After writing this blog, I actually get a kick out of putting the words to practice and seeing what works. And I always break some of my own rules and regret it later- this trip was no different. Here are a few of my small sins committed that did not make life any easier while traveling alone with the baby...

- Carried a big book with me, yes everywhere and just so you know, I didn't read one word. Just in case I didn't have enough crap with me.
- Wore a belt and tough to remove shoes thru security, because baby, diaper bag, computer, carseat, stroller, and boarding passes in my hand were not enough work for me?
- Cut my connection to short, and consequently I missed my flight- and I paid $$$$ dearly!
-Didn't bring an extra shirt for myself. Actually I lucked out this time but my time is coming and I am going to be screwed!

After all the psychiatric care and back doctor care and dry cleaning maybe I will start to learn to optimize the travel system for once and for all- probably not.

Survived the trip...

Every trip with our little girl is a learning experience. As my previous post mentioned- I was nervous about this one, especially since the little one is now walking. So here is the basic lowdown.

We had two flights, a 2 hour flight on Sunday night, spent the night in a Madrid hotel, and then a 10 hour day flight on Monday. Someone was looking out for me on the 10 hour flight because I got three seats in a row (I had not bought a seat for the baby) , they let me put the carseat on, and the baby was relatively calm. So as my kiwi husband would say- "I had a blinder" (that means a good thing.) As always I learned a lot and here are the latest revelations:

- Madrid airport: My international flight required a 22 minute train ride from security to the gate, so two hours just got me there with no time to spare and no time for the baby to run around.

- They made me take the Baby Bjorn off thru security. This has never happened before and was my slam dunk method of getting thru security alone. The rules change not only from airport to airport, but from person to person.

- Carseat on board: 3 people said I couldn't take it on board (and on the first flight they didnt allow it), and then the flight attendent at the last minute said, "no problem", although the pursor did check it to make sure it was FAA approved. My suggestion is to carry it to the plane and if they won't let it on then check it at the door. I found that it was better than the bassinet (they let me chose between an aisle seat with the carseat next to me or a middle seat and the bassinet) because the little one was locked in. Having an aisle seat was key now that she was walking.

- Iberia was really nice about warming bottles, food, etc. The spanish are always so nice to babies!

- I used some of the suggested items that our readers sent in, including giving the baby a bag of new toys and that definitely helped. So if you need some tips, check out some of the previous posts from "On The Plane"

We have 6 more flights to go on this trip alone so I am sure there is more to learn and I will keep you posted....

On a personal note- Yikes!

Here I am blogging about how to travel with babies and from reading this you would think- no sweat. But the truth is- I leave Sunday to fly from Spain to the U.S. and am totally nervous. I am flying alone and although the little one has done a lot of traveling- the game has since changed. She is walking/running and has a whole new set of rules now. Gone are the days of when the engine turning on meant the eyes closed. Now it's all go, and just to spice things up- she is on my lap without a seat. We have reserved a bassinet and they seem to not be concerned that she is over their weight limit for it. But a flight attendant quite possibly could take one look at her chubby cheeks (and thighs) and say "no way". So stay tuned as I its quite possible that my post upon arrival will have some segment that will fall into the "horror story" category. Keep you posted....

My travel horror story...

I was traveling alone with our 5 month old, from Stockholm to Toronto thru Amsterdam. As mentioned in another post, Stockholm makes you check your stroller at the front desk. My connection was delayed 7 (yes Seven) hours and all I had was the sling to hold her in. I was surviving, barely, when we boarded the plane. I was seated in the middle seat, middle row next to a very sick, hacking woman who spoke no English on one side, and a 2 year old boy on the other. I put the baby's toys in my seat and took her to the back to change her and when I came back, the sick woman, thinking she was doing me a favor, picked up all of the toys up so I could sit down. So I now take the baby and all of the toys back to the toilet again to disinfect. When I came back the second time, the 2 year old next to me, with his back facing his mother, was peeing on the sling which I had left on the floor. This is before the 8 hour flight even took off. Once we got to Toronto, after 17 hours of travel, the luggage all got mixed up, and the very last thing to come off of all three planes that landed at the same time- was my stroller. Luckily the baby didn't cry because I did three times as my arms were falling off.

Do you have a "traveling with baby" horror story? email us at babyjetsetter@gmail.com or post a comment here!

Ready for Take off...

When my husband was offered a job that would take him around the world for two years, we knew it was an offer we couldn't refuse- and what an opportunity for my then 3 month old- woohoo- here we go.. until it was time to pack, book tickets, etc. etc. etc.

Traveling with a baby is awesome- this blog is meant to exchange ideas for planes, trains, and automobiles. It can be a forum for horror stories of what not to do, (that we can laugh at now- since all parents know that the best thing to travel with is a sense of humor!) and a place to tell of the little surprises that worked out like a charm. Whatever your thoughts- send them our way so we can all enjoy the trip together. Cheers, Sidgul.