Travelling with children is one of the most rewarding things that you can do but it’s never easy. Most mums (let’s call them ‘normal people’) are realistic in their concerns about travel with children in tow. They’re wise to the fact that many blogs and Instagram accounts are fantastic at making it look all too easy! For this reason, every now and then I like to share a story from a ‘normal mum’ who’s travelled with their children and lived to tell the tale!
Introducing my good friend Lizzie Wall from Kids Gifts & Toys. Lizzie is the mother of two gorgeous boys (now aged 7 & 4) who just happen to be the same age as my two boys. Lizzie & I have never met but have been in constant contact on Instagram since 2014 when we both started blogging. I remember us both being so excited about our first 100 followers .
When I first started following Lizzie she was living in Germany and her blog was was filled with inspirational ideas to captivate children’s imagination and their European travels. These days, she’s based in Sydney and has become a powerhouse in showcasing the creators and makers of amazing gifts, toys, kids clothing, kids rooms and more!
Lizzie has kindly shared with us her story of “Travelling with babes”.
GUEST BLOGGER – LIZZIE WALL ‘TRAVELLING WITH BABES’
Ever since I was a child I have dreamt of travelling, it is my passion and whenever I hear the noise of an airplane overhead I always wonder what divine location the passengers might be headed too?
So it was only natural that once I became a mother I would want to travel with my kids. I thought to myself just because I have a small baby why should that stop me? Friends who were already parents did give me strange curious looks, I do admit.
Our first little holiday was when my eldest was a month old. We took our VW campervan and drove it to Wales from London, where we were living at the time. It had taken us over 3 hours to pack our van and we almost forget the kitchen sink, our van was that full, ready for any eventuality.
The road trip took a little longer than envisioned as we had to stop off so I could breast feed our baby as we had been so late leaving, but eventually we arrived at our destination.
We stayed on the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast in a little self-contained cottage. As our baby was only 4 weeks old, and already notoriously bad at sleeping and had colic and reflux, perhaps in hindsight we should have stayed home. But I figured he wasn’t sleeping anyway, so a change in scenery would be nice for us all.
We visited the beautiful old Pembroke castle, St David’s, Britain’s smallest city, the seaside town of Tenby and many other beaches along the way.
Although I have to admit that I had to google the places for this blog post as after 7 years of sleep deprivation, my memory isn’t what it used to be! At least I took a thousand photos to remind me of our holiday away.
After those 4 days away I realised that although we had enjoyed a wonderful time away, holidays were never going to be the same again, now we had a baby.
I now refer to holidays as a break or a trip away.
Holidays will no longer be that relaxing time we used to have pre-kids where we can walk, eat, sight see and take in the culture of the country we are in.
Instead, they have become about the next toilet stop, the next food break, can we find any playgrounds nearby to give us a break and the kids a chance to run around, what toys do I need to pack to amuse them on a flight, how many changes of clothes do I need on me in case they vomit in the car (always), spill a drink (every time), or wee their pants (not so much now).
Holidays have moved to a new level, it’s more about surviving then relaxing.
I always hated those all-inclusive resorts or holidays that you saw advertised, pre-kids, as I was of the thinking, why would you want to stay in one resort, have all your food and drinks catered for and never leave the resort, ever?
I get now why they exist. I know who set them up and I could kiss them!! Parents definitely started all-inclusive holidays. I am sure of it, because everything is catered for and the parents do indeed get to relax, finally! Kids club, buffet dinners, paying bar; these are three blissful concepts I never understood before kids, apart from the later.
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We were extremely fortunate a few years back to take an all-inclusive ski holiday two years running. We may have used up our retirement funds to afford them but boy were they good!! The kids got picked up and taken to crèche, and to ski school.
We had breakfast, lunch, cake in the afternoon and dinner all ready for us in the dining room. There were baby stations for heating milk or food, babysitting whilst the parents ate their dinner, movie nights for the kids, play areas within the hotel and most importantly, the kids had other children to play with.
Better yet, the adults had a bar right next to the play room. It was bliss! Now that is what I call a holiday, now I have kids.
Don’t get me wrong, holidays with young children are still an amazing experience and we thoroughly adore taking our kids to see sights and cities that broaden their horizon. We love seeing countries now through their eyes and see their big wide eyes at new ideas, cultures, buildings and people.
It is just holidays are not as chilled and relaxing as they used to be.
We still love to take our kids away on breaks, in particular on road trips. This post has been submitted during a trip we’ve taken from Sydney to Melbourne.
But, if you have children under 6 and can save up for an all-inclusive holiday, then I would say do it. Hand on heart, as a parent; it will be some of the best money you have ever spent!
If you can’t afford it, go on breaks away with friends, you can give each other a night off while the other couple babysits and it gives your children, friends to play with.
We all deserve a break even more so now we have children, right!
DISCLOSURE
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are those of Kids Gifts & Toys and not influenced in any way. Got a question for Lizzie? Ask it here 🙂
