Travel with kids * Shay * travel as a kid

Series - "Travel with kids" is a series of posts from women who have traveled internationally (with their kids) and lived to tell about it. Hopefully their travel tips (and trials) will encourage and equip your family for adventures of your own.

Introduction - I totally connect with Shay's sense of humor... she might be my humor twin. We were  roommates in college, but I didn't know her until she moved in. At first, I thought she was really shy and then all the sudden... BAM - Funny. We spent many nights at our house laughing about things that probably weren't as humorous as we found them... it was a good run. Shay spent a few years in Central Asia and has done a bit of international travel with her own kids - but talks below about her experience growing up in Australia and Singapore. She is a pretty great photographer and does some blogging here.

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I am a Texan, through and through. Buuuuut, I didn’t really “live here” live here until I was 10 years old…and at that point, I had an Aussie accent, mate. My Dad has always worked in the oil industry and my sweet Mom always has been a supportive mom and wife, so when job opportunities came up for these two young, small-town, Texas kids (my parents) to move to Singapore, they went for it! With a nine month old and a two year old. Dad had to go ahead of time…so my mother braved the traveling with us two kiddos and has lived to tell the story!

Jumping ahead to when I can actually remember, we moved from Singapore to Australia when I was about four years old. And we would come ‘home’ annually to visit family, so I have a lot of airport memories.

I always enjoyed it.  I remember these sweet little backpacks she made for my brother Jerad and I.  They were blue jean, Velcro’d shut, and had our names quilted on the outside (mine red and his green, gingham…so adorable!) and they were purely reserved for our plane travel!  I never saw them outside of that, but on every trip they would magically appear again!  Always a mystery, filled with new things to do, see, play with, read.  And we had to wait until we were all comfy on the plane and had taken off to open and see what was inside. Now, if this were me... it would be some huge, ridiculous bag, for one child, with a bajillion things inside. But back then, there was no ipod, ipad, dvd player, and mom probably had 5-10 items TOTAL in these little bitty bags. And we loved it!

 
I never noticed…but I’m guessing that Mom had her own bag with other stuff inside that we would need… the kinds of things I pack as a mom when I travel with my own kids. Because my mom is detailed, plan ahead, and packs the entire WORLD in her bag when grandkids are coming with her… so yes, as an unobservant child then, it was probably the case in the 80’s as well. That’s the nice thing about being the kid though. You just show up and it’s GREAT! So kids, if you’re reading this, just know you will be SET if you ever set foot on a plane with your Mommy. She will have it all planned out.

Another side memory that has cropped up here… I was much younger (before the special backpack days) and we must have stopped to get fast food on the way to the airport, because I had this awesome, green truck stamp that we had in the back seat.  Somehow, through sibling telekinesis and such, Jerad and I came up with the plan to stamp my ENTIRE BODY GREEN for the length of the drive to the airport.  Mom must have thought we were being so good and quiet back there! (that’s ALWAYS when stuff happens, I’ve discovered with my two little sneakies here.)  Well, we get there, park, she comes to the back to get me out of the seat and----(SHARP INHALE)--- “What did you DO to your SISTER??!!!”  (okay, I can’t remember what she said. But *I* would probably say that, because  it usually was his idea. Yes, I was the tattle-tale younger sister, can you tell?) Taking it in stride though, as Mom always does, she marched us and our suitcases right into that airport.  Her little five year old boy and her little 3 year old green alien.  Face, arms, legs.  Any bit of skin not under clothing was SOLID GREEN.  We headed to the bathroom, she stripped me down, put me IN the sink and s-c-r-u-b-b-e-d me like I have never been scrubbed before, or since for that matter.  And it took a while.  Still green.  More soap, more scrubbing. But she took care of it!! And we made it on the plane and everything.  Even with the two little minions seemingly trying to derail the entire trip, we made it.  And you know what?  I never covered myself in green stamps again!  Lesson learned (she says proudly)!  And I’m sure she was losing her mind in the middle of it, but she dealt with it and kept going!

And lesson taught, Moms.  Just deal with the matter at hand (green stamp scrubbing, poop blowout, lost sippy cup, vomit, whatever) and keep moving forward.  One foot in front of the other and you are bound to arrive at your destination!  Probably with more stories and memories that will stick with you than you would have if you’d have stayed at home ;)  They may not be funny for a while, but eventually they will be hilarious!

We loved living overseas.  My brother, parents and I still talk so fondly of all of our memories there.  I loved it so much.  Adelaide, South Australia, has such a huge place in my heart that we named our little girl Adelaide.  (We named Jackson, Jackson, because we just liked how it sounded.  Very deep, I know, but he is VERY Jackson)

In summary - a few random tips
* Pack little backpacks for each child to carry with their own “treasures” to discover on the plane ride.
* Pack your sense of humor.  (And probably some baby wipes… even if they’re older, someone might puke, get something sticky from the armrest on their arm, truck stamps, etc.  You won’t regret it J)
* Backpack stuffing - little books, games (they can ideally play with each other, if the right ages), rubix cubes (or the 2000’s equivalent), snacks, digital devices (yes. dvd players, favorite shows or movies on dvd, ipads, iphones.) and whatever else will help you if you come close to losing your mind (even if you "never" use those things…traveling is when rules go out the window! Do what it takes to get there with your sanity. It takes 30 days to create or break a habit, so 1 or 2 days of something won’t create a lifelong gaming addict)
*Google/Pinterest  (toddler/kid packing lists/travel tips) and you’ll find travel/kid packing lists to brainstorm off of.
*Ooh-ooh! A box of tissues is a BLAST for babies or toddlers!! Just pulling tissues out of that sucker can be tons of fun!! I’m not even kidding.
* Mom’s bag- Extra t-shirt.  (Adult size.  Then if you get spit up on, or somebody has a blowout, anyone can use it for anyone in the family!) Lots of wipes, snacks, treats, cash, gold. Bribery in any/every form depending on the length of your flight.