Vol. 10: Traveling While Parent
Exploring Ancient Italian Villages, Our Ten-Month-Old in Tow
A few years ago, when our son was just ten months old, we boarded a plane set for Italy.
As he was on the verge of walking—and with ideas for a second child someday—Emily and I thought that it might be the last chance we may have to take a trip of such magnitude for some time.
Immobile infants, while still an enormous challenge, are pretty easy to travel with; far easier than curious toddlers or antsy little boys or girls. You strap them on your chest, accept the fact that no one is going to get any sleep, and head off over the horizon.
Still, Emily and I debated for weeks whether or not a trip to one of Italy’s most remote regions with a ten-month-old was a good idea.
“We can cook, we can hang out, we can take walks,” I told her as we weighed the pros and cons. “That’s about it.”
In advance of our trip, we sourced tips from several of our parent friends who showed no aversion to traveling with babies, the most utilitarian of which was to keep our son on his sleep clock, no matter what.
“He goes to sleep at six in North Carolina? So put him down at midnight in Italy,” a friend told Emily. “This way, the transition when you get home will be easier and you and Mike may actually get to enjoy your trip.”
Still, traveling thousands of miles away with a baby was no small feat.
One of the things I find myself telling many new parents is how adaptable young children are. How, so long as you’re willing to adopt a new style of travel, you can still go places, still get on planes and experience the warmth of other suns.
Of course, it’s not entirely the same.
Hangovers are inadvisable. Naps are indispensable. Dining out is often disastrous. Vacation sex is… different.
Like nearly every other element in our lives, travel is going to be different now that we have kids.
But just because we have children shouldn’t automatically render us shut-ins. And one of the best gifts we can give our children is the gift of travel, especially when it’s ingrained in them from an early age.
Shortly after we returned home, I wrote about our trip, eventually crafting a longform four-thousand-word essay.
Of course, selling a longform four-thousand-word essay is no easy feat, which is why it took me a few years to sell this piece. Which I eventually did, at a much shorter eleven-hundred-words.
Someday I hope to publish the entire story as part of a collection of essays I’m working on. But for now, you can read the truncated version (which, to be clear, I’m still overwhelmingly proud of!) over in the travel section of The Toronto Star.
Enjoy and, when it’s safe, book a flight, strap your kid to your chest, and go somewhere amazing.