After much debate and much worrying on my part, we've decided! We're booked to go to Europe this summer, which is my son's first trip on a plane. The plane ride there will be at least 6-7 hours and we're staying 10 days. Travelling as a single or couple takes good planning, but travelling with a one year old takes a lot more consideration. I've been thinking of strategies to curb my worrying and I think the best way is to note my biggest concerns and then come up with plans to ease them.
First I've divided the travel worries list up between, before the trips worries and during the trip worries. Obviously I'm going to tackle the pre-trip worries first. So, let's start now!
Worries
Before the trip
The passport photo - How will I get my son to sit still and not make an expression?
Getting passport in time - Will we be able to get his passport in time before the trip, or will we have to invest in paying more to have the processing rushed?
Monitoring the pound & Euro -I will be monitoring the Canadian dollar exchange rate against the British pound and the Euro to exchange money at on a day where the exchange rate is good.
Will any of us get sick -How should I prevent us getting colds, etc. before the trip and during it?
Packing light, with a toddler -I always pride myself on packing light while travelling, but how will I do that with a toddler in tow?
The naysayers saying we're crazy -How should I drown out the people in our lives who think we're crazy to travel with a one year old? They just add stress and needless worry instead of encourage us to travel.
During the trip
The dreaded long plane ride -How will my son react to the plane ride? How will we keep him quiet and happy for so long? He loves to be active and not sit still, how will we handle this best?
Travelling place to place - taxi, train -If we don't have a car with a car seat for my son, how should we travel to ensure safety and what are the local regulations on car seats for toddlers?
Jetlag - my son's & mine- I tend to have bad jet lag and now that I have to take care of a little one, while I have jet lag, I have to come up with strategies to minimize the impact of it. I also have to find ways to help my son if he ends up having jet lag.
Just listing and summarizing my worries is already helping. As I research and work through these worries I will post and share what I learn. I'll also try to actually enjoy the planning and anticipation that comes along with looking forward to a fabulous trip!
What do you worry about when you travel? How do you curb the worrying from taking away from the enjoyment?
