In one week
I will either be ripping out my hair, wondering what in the world I’ve gotten myself into, or I will have survived a trans-Pacific trip with two children, somewhat optimistic about our vacation in Thailand. We leave on our first flight (to Seoul) Wednesday afternoon and if we make it through that first leg, will pick up on our connecting flight to Bangkok two hours after we land in Korea, arriving in Bangkok really late on the 16th, just in time to hit our hotel and (hopefully) sleep.
As a traveller, I have totally changed since becoming a mom. I used to not give my trips a second thought. I used to spend my time researching my destinations and figuring out which awesome resorts I’d visit, but that was it. I never worried about anything. Well, if I travelled with someone I would worry about whether they were going to have a good time, which was a huge stresser, so I eliminated that by choosing to travel solo most of the time (one of the best decisions ever, honestly).
I never worried about getting to / through the airport – seriously, how could this be an issue? You want to know how? Well, I travel with one suitcase and a purse, but I’m guessing I’ll need to take stuff for the kids for our 17 night stay in a foreign land. And then I’ll need to carry some stuff onto the flight in order to feed my kids and change diapers, etc. This will result in my needing to get a car service to the airport (since my Mini is not going to be able to cope with the luggage). We’ll take one huge suitcase and another smaller bag (for formula and baby stuff), along with Oscar’s small suitcase (full of nonsense for the flight), my huge diaper bag, possibly Oscar’s backpack and of course the stroller. This means that there will be moments in our trip when I am wearing Etta, pushing Oscar (who will have to carry his Mickey Mouse suitcase), wearing a backpack, carrying a diaper bag and pulling the mega suitcase, which might be dragging the smaller suitcase. We did this on the way back from Oklahoma, but without the small suitcase and the Mickey carry-on. It was tolerable, but not really the easiest thing ever. With the extra stuff? I just hope those luggage carts are easy to find in the airports (since in addition to our flights there and back, we’re flying from Bangkok to Phuket, Phuket to Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai to Bangkok for our return).
I never worried about how I was going to survive a flight – easy – Ambien, personal video and my book reader. Obviously, Ambien and personal entertainment are not options here.
I never considered whether I would drug a child in order for me to survive a flight – obviously, that idea is certainly under consideration right about now. Especially since our first flight does not include a bassinet for Miss Etta.
I never thought about using the bathroom on a flight – frankly, I just avoid this as much as possible. With a toilet-trained toddler? Not an option. I had thought that I’d be able to get Oscar to use a diaper on our last flight, but instead he just screamed “pee pee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” over and over. I don’t know how I’m going to get the three of us into an airplane toilet.
I never even considered the possibility of not being able to obtain a visa – I rarely needed one and even if I did, it was granted almost without thought. Apparently that response is not automatically generated for infant children of Ethiopian birth. Thankfully, Etta’s visa was finally granted today after much back and forth with the Consulate.
I never thought about sleeping at a hotel – but given Etta’s behavior last week in a strange crib (pack and play, actually), this is now a consideration. I limited the number of hotels we’re visiting, but there is some variety. We’ll see how both of the kids roll, I guess.
I never worried about personal safety – who was going to mess with me? Perhaps a bit reckless in South Africa or certain parts of Russia, but whatever. I’m not worried about this in Thailand, but obviously I have to think about it. Especially because so many people ask “is it safe there”? I’m betting it’s safer than most cities around here.
I never worried about water/food safety – bottled water and room service/awesome restaurants always did the trick. How likely was it that I’d swallow water in the shower? Not likely for me, but Oscar? I’m less worried about the safety issue than I am the question of what Oscar is going to eat while we’re there. I’ve chosen resorts that have a lot of dining options, including western food, but unless they whip up an amazing mac and cheese, I suspect he’s going to be touchy here. Most of the hotels have ice cream/pastry shops, so at least I’ll be able to get some of that into him. I don’t think there’s much of a chance that I’ll find soy milk for him, though, so perhaps my little guy will finally be off his night-time bottle by the end of this trip?
I never even considered how I’d fill a day if there were inclement weather during my trip – so many options, including sleep and reading and indoor activities. Planning this trip, I learned a lot about family friendly hotels. Each of the resorts fortunate enough to have our business has a kids club. While my kids are too young to go there solo (as if they’d allow this anyway), we’ll have somewhere to go play each day, even if it’s rainy.
I never worried how I was going to fill a day with excursions that were safe – I just went and did whatever I wanted. I didn’t need to consider (a) how I was going to swim with two kids (neither of whom actually know how to swim) at once, (b) whether riding elephants would be scary to a toddler and infant (and whether the elephant people would allow three of us to ride together) or (c) whether rafting down a river (with elephants in the water near us) with the same toddler and infant was a ridiculous idea. The answers? (a) floaties and little rafts, with backup from (swimming) babysitters, (b) maybe, but we’re doing it anyway and (c) most likely, jury is out as to whether we’ll be rafting; more likely we’ll avoid the raft and plant rice instead.
After all of this, I can see why people don’t travel with kids. I’m sort of worn out even before I’ve started packing. I’m currently resolved to not let myself fall into this category of parents, but this trip will be a bit of a litmus test. Oddly enough, even with all of the pre-travel issues and concerns, I’m really looking forward to the trip itself (if not the journey). We’ll see whether this is warranted, I guess.
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Etta’s Hats
Where I’ve Been
