Traveling is all about learning
things, opening your eyes to new possibilities and experiences. Bringing a baby
along for a trip to Greece was definitely a learning moment. A whole new experience
that, at times, kept my eyes open all night.
We flew into Corfu, stayed a
night there, took a ferry to the mainland, stayed a few nights in Plataria,
went to a Greek wedding in Paramythia, then took the ferry back to Corfu, drove
to the remote village and settled in for almost a week. Just
writing all that exhausted me. I know it exhausted the little person we dragged
along. Here are a few things I learned from traveling around Greece with a
baby.
1) No more
unscheduled schedules
We're the type of travelers that
don't wake up with a plan in mind. We usually have a goal, like a place to
visit or a neighbourhood to discover, but it's not scheduled down to the minute
or even hour. You can spend a day discovering something or realize it's a
mistake and find a patio to order a few drinks. With a baby, that changes.
You're constantly working around the baby's schedule: feedings, naps, and early
morning awakenings.
2) Naps are
not accidents
The great part of traveling with
goals instead of itineraries is you get lost and discover wonderful things you
might not have experienced if you were going from point to point. But that
takes a small to medium-sized time commitment. One of the not-so-wonderful
things that we discovered early in the Greek vacation was if a baby skips a
nap, then the rest of the day and a chunk of the night is now planned… for
crying, screaming, and all-purpose misery.
Sure, you might think he'll nap
in the car or pram, but that can't be planned or predicted. Plus, the moment
you stop for a pee break or a car honks as it passes by, the nap is over and
you have a cranky baby for the rest of the day.
3) Babies can
sleep anywhere, but not everywhere
After I turned 25, I just
couldn't sleep on friends' floors like I used to. When I turned 30, crashing on
couches became a pain in the neck. Now that I'm into my late 30s, I've realized
I need my pre-bedtime rituals, like reading a book, stretching a bit, or a warm
shower. I'm getting fussy in my semi-old age.
A baby is no different. Sure, he
often nods off in some weird positions in car seats, but staying overnight in
three different places in Corfu and Plataria made him as fussy as a 37-year-old
man-baby who skipped his all-important neck stretches.
Our budget didn't help either. We
booked accommodation like we were traveling without kids. It's not like we were
couch surfing in yurts – we were staying in well-reviewed 3-star-ish places –
but our little man had to adjust to each strange place with their different
noises, heat, air conditioning, bed softness, and crib comfy-ness. Not so easy
for someone who was born less than a year ago.
4) All about
the amenities, man.
Both of us were never type of
people who slept in 40-person hostel dorms when we traveled. We’ve rested our
weary bones in pretty spartan rooms with few amenities, thin walls, lumpy beds,
and more than a few bathrooms down the hall. I also really liked having loud
bars with patios nearby and rates so cheap that you earn street cred for staggering
through the neighbourhood at night.
You know what I appreciate now
that I travel with a baby? A kitchen. Elevators. Thick walls. Peace. Quiet. A small beer on the balcony. Decent
sheets. Our own bathroom where you don't have to bring your own towels.
5) Luggage. So
much luggage.
When we're packing, we fall into
the common trap of thinking "Oh, we might need that winter coat."
And we pack it. Even if it's August, you never know. I've worked on that
impulse, so I often pack less and fit more Duty-Free booze into my carry-on
bag.
When packing for a baby, that
impulse to pack for every conceivable eventuality is life or death, sleep or no
sleep, which is pretty much life and death. Everything goes in. So, as the
father, I'm carrying a gigantic duffel bag on my back, pulling along a wheely
suitcase in one hand and carrying mine and the baby's carry-on bags in the
other. Duty-Free booze? Not anymore.
6) The
struggle is worth it
Does this seem like a complainy
post? It isn’t, because all this struggling is worth it. When you watch your
baby son touch some huge Ionian flower for the first time or smell the salty
sea breeze for the first time or happily dig his hands into sand at the beach,
well your heart melts just a little… before you look at the clock and wonder
how you're going to get him down for a nap in the middle of a beach.