Tots Travel Must-Haves

Jessica:

I don’t think I’ve ever put this much mental energy in planning a trip. The biggest advantage to this is knowing what type of child Abe is. He’s the type of child that after hiking 2 miles in the Georgia mountains, he laid down on the dirt trail and said, “I just want to sleep” (we’d been pushing nap time at that point). He’s also the type that can have an upper respiratory infection and ear infection during our Disney vacation and never run a fever making us wonder why he is having melt downs that are very unlike him (second day of not acting himself we went to urgent care). So basically like any child he’s unpredictable and yet I’m never surprised at hurdles we overcome while traveling. We always seem to adapt but there’s always that small voice in my head (that sounds like a gaggly witch) telling me, “Just wait you silly inexperienced mommy…you haven’t seen anything yet.”.

When it came time to plan an international trip it occurred to me that I haven’t been a mom that long and I’ve really been winging it this whole time. Now I’m set out to pick out my 3 must-haves based on my experience thus far. We will have packing restrictions since we have planned to pack one hiking backpack and possibly one standard backpack for our trip.

1.Camera/ Camera Bag

I had to really research a bag that would also be my purse and camera bag. I spent many days reading reviews, talking to my hubs while he pretended to listen and clicked on every Pinterest suggestion I could find. My camera is pretty heavy and in case I need to carry my child, I can’t rely on a traditional backpack plus a purse. So I chose this bag from Evercase. It comes with a rain cover (big plus for rainy Scotland) and it’s roomy enough for extra snacks and iPad- which will be crucial on the plane.:

2. Traveling Scarf

Becoming a mom has occupied my hands, mind and eyes. I am on mom alert 24/7 and one of my concerns going overseas was being able to watch my little and not have to worry that I’ll be so distracted that I allow myself to be a victim of theft. Of course my mad kung-fu skills isn’t enough to give me peace of mind but this scarf w/zipper pocket may help with that. I can use it to store really important documents and money without worrying that I’ll get ripped off while distracted by my busy tot. Tons of places have these including Amazon and Etsy. I chose mine from here:

3. Potette

Although my toddler has been consistently going to the potty for 2 months now, my biggest cause of anxiety has to be strange toilets. This Potette seat has been a lifesaver for our potty journey thus far. We lug it around everywhere. For hiking purposes it folds out into a seat for big toilet purposes it fits nicely onto the seat. We will be on airplanes, trains, in mountains and everywhere in between, I imagine that we are in for an adventure and a lot of “I HAVE TO DO PEE PEE!”.