My Plans For Travelling With A Baby

Before I get on with this post I should clarify for any new readers that I am pregnant with my first child and have never actually experienced travel with a baby. So I realise it’s quite likely that I might look back on this post in a year or two and lol about how naive I am…

But hey, maybe I’ll exceed my expectations. Maybe I’ll be one of those adventurous parents, climbing a mountain with a nipper strapped to my chest. (I definitely won’t be. I have asthma, I ain’t climbing no mountains.)

I just thought it would be good for my sanity to start planning how I’m going to be able to continue exploring my passion for travel with a young family. Because I am under no illusions that it’s going to be difficult. Just watching a mum in a coffee shop try to get a screaming toddler into a pram is enough to make me consider never leaving the house with my kid. Let alone taking it ABROAD. Gasp.

Let’s start with the first year.

I’ve read a few blogs from new parents who have managed to do long-haul adventures on their maternity leave. You have unlimited holiday at this point in your child’s life after all. Why not make the most of it and jet off to Asia with the baby in tow?

First thoughts = that’s probably not going to be me.

Despite my rant the other day about still chasing my dreams when I am a mother, I want my mat leave to be about learning the ropes of motherhood. I want to save as much money as possible for a house deposit (the wedding is now on the bottom of the list…) and to spend any extra time I have on my blog to get a little extra pocket money in.

The idea of getting on a plane with a newborn terrifies me too. For years I’ve been that woman tutting at the baby crying and complaining – “Why is it always sitting next to me?!” I feel like I now can’t inflict that pain onto others.

I say that now, but you know after a year of being grounded I’ll be gagging to get away, regardless of what anyone thinks! We’ll see, huh…

But what I would like to do whilst my sprog is a baby, is explore more of the UK. I like the idea of going away for a few days to the seaside, or exploring the Lake District or doing a mini road trip in Scotland. The kind of adventures that would satisfy my wanderlust and let us get away as a family, but we could manage it at our own pace if we’re driving. Josh also hates the idea of going away with a baby so this is kind of a compromise.

What we both agree on though, is having regular adventures with our daughter once she’s a bit older.

Josh and I both grew up without holidays abroad. Josh went camping in Cornwall and I had caravan holidays on the Kent Coast. Neither of us felt like we were missing out on anything, we both really enjoyed spending the 6 weeks holidays this way. But as adults we massively see the benefits of travel. Travel has taught me the kind of life lessons I never got at school. It’s taught me to be more tolerant and understanding of people from different backgrounds and different cultures. It’s taught me to be independent and confident. All things I want our child to have.

So we’d like to have an adventure at least once a year as a family. And by adventure I mean we don’t want to take her to an all-inclusive resort in Spain (not that there’s anything wrong with that, the water parks are awesome). We want to go to Sri Lanka or South Africa or Japan or Canada. We want to interrail through Europe. We want our daughter to know about the world and get that travel bug that we’ve been bitten by.

I mean, it’s likely she won’t care about going on safari and would rather go to water parks, because that’s kind of what kids are like. We may have to compromise. But at least we will have shown her a slice of the world that we never got to see when we were growing up.

It’s definitely going to be a change of pace though. I don’t think we’re going to be packing just hand luggage on trips anymore! And we might not be able to do as much in a day on a city break. But I’m prepared to do all of the extra research to make sure travel remains an important part of our lives.

Watch this space.

Let me know your tips for travelling with a baby! I want to know everything! Hit me up in the comments below or find me over on Instagram and Twitter for more regular updates.

Photos taken at 34 weeks pregnant, “Bump’s 1st Christmas” nightie from Mothercare (link here).