Saturday, April 2, 2011

Tricky Travels

I always planned to do a post about traveling with Tricky but I wanted to wait til all the fuss had died down a bit so that everyone wasn't so completely overwhelmed with conference posts that they'd just roll their eyes and click away; so here 'tis.

I was really worried about the flights because children and confined spaces don't really mix. Particularly confined spaces with pressure changes that happen to be hurtling through the air at 800km/h with no way to get off.

At the airport the people around us physically tensed on seeing a baby waiting for the same flight as them. For a moment there I became a mind reader; one look at a person and I could instantly hear their thoughts, as if by magic; "That kid better not be anywhere near me" and "That kid better not cry". It was a warm and welcoming reception of furrowed brows and pursed lips. I felt like telling them to piss off, at least they didn't have to hold the squirmy child for 5 hours.

But I needn't have worried. Tricks slept through take off, woke up for some breakky, had a play, then went back to sleep as we landed in Sydney. I was amazed. He then went straight to Sydney time unlike me who felt those three hours soooo much in the morning.

I was pretty impressed when I got to the hotel and there was a massive stack of goodies from Rock-A-Bye Baby Equipment Hire waiting for us!

The pram was a Quinny Zapp pram and it was brand new! It's really light weight, pretty easy to unfold and designed for travel - it's the smallest buggy when folded (and fits in it's own carry bag that is smaller than a tennis bag). It wouldn't suit an infant because it doesn't recline, but Tricky is old enough now that he doesn't need that. It came with a plastic cover which was heavily used - Map Guy and I walked around all day on Sunday, enjoying the strange wet stuff that fell from the sky - it's been a while since I've seen anything like that, but I think it might have been rain.



The Valco Traveler Portacot and Bubba Blue linen pack were Map Guy's domain - he's put together a portacot before and had much trouble, but this time he read the instructions and whaddayaknow, he got it, first time! Bravo, Map Guy!



By far the best thing though was the exersaucer. When you're staying in a room that isn't baby-proof, having somewhere you can put your kid while you go to the loo is really important and something that I hadn't thought of until we got there. I had just been thinking that it would be great to keep him entertained (which it was) but it served a much higher purpose and I was glad we got it. Pretty sure Tricks would have happily spent hours in the thing and I'm seriously considering buying one for home now that I know he likes it.


Checking out of the hotel we needed one of the concierge trolleys for our 2 suitcases, laptop, baby bag, pram in a bag, portacot in a bag and exersaucer. Kelley from Magneto Bold Too who was checking out at the same time did a double take and again I was blessed with the ability to read minds; "Fuck you guys brought a lotta shit!" (c'mon, it's MB2, you know she swore when she thought it!) so I got to do the whole "Oh nahhhh we didn't bring all this" sponsor plug.

Tricky fell asleep soon in to the plane ride home and the rest of the flight was uneventful unless you count the aborted landing and having to fly around for another ten minutes before we could try again. I'm not a very nervous flyer but almost touching down only for the engines to rev and the plane to jolt upwards kinda made me wish I'd worn brown pants.

So the first flying holiday with Tricky was a massive success mainly due to not having to take care of him for much of it (thanks Map Guy) or having to lug massive amounts of supplies over (thanks Rock-A-Bye Baby Equipment Hire)!

How do you go traveling with kids? Do you hire prams and the like or do you lug it all over with you?

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Glowless rocked the Aussie Bloggers Conference thanks to

14 comments:

  1. Have to admit that when I see a little one on a plane, I often either scowl, or look at the parent in pity. More likely to scowl if they're old enough to kick my seat, though!

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  2. Caz (thetruthaboutmummy)April 2, 2011 at 2:29 PM

    Well done Mr and Ms Glow and little glow. It can be hard - but you sounded prepared. Equipment hire - what a blessing from above. I only took the middle pink on a plane (melb to syd). She was 5 months and I just feed her non stop - so she was fine :O)

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  3. I get masochistic delight out of walking into an airport with my 3 kids. It is a total adrenalin rush to see the dread on everyone else's faces as they wait to see which check-in queue I approach. Even if only going to pick up or drop off, not actually travelling myself, I still go via the Departures queue's - just for fun....

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  4. Yay for having all that stuff waiting for you! How cool is that!

    I love travelling with my little one - and have found that so far planes have had this magical sleep-inducing power. Even my little non-napper slept when we were on a plane o/s last year. Airports, on the other hand...

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  5. Yay for Tricky bring a great traveller.! You are truly lucky. I have one kid who loves travelling and is unphased by it, and another who screams the minute her seatbelt is done up in her carseat.
    Master S went on a plane once.
    I took him to our local airport for a peek at the planes through the fence only to find the pilot actually let us in and let Master S sit in the plane & play. I don't know what he would have done if it was started up, but he loved just sitting in it with his belt on :)

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  6. I have been on a plane only twice with kids - once with my first when he was 3 months old and once with my 4th when she was 6 months old. My 4 screamed for nearly 2 whole hours from Melbourne to the Gold Coast. The first was fine. Travelling with 4 kids seems like a head ache at the moment.
    I look forward to the day when is will be fun.
    xx

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  7. that's cool. Go Tricky! how did you go finding enough food to feed him? ;)

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  8. That's cool. Go Tricky! How did you go finding enough food to feed him?

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  9. Oh Tricky, you melt my heart you little stud muffin!

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  10. when i flew back from london last year, we had about 20 [i kid you not] children on board in the economy section, ranging in age from around 6 months old up to about 6 - impending trouble, right? flight from hell more than possible, right?

    not a single peep out of any of them for 14 hours.

    get on the next plane in singapore - about 5 kids [two twins who were barely weeks old] and a couple of 3 to 5 year olds - OMG! a 7 hour [thanks to a volcano] flight from hell!!

    lol i really think when it comes to travelling with kids - it's just the luck of the draw!!

    ~x~

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  11. Awww we don't generally travel. I haven't been out of the state in almost 13years! So yeah i lug it with me because i'm usually not far.

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  12. My worry is when you get to your destination and need to get in a taxi that probably doesn't even have working seatbelts, let alone a child restraint seat. Not sure where I think I'm going, but you know, like if I ever got to go to Bali. Do you think I'd open a taxi door and see a child restraint seat?

    Love the exersaucer. Think there might be an adult version?

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  13. I've had the same reaction when hopping on trains when Lou was little. Makes you want smack ppl then smile smugly at them when you hop off after a peaceful trip

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  14. I didn't even know it was possible to hire equipment for short trips. It's been ages since we've flown, but we usually lug stuff along with us. The last time we had to fly, I actually went out and bought an umbrella stroller so I didn't have to lug Seagull's big heavy pram with us. It actually worked out quite well because it's the only child transportation device I can fit into my tiny little car. Either Seagull walks while Wombat is in the stroller or Wombat goes in the Ergo carrier while Seagull rides in the stroller. Of course, none of this will be an issue once we get the main car back from the smash repairer. :)

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