The 2015 #GlowHoliday has been decided

MapGuy is itching to go on holiday.

Every day he checks out the discount websites, the deals, travel blogs and more. He has racked up long service leave, so there are all these luscious paid weeks of holidays hanging tantalizingly over his head saying "Go on a little trip. You've worked hard. Go on, mate, you've earned it".

I'm a little less eager, purely because I'm a bit anxious about flying right now. I know statistically it's safer than driving my car, but with all the stuff in the news lately; hijackings, missing planes, crashes, homicidal co-pilots and what not, I'm a bit nervous. I'm not usually afraid to fly, so this is a bit of a foreign feeling for me. I keep telling myself that if we die, well, we all cark it together. Strangely, there is comfort in that for me.

Despite the anxiety (hello, Valium), It's a great time for us to go on a trip, because we don't have to pay for Bobbin's flights or accommodation. Score. We did the same thing when Tricks was just about to turn two. Related: um, my baby is almost two. Whut?

We considered going two weeks in the snow, because MG's never seen snow before, but that idea was quickly quashed thanks to fabulous advice (along the lines of COLD, WET, WHINGEY CHILDREN AND HOLIDAYS NO NOT MIX), and very helpful tips on the WMG Facebook page. Thanks, people!

I wasn't fussed on the destination, because wherever we go will be fun, so I left him to book it and surprise me. He almost booked a trip to Bali. Then he almost booked a trip to Canberra with a day trip to the snow (because I could handle the cold/wet/whingey trifecta for a few hours). Then he almost booked a fly drive holiday up the East coast.

But after much to and fro, a decision was made and MapGuy woke me at midnight to tell me the news. There are only a few instances where waking me is acceptable: If the house is on fire, if someone is dying, if we're being robbed, or if it's to tell me we're going on an INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY in July.

Destination: Malaysia!

We are going to Kuala Lumpur for ten days, hitting up all the tourist things and then making the journey here:

OMFG LEGOLAND! I don't know who is more excited. Me, Tricky or Map Guy. Bobbin has no clue but keeps clapping and shouting hooray whenever Tricks does. Only one day of the trip will be spent there (because it's a four hour bus ride away), but already I'm pegging it as the highlight of the trip. Because LEGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have any suggestions of things we should see or do in KL in July, hit me up! Now, to get a passport for the little one and reread those flying safety statistics.

Finlee & Me & You

 This is a C1 post

For full details please see my disclosure policy

This post was meant to go live forever ago. So instead of saying I've tried these products for a while, I can honestly say I have tried them FOR AGES and love them. Turns out there is actually an up side to being so forgetful.

We've been putting some funky baby and kids products from hip online baby shop Finlee & Me through the ringer here at Casa de Glow lately (for the last billion months - sorry Angela!). The lovely (and amazingly patient) Angela, aka the "Me" in Finlee & Me sent Tricky and Bobbin some awesome presents:

Monkey Mat

I know what you're thinking. How is this different to a normal picnic rug? Why should I spend almost $40 on a blanket? Well it's a decent size at 5'x5' (152cm x 152cm) so everyone can fit on nicely, it's water repellant and machine washable, but my favourite things about it are:

• Weighted corners so your windy day picnic doesn't end up with you strategically placing the salad bowl on one corner, the esky on another, and cramping your space. But if it is insanely windy there are loops you can stake it to the ground through
• It has centre loops, too, but these ones are to keep baby toys ON the mat so they don't go walk about and end up in the Kangaroo poo (which has magnetic properties to babies and their toys)
• It all squishes down in to a cute little zip up pouch (attached so you don't lose it!) that has been clipped on to my pram since the day we got it!

Because I have it on the pram at all times, we have used it as a picnic blanket, a park rug, a table cloth (when the picnic tables were covered in bird poo), a shade for Bobbin's pram, a travel change mat and probably more things that I've already forgotten about.

You can do the monkey with the Monkey Mat at Finlee & Me in blue, orange, khaki and pink for $39.95.

Little Num Nums Natural Teether

Teething is the bane of my existence right now. Bobbin has just cut her seventh tooth and wants to gnaw on something constantly to relieve the discomfort - her dummy, her fingers, my nipple (OH DEAR GOD!), pretty much anything she can get her mitts on. I have attached this all natural teething heart to her pram, my carrier and her car seat at different times and she happily sucks and chews on it for ages. It's obvious she loves it, but this is what I love about it:

• Dishwasher safe. Booyah. Best two words in the world
• They are BPA, Phthalate, Lead and PVC Free. I can't pronounce some of those, but I know they're bad mmkay
• Each comes with a box and a pram strap to stop it getting festy in the bottom of your nappy bag or lost somewhere between the bakery and the car park
• It is not my nipple - I cannot stress the importance of this enough right now

You can wrap your chompers around the All Natural Teether at Finlee & Me in heart, car, owl and rocket shapes in multiple colours for $21.95 (I think the heart and the car are the easiest ones for babies to hold).

Portable Travel High Chair

I am a huge believer that kids should eat with adults at the family table. I'm also a huge believer in going out to eat, letting someone else cook and having someone else do the dishes! Huzzah! Now I'm no germ-o-phobe, I let my kids play in dirt and if they eat food off the floor at home I kinda just roll my eyes because I know it is pretty clean since I spend so much time with a mop in my hand. But restaurant highchairs are feral. Ever wiped one down with a wet wipe and it's come up almost black and still left bits of food spot welded to the tray? Yeah, me too. And it sits there next to the impeccably clean tables... so put your kid at the table, I say. The best bits about this highchair are:

• It is super small when scrunched in to it's carry case - the size of a MCN or two disposable nappies
• Uses a five point harness and hardcore stitching so it's very safe
• Adjustable to fit many chair shapes and sizes - it even has space for fancy chair backs to go through at the top

This lives permanently in the boot of our car now and has been pulled out when there has been festy or broken highchairs, no highchairs, at friends houses and even at home when we have had other babies visiting.

You can purchase the ultimate Portable Travel High Chair at Finlee & Me in a range of funky colours and designs for $44.95. Bobbin is modeling the Coco Snow design.

Kinetic Sand

This stuff is the shiz. For a person who passionately (and quite vocally) hates the amount of sand that is tracked through her house, it is surprising that I would be singing the praises of sand as an INSIDE TOY. But if you ever play with this stuff, you'll know why. It is just amazing. Everyone who has had a play with this at our place has been memorized by it's texture and properties, even Tricky, who doesn't like sand on his hands usually. But he will quite happily play with it quietly for ages, which is great for his fine motor skills, his creativity and my ability to drink a hot cup of tea and sit down for a breather. The best bits about Kinetic Sand are:

• It's sticks to itself not to you! You won't be sweeping it up for days
• Won't dry out so you can use it over and over again
• Great for sensory play
• Anti-microbial and non toxic
• The coolest texture ever. It's almost like magical solid liquid hybrid without the goo

I find it really therapeutic to play with this stuff, balling it up and then cutting it (yes, you can cut it!), then squishing it so it spills out of my hands. I have actually used it as a mindfulness activity - it's like a creative stress ball for me. My Aunty loves it so much that for her birthday my mum went online and bought her some... she's in her 50s! So definitely for all ages.

You can get your hands (cleanly) on Kinetic Sand at Finlee & Me from $19.95

My other fave things about the store are:

• they're an Australian stockist of Elf on the Shelf
• they sell ethically made felt ball rugs (I neeeeeed the rainbow one)
• they stock a huge range of wooden Montessori and Steiner toys
• postage is a flat $9.95 or free on orders over $150 so you won't get stung
• Angela is awesome and so understanding even after I had this ready to go and forgot about it for months. MONTHS!

So check them out on Facebook and go buy "lovely stuff for kids". Tell Angela that Glow sent you (no seriously, after waiting months, the poor thing could do with a hello).

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu...

Today I'm sad. Like proper sad panda, sad.

A girl I met almost ten years ago, who has become a really good friend, is leaving the country today. For a long time. She says a year, but you know how that always turns out, right?

When we met she was a school leaver and I was spending my days trying to find direction in my life. Read: doing bugger all. We didn't become friends straight away due to a lot of things: our age difference (I'm six years older than her), differing tastes in music and the fact that she lived miles away. But this girl loved The Sound of Music as much as me, if not more, so I figured she had to be OK. I obviously judge all people by their level of affection to musicals.

Over the years we became closer thanks to a shared love of old school movies, funky jewelery, false eyelashes, dress up parties, sparkly shoes, V8 Supercars, inappropriate swearing and rolling our eyes at stupid people. All very important, intellectual things.

In fact I liked her so much I decided to marry her brother.

She's never been a fan of little kids in general, but has developed quite the soft spot for Tricky since he grew from a if-you-drop-it-it-will-break baby in to an interactive much-less-breakable toddler. Who would've thought the girl who was afraid to hold her nephew would now be one of his favourite people that he talks about constantly? Aunty Kitty gets down on the floor and starts playing LEGO and cars as soon as she walks in the door. A chick who plays with cars, what more can you want?

I am going to miss her terribly. But alas she cares not about my feelings and is determined to see and experience the world. Pfft, selfish! Even the promise of meeting Bobbin could not keep her close by and, like so many young Australians before her, she's off to explore and then work in the UK. However unlike so many young Australians it won't be as a beer wench, it will be as a medical professional.

Map Guy, Tricky and I are going to the airport with her to wave her off today. Her punishment for swanning off across the world is that I am one of those people who is terrible at airport goodbyes.You know the ones. Not the hanky-waving, single tear drop farewell but the shoulder heaving, breath sucking goodbyes.

And just in case the sobbing snot factory is not evidence enough, so that she understands the full impact her departure is having on me, we've created a playlist to listen to on our way there complete with iconic bawl-your-eyes-out tunes including "Better be home soon", "I'm in London still", "Goodbye" and "Day you went away". I'll bet she's already wishing she didn't ask for a lift to the airport.

Kitty getting ready to be my bridesmaid

Travel safe, Kitty, we will miss you so, so much xxx

P.S. Update your damn blog, I didn't make it pretty for nothing

Postcard to Tricky: From China

Another blog-card from Aunty Penny! Hooray! You can see the last one, from Nepal, here.

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G'day Tricky!

It's your Aunty Travelling Pen here.

I'm in China for two weeks, trying to be a bit adventurous. I started in Beijing, then visited Shanghai, and am now in a smaller city (still 6 million people, or 6 times the population of Perth!) called Nanjing.

Me on the Great Wall of China - looks like Emperor Nasi Goreng did
a great job - no rabbits anywhere!

From what I've seen life here is pretty different. Since you're a kid I'll focus on kid-related stuff, like when I sent you a letter from Nepal, when I visited there last year.

Doin' it for the kids
Couples here are only allowed to have one baby. It's called the One Child Policy and it started in 1978. It's because China's population has been growing so rapidly and the government is worried it won't be able to support and feed lots more people. So most Chinese people don't have brothers and sisters, which is a bit sad, I think. I didn't know before I came here, but there are two possible ways to get around this rule - first one is: if both parents are only children themselves, they may have two children. The second is: they can (well, they have to) pay a fine for having the second child. The fine is 10 times the couple's annual income. Ouch!

This young girl was dancing outside The Forbidden City
and went all shy when she saw me... then put on a show just for me!

Startin' 'em young
Toilet training is really different here! It's common for parents to cut open their toddler's pants so there's a split most of the way along the seam, and they don't put nappies or underwear on them. Then when the kid wants to go to the toilet they just squat down wherever they might be, and their pants open up and they do their business. I reckon it must get a bit breezy.
Consequently though, kids are toilet trained much younger than in Australia. And, apparently if a little boy pees anywhere, even in the middle of a shop or someone's house the owner will be happy and says it's lucky. Girls are not considered lucky. You can imagine how annoyed this makes me!

Are you ready, boots? Start walkin'!
There are hardly any prams or strollers that I've seen here. Probably because the footpaths and roads (while generally pretty good compared to other places I've travelled) are pretty bumpy and not all that well maintained. So littlies are either carried or they walk. Reckon the Hug-a-Bub people should market their product here - these parents' arms must be aching!

They breed their Apple fan boys young

The most dangerous ship in the world
Censorship. It's not always easy for local people to get information here. The government is really strict. So they can't access some internet sites, including really popular ones, like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Even many pages of Wikipedia are blocked (like the ones that mention China). Saddest of all is that Chinese people aren't able to view most blogs - that means your ma's blog is inaccessible here! How will all these people across the world learn what parenting in Australia is like without that???

There are so many gorgeous little Chinese outfits that I would LOVE to buy for you, but I'm trying to restrain myself. I'd also love to get a little cheongsam for your friend Boo, Missy Boo's daughter. You'd both look so gorgeous!

I got to visit the pandas! OMG PANDAS!

Missing you lots, and hoping that you don't forget how to say my name while I'm away - keep practicing, 'k?

See you soon

Aunty Travelling Pen
xxx

The Hairy Chef {guest post}

I met The Hairy Chef a few years ago on Australia Day through a friend of a friend. A big group of us played cricket, drank beer and listened to the Hottest 100... well they did the beer and cricketing, I just waddled around with my big pregnant belly pretending to be awesome in front of these young, funky people. The best part of the day though was all of us trying to reassure his vegetarian girlfriend that the bird boo that had just landed IN HER MOUTH did not mean she had jeopardized her morals.

So who is The Hairy Chef? Well, The Hairy Chef is a swimmer, a baker, a photographer, a writer, a teacher and really hairy. Originally from Perth, he is currently teaching English as a second language in Bogota, Colombia, drinking too much coffee and thoroughly enjoying the prevalence of anatomical augmentations in Latin America. Follow the (surgically enhanced) adventure at www.thehairychef.com, but get your first taste of it right here, right now:




10 Reasons why The Green Grass is not all that green:Traveling Is Never As Much Fun As It Should Be

1. Intestinal Parasites
No matter how hard you try, any extended period overseas will result in extended periods on the toilet and various moments at which you realise you might not make it there in time. Of course, when the toilet on the overnight bus doesn't work, and the only place to go is on the street behind the bus, you come to appreciate the luxuries of toilet paper and throne-style toilets. But when the bus driver pulls away while you're squatting in the street behind the bus, you come to appreciate the luxuries of stable bladders and solid stools.

2. Repacking your suitcase
Nobody likes packing. There's always too much stuff, there's never enough time. And you never use the things you packed in the time you didn't have.

3. THE Conversation
The Hairy Chef: Hi, where are you from?

Tourist: I'm from America. You?

THC: Perth.

T: Blink.

THC: In Australia.

T: Ooooh. Nice.

THC: Blink.

T: So. Where are you going?

THC: North. Via city A, place B and up to C.

T: Blink. Blink.

THC: You?

T: South. Via city D, place E and F.

THC: Sweeeeet.

T: Have you done G yet?

THC: Yeah.

T: It's like a total waste of time, huh?

THC: I loved it.

T: How much did you pay for it?

THC: $10.

T: Blink.

THC: You?

T: $350.

4. Not realising that you don't need to visit everything in the LP
You know that by the time you've spent 3 hours looking for the Automotive Historical Museum that it's high time you started looking for thrills in other places.

5. Not appreciating experiences because you're concentrating on taking the coolest Facebook profile pic to make your friends jealous
Nothing quite beats hiking 5 days up a mountain through snow and rain on 7 packets of instant noodles to get to the top so you can plank for your latest Facebook update.  

Planking on Mt Kilimanjaro

6. Eating rice and meat for weeks on end
When you don't know the local words for "I'd like a medium-rare steak served in a bath of jus-de-calf-milk" eating rice and potatoes for 3 weeks makes for a very long, and arduously constipated 3 weeks.

7. Ordering the chicken and getting the sheep's kidney
If you had paid attention in class, you would have avoided ordering a bowl of "vagina soup" in front of a group of nuns, or asking if you can "fuck the bus all the way to town".

8. The "helpful" local
"Yes the museum is three blocks from here. Yes it's open until 6." You arrive to find an stationery store that specialises in varieties of post-its, and is closed.

9. Breaking Cultural Customs
Learning the hard way that certain things in certain places equate to telling a parishioner what you'd like to do to his daughter.

10.Dealing with other travelers who NEED to tell you shit you don't want to know (my personal favourite)
"I left my ex-girlfriend behind. She was a whore. Now I'm here to sleep with married women because a witch told me it was my destiny." (Andre, The German)

Tell me your worst travel story... the grosser the better. 

Find The Hairy Chef on Facebook

Nuffnang Blog Awards, Here I Come

Where will you be on December 16 this year? At your house falling off the roof while you try to put up thousands of little twinkly lights? At the shops having trolley wars while you dive for the bon bons that have been marked down, surrounded by hundreds of people panicking about Christmas only being a week away? Or, will you be all glammed up to join 500 bloggers in Kuala Lumpur for the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 at the Putrajaya Marriot? I know where I’d like to be and here’s my top three reasons why:

1. I am obsessed with blogging and Bloggers (see that capital B? That's a whole extra level of respect right there) so the opportunity to chat to a room full of them, swapping tips, tricks and business cards and not having to explain to one single person what the hell a blog is (and won't bat an eyelid when I pull out my phone to tweet) fills me with so much excitement that I’m already hyperventilating at the thought. I hope paper bags will be provided for me to breathe in to – they could be car shaped to tie in with the Volkswagen Malaysia event sponsorship.

2. I will look cool by association as I plan to get my photo taken with every single attendee, even the uber Bloggers! Even though the idea of knowing hardly anyone there scares the crap out of me, I’ve managed to perfect pretending that I’m confident and have it down to a fine art. I will be employing my well-honed skills on the night in question as I schmooze and network my way around to all 500 bloggers. The temptation to wear my sunglasses on the red carpet and pretend I’m a rockstar is strong but the cool factor would be outweighed by the wanker factor so I will resist and instead go for this demure pose for the waiting paparazzi (who I will have hired, obviously).

If only I wasn't so shy

3. The very next day, December 17th, will be my 30th birthday. The big 3-0. If I win tickets to the awards ceremony I fully intend to walk that red carpet and pretend as if the whole shebang has been put on just for me. The room of people I don’t know will all instantly become my nearest and dearest friends, of which I’ll remind them after a few drinks, and we will party on harder than I could at home with my three streamers and two balloons which is all my sadly limited party budget will allow. I realize that attending the awards and having an awesome night may mean I spend my actual 30th birthday either hungover or asleep in a Marriott hotel room but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

I should win, yes? Yes!

Postcard to Tricky

Aunty Penny arrived home safe and sound from her Nepalese adventure yesterday! She sent Tricky a blog-card (like a postcard but in blog form). And just like all postcards, it arrived after she left Nepal. Enjoy.

___ . . . ___ . . . ___

Namaste Tricky!

It’s your Aunty Penny here, and I’m on a big adventure in Nepal (get your dad, Map Guy, to show you on the map where that is – it’s a long way away).

I came to teach English to kids here, as a volunteer, and for a holiday. The teaching part didn’t really work out like I’d expected. The kids here are way different from at home. There were 50 kids in each of the classes I was teaching with another volunteer at a Government school. 50! When you go to school there’ll only be about 30 in a class. And my goodness, these kids were sooo naughty! They’d run around the class, hit each other and pull each other’s hair, stand on the desks and put their hands in the fan. They copied off each other constantly, so there wasn’t much learning going on. The local teachers didn’t seem to care. And the noise! All the kids screamed and yelled, nearly all the time. It was pretty bad. I didn’t like it. After a while we told the school we wouldn’t be coming anymore – the kids weren’t learning, and we were wasting our time.

So instead I taught a conversational English class every day for blind university students, to help them improve their pronunciation. They loved learning and were very fun and enthusiastic. So that made me feel really good.

But I’ll focus on the kids I’ve met, ‘cause you’re a kid. Man, they are very different here. In many ways good, in some ways bad. There’s lots of playing outside with neighbours, unlike in Australia, and most kids don’t have a TV in their house (which I think is a good thing). It’s such a poor country though, that the kids don’t have many toys or books or clothes, or anything really. I bought stickers with me for the schoolkids and they were crazy about them. The other volunteer bought balloons and one day we blew them up and gave them to the kids that lived in our street. They loved them! They played with them for hours, or until they popped. Kids here really appreciate the things they are given and look after them, because they have so little. That made me a bit sad, but it’s really sweet too. They also make a lot of their own games and toys. Kites are really popular here at the moment. They make them out of bits of plastic bags and things like that. And they’re so good! One day I walked past a little boy who was about 7 and he had a string in his hand. I looked for the kite and it was so far away I could barely see it! It was amazing!

I met a little boy called Shivaraj at a support centre where the mother from the host family I stayed with worked. He had been a child labourer. He was about 8 years old and walked with a limp. My host mother explained to me that Shivaraj had been a dish washer in a restaurant, to support his father who wasn’t able to work, and his mother was gone. One day Shivaraj fell and broke his leg badly and so he couldn’t work anymore. His leg didn’t get properly set at a hospital because he was so poor and the government is so poor too that they can’t give free medical help to people like we get in Australia, so now he will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. But the positive news is that the centre where the host mother works tries to help kids like him, and get him back into school and get help for his family so the kids don’t have to work. Their aim is to stop child labour completely.

A lot of people speak a little bit of English here, and kids have to learn it at school. Speaking English here can help people get better jobs, especially in tourism. One day I was hiking up a steep hill to a lookout with my friends, and I got so hot and tired I decided to go back down after only a quarter of the way. A little boy called Arum (who told me he was 11, but I think maybe he was 9) saw me and invited me in to his neighbour’s shop to buy a drink, and told me that I could get a taxi up to the lookout instead. He spoke good English for his age, and he came with me to find a taxi, and told the taxi driver in Nepali where I wanted to go. Then he got in the car to come with me! He brought along his little friend, who didn’t speak English. All the way up Arum chatted to me and told me interesting things he knew about. At the top of the lookout he pointed out places we could see. When we got back to the bottom of the hill I wanted to check my emails at an internet shop, and asked if Arum and his friend wanted to go on the internet too and I would pay for it, to say thank you for being my ‘little guides’. He looked a bit shy, and said they would like to. So they sat next to me as I checked my emails and they watched YouTube videos of animals. They really liked one of a tarantula vs a centipede (spoiler alert: the centipede doesn’t come off too well). It only cost me 25c for internet for an hour, but it made them really happy.

I’ve got so much more to tell you, and I’m missing you and your mum Glowless and look forward to seeing you again soon little one!

You wouldn’t have seen Fraggle Rock yet, but it was a popular show when I was little. In it one of the Fraggles gets postcards from his uncle from around the world, and they’re signed ‘Uncle Travelling Matt’, so I’ll sign off now….

Love

Aunty Travelling Penny

Click to view larger image

Postcards from the Edge (of Nepal)

Not content to just donate to charity, my sister, the fabulous Aunty Penny, is currently on a solo trip in Nepal teaching English to underprivileged kids at a monastery school.

Doesn't that sound so cool? It's a little bit Angelina Jolie of her, except that there are no rainbow babies and no Brad Pitt just a Sherpa with some teeth missing and a Yak.

So I've pilfered her photos and come up with this fabulous list. You're welcome.

The top 10 tips for traveling in Nepal

(by someone who hasn't actually gone there)

1. When traveling to Nepal you'll want to pack for a range of weather conditions. Make sure to borrow your sister's suitcase because it's bigger than yours and then ensure the lock malfunctions so you can't open it without the aid of a hacksaw

2. Getting around in Nepal is quite easy and cheap, especially if you use taxis with posters of Avril Lavigne on the roof

3. If you don't manage to find a teeny bopper taxi then you could always use a space craft to get around. It makes the trip to the top of Everest a hell of a lot quicker

4. Be sure to check out the markets because shopping is great in Nepal, especially for fabric

5. The Nepalese people have a rich, religious culture. While you're there, make sure to pay your respects to the Holy Men - they accept donations in the form of cash or shampoo for their two metre long dreadies

6. In the event of an earthquake, make your way to your nearest cafe and enjoy wine and wifi. Tweet home that you're safe and brag that you've now one-upped your sister who has never been in a natural disaster

7. Be careful of cows. They have right of way and will often just sit wherever the hell they like. Making hamburger jokes and mooing is optional

8. If a complete lack of local safety regulations doesn't bother you, strap yourself to a hunky man and jump off the side of a cliff. The view will be fabulous and if you land without dying or breaking your leg you'll have a great story to tell

9. If after your death defying paragliding stunt you need to unwind, consider a massage. Great for those who are "being in a heap" - performed with medicine oil by professional expert Miss Jelly

10. If you'd like to feel better about your rich white person status then head to a tiny village and teach English to some gorgeous kids who look like they're about to sing in a Qantas commercial. Pose for photos and give them lots and lots to stickers to shut them up encourage them

Miss you, Aunty Penny. Come back safely xxx

Have you traveled anywhere cool? Upload your strangest travel snap to the Where's My Glow? Facebook wall so we can all have a laugh.

~ Follow Aunty Penny on Twitter. Her #firstworldproblemsinathirdworldcountry tweets are hilarious ~

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

HealthyChart and Baby Goes Retro and Simply Colors