The biggest, most glaringly obvious fact was that a certain vans warped tour tickets tampa fl degree of planning is required to ensure the parent s sanity and the toddler s well-being. Which is a fine fact to learn when you are already vans warped tour tickets tampa fl a week into the long-planned cycling and camping trip when you discover that you re all on your own because the French government is a racist pack of heartless bastards.
I think there are two types of people who undertake this type of travel. There are the single parents who have the toddler taming mostly under control and feel confident enough to take their show on the road. And there s the second group, consisting of the usually coupled-up travelers who set off on an adventure despite being terrified of having sole responsible for a toddler (Nearly typed terrorist there. How Freudian.)
You don t have to be an expert in quantitative analysis to realise that I fell into the second category. I d only really looked after Miss M on my own for about four months before I went back to work full-time. (The first nine weeks didn t really count because I was at my parents house.)
So I thought I was quite brave heading off to the Bangkok International Airport with Miss M for a few days in Cairo, a few days in Paris, then a train trip to Provence, where I expected to meet up with the appropriately visa-ed up Darling Man.
And because I am in this terrified-of-toddlers category, I decided not to proceed with our cycling and camping plans. I was a bit bereft vans warped tour tickets tampa fl and bitter. Plan-less vans warped tour tickets tampa fl after more than a year of planning and disorganised after so much organising.
So here is the brutal, smelly truth about solo travel with a toddler. Learned as Miss M and I traveled through some of the most beautiful parts of France and Switzerland by train and bus, staying with friends, in a home exchange house and in a tent.
I'm quite squeamish when it comes to being peed on, handling vans warped tour tickets tampa fl poo and being smeared with food. I hate it. I thought I handled the pees and poos quite well until we started toilet training. And then we started traveling and I met some quite disgusting-smelling toilets. Got up close and personal with them, actually. And I did NOT enjoy it.
During our five weeks in Europe, I squatted beside toilets in trains, planes, boats, parks and seedy cafes. And some of them were in dire need of some toilet duck and a vigorous scrub. I can forgive poor aim on a train, or on a plane if there's turbulence, but in all other cases – well, what the hell is wrong with people??? At least there was always soap at the wash basin.
When Miss M had a coughing vans warped tour tickets tampa fl fit that escalated into a vomit-athon in the main street of Nyon in Switzerland, an old lady yelled at me in French. She yelled for quite some time with some angry gestures, then went inside vans warped tour tickets tampa fl a store and yelled some more.
A few moments later, a boy emerged from the shop carrying a one-litre Evian bottle and a roll of paper towels. "She says you must clean," he said, pointing vans warped tour tickets tampa fl to the angry lady and then to the vomit on the footpath.
People will offer you help. Whether it s an offer of a pram, help carrying the pram down a set of stairs, help carry the baby around or an offer of a lift to the supermarket take it. And then try to pay it forward so you can make someone else s day.
Unless you enjoy eating on the run, prising strong toddler fingers off expensive-looking knickknacks, holding down the entire table setting with one arm (heaven help you if there's more than one glass!) and being smothered in red wine jus. And red wine. And daubs of mashed potato.
Ignore this point if you have a friend who is willing to eat tag-team with you. And if you have a friend like this, don't ever ever let them go. Seriously. Take them home and tie them up in your basement. Just remember to let them out to pee every few hours.
Do NOT do what I did and just turn up with a toddler and ask around for babysitters. It s likely you will simply get a helpless well, I don t really know anyone type of answer. And when you are approaching the end of your tether, you get a kind of pleading desperation in your eyes that make people walk away quite quickly. So there is no time to ask a follow-up question.
vans warped tour tickets tampa fl So organise some babysitting. Every parent in the world knows that you need a break from a toddler now and again. And not just after they ve gone to bed and you re a twitching shambles of a human being.
Unless you want your holiday memories to be screams and temper tantrums (yours) and the smug little face of the toddler that won. I say give in before the fight. Just while you're on holidays, then go back to proper parenting. (Giving myself an eye-roll here. As if I know what proper parenting is.)
But, apart from the babysitting issue, I did swallow my pride and ask for help as we traveled around. I asked friends if I could stay with them. I asked them if they d come with me to tourist attractions they ve probably already seen 800 times. (Like Versailles.) And once I accepted the fact that I did need a bit of help in a foreign country where I didn t speak the language asking for help didn t seem so difficult. And the help was wonderful and it made our travels so much better. (Everybody blow a kiss to JM in Paris RIGHT NOW. He is the world s best tour guide.)
As the weeks wore on, and we were hit by cold and flu bugs, Miss M s need for attention escalated to impossible levels. She wanted attention from me all the time. Even when we were sleeping in the same bed after a day of being together. Every. Single. Minute. We even showered together. But she just wanted more. She wanted to be pressed against me during the night. She wanted to fling one leg over me during the night. She wanted to use me as a pillow. vans warped tour tickets tampa fl She d butt her head up against my armpit if I moved and created any space between us. She d demand milk during the night (after refusing to eat during the day). It was pretty darn annoying when all I wanted to do was get a good night s sleep so I d be fresh for the next day of exploring.
Yes, you will be in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, with all kinds of adult-y types of entertainment nearby. Whether vans warped tour tickets tampa fl it s museums, art galleries, funky bars, beaches or bare-chested workmen, it will all be just out of reach until your little one has had 600 gos on the roundabout and 18 hours on the swings. And then another turn on the roundabout. vans warped tour tickets tampa fl And a fight with another kid over who owns the bicycle the other kid rode in on.
And then just when you think you ve reached the right balance between enough and too much stimulation, you ll pick them up, tell them you re going to the museum/art gallery/funky bar/beach/work site and they will start crying. And then you know they need a nap and you won t get your adult-y entertainment today.
You will do this for the four seconds of peace the food will bring. And the bonus four seconds of peace the toy will bring. You will pay $25 for eight seconds of peace even though you know the toy will break or get lost at the nine second mark. Because sometimes you just need some peace. And a bit of a sit down.
Trust me on this. I always thought you reached the end of your tether and disappeared in a puff of inky black smoke and a scream of rage. You don't. You just kind of dry your tears, blow your nose, wash your face with cold water and keep going. And say something reassuring like Yes, Mummy berry happy .
You will have to be patient with people who give your picky-eater toddler chocolate or sweets just before meal times. You will have to be patient with shop assistants who give your child something expensive to play with when you ve only popped your head in the shop to ask directions. You will have to be patient with Europeans who shut their shops at lunchtime.
Getting sick in a foreign country is horrible. And it s even crappier when you are trying to look after a sick toddler. And even crappier than the sick toddler vans warped tour tickets tampa fl is the sick toddler who recovers before you do or the active vigorous bursting-with-health toddler who doesn t get sick at all. Because you are on your own and toddlers don t understand groans of pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaase just let Mummy sleep for 10 minutes?
So, plan for sickness. Take a full medical kit and don t forget the Baby Panadol/Tylenol. Especially if you ve discovered Baby Panadol puts your little one to sleep. (Shhhh, don t tell the parenting police.) Try to have someone on Skype-standby to deal with tearful middle-of-the-night tears (yours). Tell your person they may need to go through their full lullaby and nursery rhyme repertoire a few times in the middle of the night (their time) if you need a break. And then maybe you can get that nap you need. Maybe. But don t count on it.
But you already know this if you have a toddler. They are always super-cute and angelic when they sleep. Take four seconds to enjoy the cuteness … then go do something for you, whether it's sleep, drink wine or stalk your high school crush online.
Believe me. In spite of all the challenges, you will have fun with your sweet baby as you have adventures vans warped tour tickets tampa fl and explore new parts of the world. You will create some wonderful memories, you will bond and you will have stories to share for the rest of your lives. And maybe, like me, you will end up feeling more confident as a parent.
I m still a bit afraid of my coming trip, even if it s only for 2 weeks. But more than ever (and your conclusion help me to keep saying it) I want to do it. Now. Even if she ll remember it only thanks to the pictures. Even if we ll travel again next year, and the year following and the year following
Thank you for joining our Family Travel Friday. Traveling alone with the first one is a full learning experience! What works, what doesn t work, etc. Then when you have the second you think you re already only to realize that their personality is totally different and what worked for the first one doesn t work for them!
Even though I m longgggg past the toddler stage I can appreciate and relate to so much of what you said. My kids were bad sle
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