My mom has always worked in the travel industry. My first plane trip, at five years old, was to Las Vegas. Needless to say, I have many stories and many experiences I could write about. I thought instead, however, that I would write from the parent’s point of view, since last fall my 6 month old and myself went to visit my parents in Florida.
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To start, when going through security with a baby, it’s a little more challenging. The shoes come off, the bag of liquids, the purse and diaper bag in the bins.. .Mind you – all one-handed. While complimented on how quickly and efficient I was at it, it’s a lot easier with two hands. Needless to say, I did find the checking of the powdered formula amusing, and of course, it turned out to be formula powder like it says it is. Ah, better safe than sorry. Oh I should mention the airport. Little Rock, Arkansas. A total of 12 gates. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and my mom worked at Columbus International Airport for years, where they have 3 different concourses. Little Rock is like an L shape, one section is check-in and baggage, and one section is gates. How quaint.
You get a lot of attention with a baby, period. At the store people gush and make faces and talk about and to her. The questions of age and sex, and comments of how good and pretty are pretty much mundane at this point. But on a plane, the people don’t walk away. Up and down the aisles people makes comments, ask questions, talk and make faces, as they go to the bathroom they’ll smile and comment how sweet she is. The flight attendants want to hold her and show her off to the other flight attendants, and comment how lucky they are to have us in their section. I must say you get special treatment with a little one.
Luckily, she really is an angel, and I chose to hold her in my lap for the 6 hours worth of flying and layovers. FYI to get from Little Rock to Orlando involves stopping in either Baltimore or Chicago, look at a map, yeah I didn’t get it either. Anyway she was a great baby. Didn’t scream bloody murder or squirm, just smiled and babbled and ate perfectly content with her surroundings.
On the trip home after visiting my parents, she behaved much the same way. She was very good, didn’t cry or try to get away from me. She loved all the attention, especially during the two hour delay I had in Baltimore. As much as you want to get home, it’s not like you can change the fact that the plane you want to get on isn’t physically there yet, and the flight attendants absolutely loved her and I really didn’t have to hold her all that much during that unexpected delay. Now eating was a challenge. I think if I had to spend over eight dollars for a Stromboli and a bottle of orange soda in the airport, I could have gotten a high chair.
To give some details besides the plane trips, Bella (my daughter) was able to visit Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Needless to say, it’s not the brightest idea to take an infant to Disney World, but she was amazing. She was perfectly content in her stroller and only cried when she was hungry. She was wonderful. Her pictures with the Disney characters got a lot of attention, such a pretty little girl. As an adult, it’s insane how long the lines are to get pictures and signatures of the characters. You really don’t notice how many kids are around until you have one your own. Babies and parents waiting in lines for rides babies can be on (for example, The Land and It’s a Small World) or waiting for the rest of their group to get off a ride (Test Track, Soaring, Mission Space). Not to mention how expensive stuff is there. 12 dollars for her first Mickey Ears, and another 12 dollars for a Tigger stuffed animal with a little bell made for little babies. Even as an adult, I could easily spend hundreds in one of the gift shops. What torture it is for the average child, who’s parents did not budget for the shopping spree of souvenirs.
The beach was an experience she didn’t like. I think she was a little to young, the waves scared her, and she tried to eat the sand. Of course, she’ll try to eat the sand for at least another year before she learns its not food. For the most part, she spent that experience with a tight fist on myself or her grandpa and squinting because it was mid afternoon, so it was a short adventure, but she still picked up her first seashell.
I hope I accomplished my goal in this blog entry, giving an account from a different view of being a young and new parent. Having a child not only changes daily activities, but every aspect of you life, and I thought a look into traveling with a young child would be something different than a wild Spring Break story, even though I’m sure that could be entertaining and informative as well.
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Nice and informative post, thank you such a nice sharing, we can hope find more from you on this thank you.
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very informative article Travel forums provide first hand experience and advice to travelers and are a great source of information and travel tips.
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Have you ever actually traveled with kids? It doesn’t seem like it by the tone of this article.
Hello Dr Ramesh,
If both legal guardians or birth parents of the child are traveling with the child, you will not need any other documentation, except everyone’s visas and passports. Check with your employer about medical insurance. If they will not provide medical coverage overseas, you can inquire with your U.S. based insurance company about what they provide. Some travel insurance companies sell one-year policies to cover students studying overseas and that might be another option. Safe Travels!
Sir, we both are going Europe with work visa on base of permit. Taking our 3year old child with us. Any letter or medical form/ paper we need to carry with us?
A Great Family Activity and one that will bring the family back together in the future when they all grow up!!
Take a look at our adventures. https://www.youtube.com/user/00Shaddow00 . We just started doing this to bring the family together and stop wasting our time setting in front of the television. We are filming our trips to document our adventures to remember and to share with family and friends. Maybe to motivate others to get out there with there family.
good article..
thanks for sharing the wonderful and informative details. Love this blog post. Next month coming to san francisco and looking for best hotel.
Dubai is such a nice place to stay and famous for its wonderful sightseeing’s attractions. The best trip is Dubai sightseeing’s tour and desert safari in Dubai. We had great time couple of years ago.
Everything is very open with a precise clarification of the challenges. It was really informative. Your site is extremely helpful. Many thanks for sharing
Let me add http://www.babyquip.com to the list.
With over 300 locations to serve you in North America, we help tens of thousands of families enjoy more restful and memorable outings near and far.
YAY THAT’S MY TWIN! So proud of you Tali!
Your blog helped me to plan my family trip to Bangkok and Pattaya. Just made a video blog out if it, https://youtu.be/tok17yOR1W8 please watch ang give feedback.
Ranch Vacation with family is a real fun. Here we spent quality time with each other. Truly said, we eat a lot and on-time as well. Riding is also a fun in ranch vacation, Created a perfect picture.
For great prices on water rafting, cruise, zip line, and horseback riding activities, you can check out: http://www.mauiticketsforless.com
We have actually done the ATV tour in Cozumel Mexico, and had an amazing time. We booked with Cozumel Cruise Excursions. Net which is a family business and we had an amazing time. Theres nothing better than going to another country and getting great customer service and amazing people as guides. I would highly recommend checking them out next time your in Cozumel http://cozumelcruiseexcursions.net
This sounds like so much fun! From the haunted houses to the different drinks offered. I didn’t know HHN was such a major part for Universal Orlando. Good to know! Thanks for the article!
Hello Annetta,
Yes, one Permission to Travel or Consent Letter can list more than one child on it, if the contact information for the legal guardians/birth parents is the same.
Safe travels!
Can I use one concept form to apply for two sibling from the same father
Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table,but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for all of these suggestions.
Chicago is a wonderful place to visit.
Excellent very nice! No doubt Dubai is very famous for more activities but desert safari is very unique activity.i love this one…
This is important topic for travel insurance for family and luggage on holiday and if you want to explore more destination you can visit here:- http://www.yourvitalventures.com
Thanks, recommendation cheap hotels is very useful for the preparation of our vacation that will not be soon. Really nice!
Nice article
Nice Travel Tips…
It’s amazing. I hope i can visit it soon T.T
Beautiful article
Our family of 3 adults booked a tour with Kalka Travels in April 2018. Our tour included transportation and accommodation in Delhi, Pushkar, Udaipur, Bundi, Jaipur and Agra. We then caught an overnight train to Varanasi where we met up with a third party contracted by Kalka Travel. Overall we were very happy with the tour company as they delivered on what we had pre-arranged with them. We upgraded our vehicle to a SUV rather than just a sedan, and added an elephant ride to Agra Fort, tickets to traditional dance show in Udaipur, a movie at the Raj Mandir theatre in Jaipur as well as water was supplied each day to us. All breakfasts were included. Our driver Ravinder was exceptional in that he was always on time and patient with us sometimes being late; the vehicle was always cleaned that morning and comfortable. He was highly attentive to our needs, very reliable, polite, and humorous, and told us what to expect at each stop. We always felt very safe with him as he was an excellent driver. His English was good in that we were able to ask many questions of him. Kalka Travels was flexible with our itinerary and our driver stopped at a few places that were not on our list of stops, unlike the other company we had considered booking who told us the drivers could not be flexible.Our wonderful driver, Ravinder, made our trip very special. Kalka Travels also only asked for a $100 deposit in advance and the remainder when we arrived in India, which put us at ease. Bobby Thakur was very quick to respond to any concerns we had. All in all, a wonderful vacation and experience with Kalka Travels.
Nice article! Wanted to point out another license plate app that has a map view showing all your plates, calculates points based on current location and includes US, Canada, Mexico and Australia plates.
For iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plates-family-travel-game/id1335335602?mt=8
For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ebrydobby.app.plates.free
Great article & very practical. Thanks for all the tips – I’ll be thinking about them for a while as we work on our website redesign.
Great vacation ideas and post too..!!!
There are many famous forts and palaces along with wildlife sanctuaries and other monuments which has attracted thousands of visitors and some of them have become a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site as well.
We are completely in accord with these ‘not to miss 5 experiences in Dubai.’ We experienced them on a family trip last year. The one thing we missed out was the charter yacht. Now we have taken it as a priority for our next trip after reading your post.
Look like you had a great adventure trip. The ship looks awesome.
Dubai is amazing. I really enjoyed reading your article! 🙂
I just found a website that lists apple festivals all over the country! So you can find something in your area. They all seem a little bit different, which is fun. http://pickyourown.org/applefestivals.php
St john is more quite than other Caribbean islands. St John accessible only by ferry from the other U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John is a true gem in the Caribbean with crystal clear waters, lush green mountains and gorgeous white sand beaches. Though it is the smallest of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John’s unspoiled beauty is perhaps the greatest found anywhere in the Caribbean.
Rajasthan is one of the most vibrant and colorful states in India with its rich culture and traditions since ancient times. It is known as the land of warriors and beautiful princess who even chose to die for saving their chastity and had a great affinity with their motherland. Whether it is the cuisine or the dress sense everything is unique about Rajasthan’s culture. There are many famous forts and palaces along with wildlife sanctuaries and other monuments which has attracted thousands of visitors and some of them have become a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. The famous sites are described in this blog which is good for the history lovers and for those people who want to explore more about the diversity of Rajasthan.
Being in the city of Royal Tents in Jaisalmer of moving sand ridges, you can’t get away from the seat travel. A rough ride on a camel in the Thar Desert is one of the energizing things to do in Jaisalmer Royal Camps. It enables you to investigate the remote and segregated spots tucked amidst the abandon. Absolutely, the additional time you give on your safari, the more remote spots you are probably going to see and the more you may acclimate to and appreciate the abandon serenity.
I am going to Dubai next month thanks for sharing this information will come in handy
Nice post…
Thank you so much for sharing a great information. I appreciate your time and effort in your work. Keep posting.
Thanks, for posting such and Informatic blog. I had been to Amer Fort in Jaipur and it was an amazing experience.
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A rough ride on a camel in the Thar Desert is one of the energizing things to do in Jaisalmer Royal Camps. It enables you to investigate the remote and segregated spots tucked amidst the abandon.
I think that is a wonderful experience at Dubai. I’ve been to Dubai and it’s pretty