Vacation Voyage: In the Beginning
Ah, summer vacations. The weather’s warm, the days are long, and families want to get out and take advantage of all there is to do and see. And yes, we’re one of them. My husband, our 22 month-old toddler and I are going on vacation for a week to Greece.
Yup, that’s right. We’re taking the plunge and going to Europe. It’s always been a dream of mine to see Greece, and this summer we decided to go for it! Why, you ask? Well, for several reasons. First, it’s Europe in the summer — good times. As for the other reasons: our daughter is not yet potty trained, but she is a big girl now in the sense that she no longer needs formula, no longer breastfeeds, eats regular food and can walk. All of these things will make her easier to travel with during this trip (we think). And, she’s also in a great discovery phase, and I think she’ll love seeing a brand new environment.
The biggest reason for our choice in timing: my husband and I will soon "begin talking" about planning for another baby, and we figure this is our golden window of opportunity to do something big. As I tend to get pretty sick while pregnant, we decided to hold off officially trying until later. No need to add more to this plate right now.
After much thought and consideration, we decided that a cruise of the Greek islands was the best way to go. That way we only unpack and repack once, and get to stop at a bunch of different places along the way. We were actually pretty proud of ourselves for coming up with this, it’s a good plan in theory, I'm anxious to see what happens.
So, the cruise is set and the tickets are booked. Wait, do we have a passport for our daughter? Uh oh. Better look this up on the web. So we did, followed the instructions and low and behold, passport received. Crisis averted (so far). Now it’s just smooth sailing until the day of the trip right? That’s what I thought at first, but as we approached the month of our great voyage, I started to get some strange sensations. At first, it was a casual thought: gee, maybe I should start thinking about how to do this? No, it’s fine, it will work itself out. Then the thought started to get … annoyed, antsy, anxious, as if to say: HELLO! You need to pay attention to me!!
And so, I did. I began to actually think about what it would take to successfully get our family to Greece. A few things popped into my head, like packing and making sure we have enough luggage. Yes, OK. No problem. Then I started to ask myself: how we were going to get to the airport? We don’t have to bring our car seat as we’re going on a cruise … if we use a car service, will it have a car seat? Gosh, is that expensive? The details started flying around in my head, like too many fish swimming in a small bowl. Where will she sleep? Does she fit the size requirements for a pack and play on board the cruise ship? And we bought her a separate seat on the plane; will she be able to sleep in it on the overnight flight? And our luggage, what is the weight restriction for the plane? How many pieces of luggage are we allowed to bring on the flight without getting charged?
Soon, panic stepped in, and felt my stomach twisting and turning as I tried to sort this out. How do people do this? How do you purchase, pack, plan, travel, enjoy, travel, unpack and wash everything in a carefree and completely relaxed way? Anyone? Buller? Buller? And then, I stopped freaking out and decided to focus on the individual questions instead of the volume of the questions. I phoned friends and went online and found out the following answers: Yes, the cruise ship has a pack and play she can sleep in. She will most likely sleep on the night flight (bring some movies from home and let her touch you and she’ll be OK). We are allowed two pieces of luggage per seat purchased that can weigh 40 pounds each without being charged. We can get a friend to drive us to the airport and use her car seat.
So, I started to calm down and can now actually imagine myself successfully getting to the airport and flying to Greece. Apparently, it’s possible. There may be things forgotten and things that go awry, but that’s OK. People do this. Others have already laid out the path; all I have to do is follow at my own pace. And seriously, bless those people who figured this out and choose to share this information — they deserve a special place in heaven. As for the rest, stay tuned; I’ll be keeping you posted. I start packing next week!
Author: Amy
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