My family loves to travel… and we are lucky enough to travel quite a bit using miles and points. My wife and son are even getting used to my crazy travel plans. But, now a game-changer has entered our lives!
And we’ve even made it to our first OB appointment to make sure everything is going as planned… and to learn that our expected due date is in March 2015.
In This Post
How we travel
So far, things have been great. Flying domestically, until Timmy turned 2 years old, he was able to sit in our laps. Now that he’s a little older, he has become quite the jet-setter.
We flew Internationally with Timmy for the first time in April 2013 when we went to France…. and he was just a little bit spoiled in his Business Class seat flying home from Paris.
How things will change… or will they?
While Anna is pregnant in the early stages, not much will change… except for maybe using the air sickness bags during the first trimester.
As we get closer to the due date, we’ll need to be sure to stay close to home. Neither of us wants Baby #2 born in a random foreign country… or on a plane, although either could make for a great story some day (or blog post!!!).
Once Baby #2 is born… that’s when the real changes will occur.
Traveling with two children is obviously harder than traveling with one. There’s more clothes to pack, an extra car seat to lug around/check/etc., and two little tempers to manage, not counting our own potential frustration level.
Domestically, the airlines are great to parents. There’s no charge when a baby flies in your lap. Although, buying drinks and/or earplugs for the people sitting around you may get a bit expensive.
I guess that’s one reason they invented the Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
When traveling internationally, we’ll either need to spend the points to get an extra seat and/or pay attention to the program rules that will apply. Some airlines charge you a percentage of the cash price of a full-fare ticket, while others allow you to use a fraction of the miles of an adult ticket.
When Baby #2 gets a little older, we’ll need to use more miles and points to book flights and be careful with the size car we book. I gather it is pretty difficult to fit 4 people, 2 baby seats, and a few pieces of luggage in a Fiat 500!!!
Conclusion
Yes, traveling with a fourth person will be tougher than it is today. We have set rhythm and procedures as we prepare for our trips. You know what, we thought the same thing with Timmy…. but we’ve managed well and taken more amazing vacations than ever! The same will happen with Baby #2. In fact, as Timmy gets older, there will come a time when he will even be Mommy and Daddy’s big boy helper and make life a little easier than we imagined.
Ok, he may be 35 by the time that happens, but let’s not get caught up in the details!
All kidding aside, people travel with children all the time. Yes, it will be more challenging, but it will also be far more rewarding. Now, we’ll have 2 little brains to share the world with and encourage them to enjoy a life of travel that will broaden their minds, hearts, and souls. I’m looking forward to it!
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My family is an amazing one and my best time I have is the one spent with my kids. So, taking a vacation with my family is the most thing I love as all my day
time spent with them. But choosing the best destinations to travel is very difficult as every time I want to choose a newest one and a perfect one. but also the most difficult thing is choosing the hotel which is suitable for my family and its price is suitable for my budget. after many searches I found a very good site to book a hotel before traveling http://www.ireserveeasy.com there I found many discounts and offers and I can choose the best offer for me. Really Thank You. Also I found during my search a little site to guide the people and gives them traveling tips itravelblog.myauthoritysite.com
Congratulations! So excited for the 3 of you. I bet Timmy will be thrilled to be a big brother. Hugs.
Thanks Nikki! We’re truly excited… and a little nervous. Everything will work out great. I’ll just have to keep reminding myself of that when the baby’s crying at 3am. 🙂
Aw, congrats! Everything is initially 20x harder when you go from one to two, but the whole family eventually gets the hang of it. 🙂
And I didn’t know that about under 2 internationally. I guess that shows I haven’t taken mine out of the country yet… they do have passports, though!
Thanks! It’s still new to us, so the news hasn’t fully sunk in. Timmy has Global Entry for several months now, so he’s ready for international travel. He started international travel with our trip to Paris when he was 26 months old. We’ll get a Passport and Global Entry for Baby #2 when the time is right…. Just because you’re a parent, doesn’t mean you have to give up on travel! In fact, I say that travel with a child provides a much richer experience because they are so “in the moment” with everything they do… they don’t worry whether the house has caught fire, what bills have arrived while you’re gone, who’s feeding the dogs, etc.