Traveling with Baby - Success!

We took our first real "vacation" with Isabel, our 9-month-old, in early April. Joe and I have always said, both pre and post baby, that our goal is to be that couple that travels with kids. Fortunately, we were blessed with an easy going child, happily amused by a squeaking rubber giraffe and food. We also have become smart in our old age and took her pre-crawling, so carting around a baby with limited range of motion also added to our ease of travel. Otherwise, we'd probably still be sitting in Jersey, watching the travel channel in our bathing suits, drinking pre-mixed margaritas and remembering the glory days when we used to leave the house.

We decided on Turks and Caicos for multiple reasons. It's a relatively quick flight from NYC, so if Isabel really lost her mind on the plane, we'd suffer for under four hours. Manageable for us...not so much for the plane full of haters. We'd heard great things about Turk's restaurants and beaches, so that sold us too. And, as we discovered once we got there, apparantly every person vacationing in Turks and Caicos must be from NJ or NY, so it was our destiny. We were also deteremined to NOT be those people who rolled into a luxurious hotel with their screaming baby in tow while everyone else (minus screaming kids) tried to relax, so after a few recos from friends, we booked a family-friendly hotel and off we went!

Isabel was amazing on the flight to and from Turks. She was her cute, charming self, playing peek-a-boo with anyone who would look her way and coughing if someone didn't pay attention to her. I'm not sure where she gets this need to be the center of attention from??? My advice to new parents traveling with a baby for the first time...ask other seasoned parents for their best tips. My friend Cher learned to always book the window and aisle seat in hopes that the middle seat stayed empty. BINGO! We had a "free" seat for Isabel on both flights. I also packed a carry-on bag with her food, diapers and formula for the week, to avoid having Isabel's most important items sent to Tokyo instead of Turks and Caicos. My other advice...only conceive babies with strong men. Joe has big muscles and a big heart so he was willing to schlep around 432 bags like a pack mule for most of the week. He's also an amazing cabana boy/drink-getter for anyone hoping to rent him for their next trip. Dads rule!

Our vacation was amazing...warm weather, great food, nice accommodations. I actually read one whole book and a People Magazine, and we got some much needed wife/husband time too. Surprise...we do still like each other! Isabel also enjoyed her first tropical getaway, experiencing lots of other firsts in Turks too, such as first time on a plane, in a pool, in the ocean, in sand, eating sand, in a bathing suit (about 10 different ones throughout the week) and in a hotel. She also learned to go from her belly to sitting up, received her first passport stamp AND peed on Joe's leg while we sat at our hotel bar one night. We always pack our class wherever we might be.

Have no fear first time parents, babies can travel, parents can still enjoy a few vacation cocktails and you'll actually want to come home and get back to your routine by the end of the trip. It's a win/win for everyone! Oh, and also don't leave formula anywhere that normal people would put it while in a tropical location (aka, a kitchen cupboard). Carribbean bugs really love Similiac, particularly the Costco supersized tub. Happy trails!