Last summer, we made the trip back down to California to introduce my then 11 month-old son to family. The journey was later than we had hoped but COVID changed our plans and kept us in Canada for 18 months. I was admittedly nervous about airline travel again and had no idea what to expect with a baby thrown in the mix. Luckily, our little guy really enjoyed it.
Our son, already such a helpful traveller.
He loved looking at all of the different machines in the airport. He loved smiling at people on the plane and playing with the actual seat itself. Spoiler alert: he broke the seat.
The people around us might not have felt equally excited, but when flying with kids, it’s best not to care about what I can’t control. For me, I still managed to stay on track with training for my first race after giving birth (Check out the race write up here) too. Lots of wins for the whole family. I’m not claiming to be an expert, but I did find the following helpful:
Travel
We tried to line-up my son’s naps with the actual plane ride which worked out pretty well. For plane rides longer than a few hours I will buy baby his own seat. I know there is a ton of excitement surrounding kids flying for free until the age of two but it was a bit tough to have him on my lap the entire time. From what I hear, it’s totally a personal preference.
I brought a breast feeding pillow for him to lay on in my lap and a sleep sack to let him know it was bed time. When we boarded the plane I did a similar routine to what we do at home with a warm bottle and bedtime book. He wiggled for while but as the sleep pressure built up he couldn’t resist that comfy snooze.
What we learned from the first flight:
Bring loads of different snacks
Bring a few inexpensive new toys to try and hold his attention
Buy earmuffs to block out pesky cabin noise (we found ours on Amazon)
Be flexible. Traveling is challenging at the best of times.
The Lululemon pants with pockets combined with a little hip pack helped me keep the phone and wallet easily accessible without little hands causing trouble.
This funny little tent made sure our baby slept super well on the trip! All hail SlumberPod.
Although we felt like we were moving house, we actually managed to order or borrow much of what we needed and have it sent ahead. We had diapers, snacks, an inexpensive bottle warmer and formula ready to use when we arrived. Totally worth it.
Our travel must-haves:
SlumberPod - Makes any room dark and cozy for our little one
Basic Pack and Play - Sourced locally to avoid carrying it on our plane journey. We did bring our own sheet to make it smell familiar
High chair that clips to a table - On loan to us but I would absolutely buy one. They are soft and easily packable
Thule Urban Glide 2 Stroller - Folds down like a charm at the gate or getting into a car
Carrier or backpack to get around - Because babies are heavy.
Baby monitor that does not require Wifi - Surprisingly, a strong or usable Wifi signal isn’t always available. We got caught out with our Nest Cam and had to get one that operates on radio frequency instead.
The Harmon family: Buzzing from adventure and sunshine.
Training
Once we arrived the logistics of enjoying time with family, making sure baby was happy and getting training in began. In the past, I’ve been terrible about being flexible. However, being a parent has taught me to try and accept what I can’t control. It took time, but I’ve discovered how to make space to train again as a new mom. More specifically, swimming, biking, running, and building strength. A few things that helped me stay on track while in California were:
Tacky dirt and a short travel XC bike made for a near perfect set of rides in California.
Doing my best to plan ahead. I sourced bikes, found access to a pool and mapped running/riding routes long before we started the journey. I kept key workouts short and sharp to ensure I was getting time with family and our baby. When every minute counts, being able to lace up and go straight from our accommodation added more volume and quality. I used Google Earth, Strava 3D Terrain Heat Maps, TrailForks and local tourism websites to find some very cool places to ride and run right from where we were staying. Mapping was also helpful to find short local walks and hikes to do as a family.
Don’t get bogged down in the differences. Traveling with everything baby needs means some of my equipment doesn’t get to come. Being time efficient means I can’t forgo family time (or sleep) to drive to a pool or trail that’s 30 minutes away. Time to get creative. I found a nearby outdoor community pool on Google Maps. I then used Google Earth to measure the length of the pool. It was ten meters long (yikes). After my son went to bed, I went out and put 1400-1600 meter sessions in that tiny pool. I was a bit dizzy but had a zillion chances to perfect my tumble turn.
Give family and friends a chance to bond with baby and GO. Sometimes I waffle about going out to train in hopes that maybe a better opportunity later in the day will surface. It’s hard, but at the first chance or when it will reliably put the least amount of pressure on my loved ones (like after baby goes to bed), I had to just get up and go.
It’s a tricky feeling. I wanted to be in all the places at once. The solution, if my family wanted as much time as possible with my son, it was actually best to give them some space to get to know him without me around. Everyone wins.
Rediscovering nearby natural wonders with family.
Be flexible but accountable. I moved workouts around to suit our itinerary. If a pool wasn’t an option at a certain point in the trip I would run instead. If I needed to stay at home because my husband wanted to get outside, I would do a strength workout with a couple of Therabands and yoga mat. If a ride turns into a family ride, I embraced it. And if there’s a rest day in there, I enjoyed the hell out of it.
Soaking up that mid-summer sunshine on the trails of Occidental.
There’s one caveat:
Training on the day of travel often takes away from the reserves I needed to get through that hectic day. See my article about training stress here. Give yourself a pass or consider doing it at the end of the day if there’s still some energy in the tank. As someone that usually would go the extra mile to train every single day, this was hard to let go of but it’s worth it to be on my A-game for looking after the little one.
Checking out the neighbours.
Let’s face it, we’re all pressed for time as parents. Add in traveling and sprinkle on the need to train on top of that? It’s a pretty hectic experience. But if you love all of these things like I do, you’ll make the space for each part in your life. Our visit home to California was pure magic and we wouldn’t change it for the world. Even if we had to learn a few things about traveling with a little one the hard way.
If you have tips or tricks for training or traveling with kids, leave them in the comments!
