So next week I will be taking the girls (aged two and three) by myself on a little road trip to Tasmania. Veggie Dad has some other travel to do, so it will just be the girls and me, boarding the Spirit of Tasmania for some work I’m doing with them, and getting to know the only state in Australia I’ve never visited. I am super-excited, because TRAVEL, and also slightly apprehensive because SOLO WITH KIDS.
In my oddball way of looking at the world, I keep thinking “how hard can it be? I live every day as the primary caregiver of a toddler and a preschooler, how much different is it going to be there than it is here?”. But having travelled with them fairly often already, I also know that there is a slightly-elevated level of stress, no matter how well-behaved they are, or how relaxed I am.
My usual response is “yeah, I might have a slighly elevated level of stress, but it’s a slightly elevated level of stress in Tasmania. On holiday“. I’d prefer that than to never go at all! And with all the travel we’ve ever done, I have to say, we’ve never had an issue with the kids. Not on planes, not in cars, not on road trips, not in hotel rooms. We pack, we go, we hang out, we come home, we unpack (two months later) and nobody raises an eyebrow. It could be sheer luck, it could be that my kids are lazy, it could be that we’ve happened to go in stages where they weren’t too much hassle, or it could just be that we’re raising good travellers. I’ve no idea. Probably a bit of all of that. And wine. And iPads.
But that was definitely when there were two adults and either one or two kids (or one adult and one kid, which, now that I’m a parent of two feels like a holiday in itself), not outnumbered skinny little me, against two loud and energetic children who are a combination of slightly too fast for me to catch, and slightly too heavy to carry more than a metre.
We’ll be taking the ferry overnight there and back, and driving around during the day, stopping each night to stay somewhere. We’ve done a seven-day road trip before around the south island of New Zealand, and it was a breeze. I’m going to go with the headspace that this will be a breeze too! I’ve got a healthy playlist of audiobooks (Stephen Fry reading the short stories of Oscar Wilde is a favourite), music that doesn’t make me want to scream (i.e. Wiggles: NO, Playschool: YES), I’ve nailed the snack department, and I’ve loaded the iPad with plenty of Care Bears and Dora. There will be much looking out of windows, much getting out and running around, and many memories made.
Do you travel with kids?
This summer I took a two week road trip from Ontario to the tip of the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia and back, just me and my 5-year-old daughter. It was WONDERFUL and actually much easier than I ever thought. Highly recommended 😀
oh my gosh, the thought of a road trip with ONE five year old sounds like heaven! What fun! Like Thelma and Louise, but not. Imagine the memories she would have from that!
Yes! Someone else on the Wiggles NO, Playschool YES wavelength! I’ve only travelled once with one of my kids-to Sydney from Brisbane when my daughter was about 15 months old. She was great, but in saying that, the plane flight wasn’t very long and we were staying with family. I was so nervous and so prepared-iPad loaded with Playschool and Sesame Street episodes, a multitude of snacks and toys, however, didn’t have to resort to any kind of bribery/distraction as she slept the whole way!
hahah that’s happened to me too! Smalls is good at sleeping on planes, Bigs not so much. But she’s much older now that stickers and books and colouring will entertain her, which is good. They were both so small up until now that ipads and food (and boob) were the only way! Sometimes kids really surprise us, huh x
Oh Stacey, I do and I wish mine were as straightforward as yours sound. I often travel alone with my four, one’s got ASD and one’s got ADHD and they’re not great travellers. But I am so desperate to get on the road that we just go! Our recent foray to North Queensland was the best trip we’ve ever done, not a holiday for Mum as such, but a change is as good as a rest! My teens are quite independent now and that helps.
Anyway, with mine I’d never change accom every night, but it sounds like you are all prepared, the stories and the snacks are key… and it’s Tassie in springtime. I do envy you the ferry trip, I’d love to do that.
I admire your gumption to get out there anyway! I bet they are grateful for your adventurous spirit. The thought of packing all the time does make me want to cry, but they were so good in NZ, where it was a different hotel each night for a week, that I’m holding on to that memory to remind me we might just make it. Gosh you’re a good egg, Seana x
Would love to do a Tassie trip. Haven’t been there either and it seems silly to have never been when it’s relatively close.Will be keen to hear how travelling on the Spirit of Tasmania goes.
Well I hope to be sleeping most of the time PLEASE GODS OF SLEEP LET ME SLEEP
Have you ever listened to the album Rewiggled? https://shop.abc.net.au/products/rewiggled-a-tribute-to-the-wiggles
It’s Australian artists covering wiggles songs and it’s pretty awesome!
I haven’t, I’ll have to check it out!
How hard can it be? …. http://www.maybediaries.com/2014/09/this-is-why-you-should-never-fly-with.html
You are welcome for the warning
hahaha oh my goodness, I laughed so hard! I have been spewed on, once on the plane stairs (thanks Tokyo gastro!) and once when smalls was small, and in a sling. Nothing like sling spew, eh?
It is a special kind of hell.
Hope you have an awesome spew free time, and make sure you take lots of snaps! (I have to travel vicariously these days)
Oh I will assault your eyes with so many photos. Not of vomit, tho.
Granted it was only one kid, but C and I did so well when we went to NYC together.
It was actually great.
It was almost like he knew it was just the two of us against the city and other than a little jet lag (which was easily managed with Peppa Pig on the iPad) he was a dream child.
And I of course was a dream mother!
One tip for solo road trips…take the head rest off the passenger front seat so the little ones can see out of the front of the car.
Enjoy!
Is it wrong to tell you I’ve already taken mine off because my pony tail gets in the way?
That is such a good suggestion!
I love your attitude so much. Even if it all goes to hell I’m sure you’ll just go with the flow and get back on track the next day.
I’ll be roadtripping back to Sydney from Melbourne on my own after Chrissy, but that will only be a few days assuming we break the trip up a bit. I’m expecting it to be quite fun actually. I won’t have hubster, but I also won’t have time pressures. We can just tootle along.
Ha, that’s exactly my attitude! I think it’s the least stressful one to have, and I’m all about a stress-free zone. I love the tootling! I really enjoy a bit of a road trip, I bet you guys will have a ball.
Tassie’s my home state! It’s beautiful, you’ll love it. We’ve done a bunch of traveling with the kids, recently did a 16 hour driving trip. I was panicked. They were awesome. Minus some in-car puking. For the past couple of years I’ve gone solo with the girls in Sydney while hubby has to work, and I find they’re actually better behaved when we’re on our own. Because Party Dad. No pulling shit with Mama.
hahahah oh the puke! We’ve definitely had car puke. I’m taking lots of changes of clothes with this one…
Oh the puke! My eldest boy was 8 and carpuked from Kent to the Scottish border. We had to stop all travel for 4 days to recover. When I returned the hire car it stank and I crept away, crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t get an excess cleaning bill, and luckily we didn’t
I’ve just stocked up on Febreze. It will probably kill all our brain cells and healthy lungs but at least we won’t smell vomit all day every day all week haha
I travelled solo with my kids when they were little and still do. Sometimes (apart from trying to handle tickets, cash and two little hands) it’s easier for me, in the way that dinner’s easier when my other half (whom I dearly love) isn’t home. The only thing I nearly did which freaked me out when the boys were 3 and 8, is not realise I was at Ashford, Kent railway station when we caught the train through the chunnel. We had our shoes off, a board game out, food and drinks out, I was yakking to a mum from the Gold Coast. Talk about scramble. And the REALLY bad thing I did was pop the kids on the platform with all the junk and then go back for the luggage. There was a millisecond where I went “Oh My God what if the train takes off?” Thank goodness it didn’t, though I still feel a stab of fear and guilt when I recall it and it was 7 years ago.
Enjoy your trip Stacey x
oh you poor thing! I have a similar experience but it involved a self-locking hotel room door…
Oh I can just imagine! x
Hey Stacey. So fun! You can try downloading our super awesome and not shite music for kids to listen to while you drive thequincys.com…maybe your girls will like it. x
eeee thank you!
You will be fine. Go with a positive head space. Take lots of clothes, nappies and wipes. You’ve got your iPads and music. You’re as prepared as can be… Maybe take some ginger gummy Bears for sea sickness.
I don’t go anywhere without a positive head space. And wipes 😉
Hey, Veggie Mama!
We had a great time too! mucho bonding 😀