Down Under Travels With a Teething Infant

Hannah and Mama in Auckland's Vulcan Lane

I haven't blogged in a while.  Because I've been on a Girls' Trip with Baby H and my mom in Auckland.  Like, New Zealand.  I'm actually kind of amazed that I pulled that one off, and I still have some non-gray hair, and I'm not completely crazy.  

Baby H had some serious separation anxiety, which was kind of tough to deal with.  I couldn't leave her with my mom at all, really.  So we were pretty much attached at the hip.  She also only napped when I walked her around in her stroller, so we went on a bunch of really long walks.  I've heard people talk about needing a vacation after their vacation, and now I finally understand it.  I'm exhausted.

But, I managed to get through two 12 hour flights, jetlag, and travels by ferry with my girl, and I'm not too much worse for wear.  All in all, I call that a success.

I managed to learn a ton about how to travel long distances with her (you really don't need as much as you think you need, and packing too much is a serious pain in the ass.  Oh, and you won't get a chance to read those magazines you put on your ipad, so seriously, just leave it at home) which I think will be really useful when we go away to NYC and Sweden this summer.  I just learned it all the super hard way - like getting thrown in at the deep end.

Hannah is thrilled to be back home, and I'm thrilled to be able to have a moment to breathe again.  At some point I'm going to collect all my thoughts into a Compendium of Infant Travel.  I'd read a lot of different information on long haul travel with babies.  Some of it was useful.  Some was less so.  So I'm going to write down what worked for us.  As soon as I get some more sleep...