Travelling around the world has become a great "hobby" for us, as it is for many other people in the world.
Exploring different cultures and landscapes, escaping from everyday life is something that we love doing. And it has become affordable, because flights aren't as expensive as they used to be; accommodation is cheap if you are ok with basics or with sharing.
I gave birth to my son in June 2016 and he has many stamps in his passport.
We went to some places in Europe, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Scottland, Switzerland. Outside Europe we travelled to Indonesia (Bali), Sri Lanka, South Africa.
As my husband and I are both surfers, waves were always the focus of our choices.
But of course - travelling with a baby means more responsibility and more preparation. We avoided regions of malaria and dengue and wanted to avoid any other risks, such as high crime rate.
In the following I want to give some general information and advice for travelling with a baby. My future posts will focus on individual journeys we have made. Here are some impressions of our experiences.
Feel free to comment on my posts. I'm new here and I'm still trying to find my style here.
Travelling with a baby - Top 5 things to know
- Destination: Even if some people think that babies shouldn't travel too far away, we've made the experience that your baby is happy when you are happy. Choose a place you want to go, check the website of the national embassy to learn more about risks (diseases, crime, environmental disasters,...) and entry requirements (passport, visa, ...)
- Vaccinations: Babies in Germany get immunisations to protect from diseases like tetanus, measels, mumps and rubella. It's important to check if any vaccinations are necessary and do this on time. Some of them need more than one injection and it takes time to get the full immunisation.
- Birth certificate and travel permit: If only one parent wants to travel with the child, make sure you have a special travel authorisation and the baby's passport with you. Border officials may ask for extra permission to be sure that both parents agree. Usually a self-written text with your signature and a copy from your partner's passport is enough. They want to avoid that one parent would emigrate without knowledge. An international birth certificate may be useful for border controls. Some countries, e.g. South Africa, require an international birth certificate and the airline wants to see it before you bord the airplane.
- Mosquito repellent: In some countries it's helpful to have mosquito repellent. Make sure to have age-appropriate products if you use DEET, or that you use natural alternatives!.
- Less is more: Dependent on what you want to do on your journey, make sure you don't bring too much stuff and avoid carrying heavy bags. Your baby will be happy to play with things you find outside. Don't bring too many toys!! Be creative and show your baby the environment. Playing with stones, sand and sticks can be so much fun. Our son has a really small backpack for kids. We never take more toys than those that fit into his bag: Some little books; Pixies are perfect!), some crayons, a few sand toys (if at all, because your hands can build a sand castle as well) and - because my son just loves them and plays with them every day - three of his favorite little cars.
Also, ne never used a stroller. We preferred a baby carrier. Imagine, you don't want to carry a stroller and your baby at the beach, in the mountains or in cities with lots of stair steps (e.g. Lisbon).
I'll write some more detailed texts about each journey soon. Hope you enjoyed reading my first post and that it'll help you to plan your next trip!
