We’re Kickin’ It Overseas on our First International Trip with a Toddler!
The infamous shoe picture. You can guarantee that we are doing something for the first time as a family when we wear matching kicks. This time around, we did something SUPER new for our family and that is going on an international trip with a toddler.
I wanted to take you all along for the ride because 1) I haven’t checked in with my family in a long time and 2) I wanted to record my thoughts in real-time. I’ll save reflection for the end, but these memories have GOT to be captured!
I asked you what you would you like to know about our trip and you all asked some great questions! This first post will serve as an introductory (will house the links to subsequent posts related to this trip) and discuss how and what we packed.
The Itinerary
So, where do you go for your first international trip with a toddler? Anywhere, really! We decided to do a mini tour which included the following stops:
Reykjavik, Iceland
Paris, France
Amsterdam, Netherlands
You can click on the links for the details on each location (check back for additions).
What We Wore to the Airport
What you wear to the airport will determine how much or how little you will have to pack. We always wear our heaviest and bulkier items when traveling. Why? So we won’t have to bog down our luggage with them. They take up less space when on the body and can easily be removed if we get too hot. I also wore Scout in my Ergobaby 360. You can check out more about baby wearing here.
Since our first stop was in Iceland, we made sure to dress appropriate for the weather (36 degrees Fahrenheit).
I wore a pair of leggings underneath a pair of stretchy jeans, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, a pair of long socks, and my winter coat. Mark wore pretty much the same thing, but Nike tech pants instead of jeans (no leggings underneath). Scout wore a onesie and leggings under a little Nike outfit with a pair of socks and her winter coat.
Clearly, we all wore the same shoes.
One Carry on and a Personal Bag
Mark and I only packed and brought one carry-on and personal bag each. That’s four bags in total. That’s it.
We wanted to pack as light as possible while flying overseas and before Scout, Mark and I would only bring a carry-on and a personal item. This trip was no different. Since we didn’t purchase a seat on the plane for Scout, she wasn’t allowed baggage (to be expected). We didn’t want to deal with a car seat or stroller, so we omitted those from the trip and planned ahead so that we knew how to navigate each city without those items.
In addition to what we wore, we packed wardrobe essentials that could easily be mixed and matched. Looking back, we could have packed even lighter because we definitely recycled pieces during the trip! If you’re worried about washing while overseas, bring your own detergent (powder is the best form) and book places to stay that have washing machines. If you can’t find a place with a washing machine, use the sink or tub and let your items air dry (make sure to bring a pair of gloves to protect your hands during washing).
The Purple Roller Luggage
Mix and match, and wear things more than once like you would in real life! That’s my motto when we are traveling abroad.
Our roller luggage contained my clothes which consisted of:
- one pair of black boots
- two pairs of jeans
- a jumpsuit
- one long sleeve shirt
- a turtleneck
- two button up shirts (long sleeve)
- a sweatshirt
- one sweater
- a blazer
- underwear
- socks
- two pair of tights
- makeup bag
- satin pillowcase
- toiletries
This bag also housed my daughter’s clothes. We brought a lot of options for her that were good for mixing and matching since we never know what bottom we might be wearing after a diaper change or spilling accident (she’s 20 months old). Her essentials included:
- two dresses
- four pairs of legging style pants
- two sweaters
- three onesies
- two long sleeve shirts
- a pair of sneakers
- two pairs of jeans
- one athletic outfit
- socks
- a pair of boots
The Black Duffel Bag
The duffel bag housed Mark’s clothes:
- three pairs of jeans
- one sweater
- three button up shirts
- undershirts
- underwear
- socks
- toiletries bag
With the additional space, we packed Scout’s cloth diapers (we brought 20 in total, including covers and four diaper bags).
The Brown Book Bag
The book bag was designed to be an easy grab of essentials for us, partially functioning as a diaper bag (we also included our diaper bag clutch inside along with a few cloth diapers), but mainly functioning as a place to store our on-flight entertainment.
For entertainment, we brought:
- four reading books for Scout
- a coloring book
- four crayons
- an activity book
- two reading books for me
- my laptop
- batteries/chargers/converters for all devices
Most of this we didn’t even use because we slept… a lot.
The Blue Duffel Bag
This bag was full of snacks on snacks on snacks. Also packed inside was my purse, reusable water bottles, documentation, cold weather accessories (hats, scarves, gloves) and headphones.
Not having to check in a bag kept us accountable for all of our items, allowed us to move quickly in and out of the airport (no waiting for bags at customs), and we didn’t feel overwhelmed with “stuff”. With our four bags in tow, we were ready to vacation like champs!
Since this post is long enough, I’ll answer more questions in posts to follow. As a head’s up, we stayed only in AirBnB’s for the entire trip. Would like to know more about that process? Let me know in the comments below!
