Has anyone been travelling with a LO?

[NiknLily]

Hi

Without going into to much detail at present.  We are planning to travel around europe for several months in a campervan.  So I was wondering have any of you been travelling with a LO?

Where did you go? how long for? do's, don'ts, did you find local work along the way, must have travel items, what did you take for your LO and how old where thaty at time... any experiences at all that you can share with me would be terrific.

tia 

[Jaime]

there are some good ideas here:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=127529.0

we took J on her first road trip when she was 13 months old, but that was just a 12-hr (one way) trip to the grandparents.

we did a 2 week trip 2 years ago (so J was 4 & L was 2.5), and did a 3 week trip last summer (J was 5 & L was 3.5).  no campervan, though, just our SUV. 

and, since this is better suited to the Activity board, i'm also going to pop it over there. 

[~Karen~]

We're currently traveling in the States with a 3 yo and a 20 month old for 7 months.

We've mostly been staying with family but have spent time in hotels too.  It's mostly been fun.  Sleeping issues with ds have been a bit of an issue but he's not the best of sleeper anyway.  DD has been fine though.

We have a dvd player on the back of each headset and this has been a life saver!!

[elliesmama]

We travel all the time with dd1.  Haven't done it with dd2 yet...we're still recovering.  I will say that EASY for dd1 is a lifesaver on the road.  She can sleep anywhere and through anything.  We're musicians, and so we often put her to sleep with a monitor in a back room where we're playing and she goes down no problem.  In the car, she's starting to get a little more vocal about not wanting to be strapped in for so long...who can blame her.  The dvd player is great...as is kids cds.

also, we've found that on longer trips having a day where we do something special just for her is a great thing...like a zoo or aquarium or something like that. 
you can do it!  good luck!

[NiknLily]

Thanks ladies, well we have made the descision and we are selling up and going for it.  Heres a link to my new post needing some vibes to help sell the house as quickly as possible, which could be a big ask in the current market!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=153077.0

[Deb_in_oz]

i will keep an eye on this thread as dh and i are in the midst of planning - he gets "long service leave" here as he has been with his company a long time - entitled to 2 months paid leave so far (and gets another month in nov 2010 or 2011 can't remember) + 4 weeks paid annual leave each year.  we were supposed to go overseas this year but with the economy we put it on hold (layoffs happening etc and did not want to be away for that).  so the plan is to take the kids out of school next year for May -Aug for 3 months dates depending on flight prices...so we go for the Northern summer.  We will be going to England, Wales, France (ILs just retired to Brittany), Spain (BIL and his wife live there) and Italy with a possible ferry across to Morocco if i convince dh.

dh read about hiring a car in France so we will fly into Paris to start the trip - you can lease a car in France (even as a foreigner) for a great rate, drive all over europe and return it anywhere in France. They are all recent cars (no more than a few years old)

we will bring DVD player i think.  we will be staying with family and friends most of the time and will mostly need to research options in Italy, Morocco and Paris (using ILs as base for rest)

mine will be older than yours but i will bring similar things that i posted on the thread Jaime linked to. i will also probably shop at markets in each country for local handmade or second hand stuff to entertain the kids and keep as souveniers.  look at gift shops near/at the touristy things we visit (ie colouring book from museum in paris would be cool or kids game in spanish from stay in Spain and teach them some spanish words...)

good luck - please post back when you know more of where you are going