Searching through our cruise app for the events of the day immediately stressed me out.
Not because there was nothing to do, but because so many of the things I wanted to do felt out of reach based on our toddler’s routine.
I’ll be the first to admit I prioritize routine and structure more than the average person. (Hello, I am Type A!) You may be saying, “Vacation is for mixing things up! Try something new! Live a little!” And yes, I hear that. But also…if we skip naptime, it makes the entire day absolutely miserable. Even though fireworks are at 10 PM, we will not be doing them, because we will all be asleep by then. (Okay, I snuck out for them, but regretted it the next morning at 5:30 AM when my toddler let us know IT’S MORNING! TIME TO GET BREAKFAST WITH MICKEY!”)
Pirate night straight up the best night of any Disney cruise.
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Miss Adventure on Travel with Toddlers
So when I reached out to Mike and Jess from Miss Adventure, I expected them to say some variety of flexibility and adaptability as important. Imagine my surprise that even though they’re on the road most of the year, they keep Miss Adventure (3)’s routine as similar as possible. It’s not always a given, when you’re traveling—there are going to be times where you just have to roll with it when flights get delayed or restaurants open late—but what they’ve learned over months of travel is that the more you can hold routine the same, the better the rest of the trip is.
Read on for Miss Adventure’s advice as regular travelers with their toddler:1
Do you travel often? What’s your travel “style” before and after kids?
We try to travel as often as possible, and because of our home base in Australia being so far removed from the rest of the world, we often try to travel for longer periods of time.
Prior to Miss Adventures’ arrival, we were both keen travelers, doing long backpacking stints on the road. Now with a little one in tow, our style is budget-conscious family travel. Our aim is to have an abbreviated living experience in different countries by trying to get the ‘local’ feel through staying longer. There is now a lot more pre-planning and organization surrounding trips to what we used to do for sure!
Since you’re on the road a lot, I’m wondering how you keep a routine with your toddler, or if you don’t?
Our philosophy with traveling is that we’re just transplanting our lives to another location and doing our best to fit in with the culture. We’ve honestly been pretty stringent with keeping a routine for Miss Adventure, especially when it comes to nap times or sleep.
This consideration is usually worked out in our more in-depth pre-planning. For example, if we’re transiting between destinations, we have been opting to do this during Miss Adventures naptime. It can get a little tricky when we get to Italy and restaurants aren’t opening for dinner until right-on Miss Adventures bedtime, but we learn to adapt.
You’ve have been so many places. I’m curious how you pick your destinations and vet them as family-friendly or not?
We were travelers before we became parents, so we had been around the world and experienced a bunch of places/cultures without a child to get an idea of what they were like. With Miss Adventure now along for the ride, we have been working our way through a list of destinations that we wanted to travel to and let our own confidence dictate whether or not we feel like we will be able to travel to certain places comfortably.
What is your biggest piece of advice for traveling with babies?
Get out there and do it! This is a very “easy” time to travel with a little one and it is such a unique period that goes by so quickly. The experience that you have when your child is a baby will be so different from what is to come as they grow older.
Additionally, it’s easy to buy baby supplies almost anywhere, so this isn’t something that should hold you back, but it’s worth bringing a good, sturdy travel stroller with you.
What about toddlers?
Development really kicks off with a toddler, so it can be tricky. During your toddler years, you’ll get the most out of your trip if you plan to do things that you know they will enjoy and are within their capabilities. As their parents, you know what works best for your kid, so let their personality inform your trip.
For example, we discovered Miss Adventure gets carsick, so we try to move between places during her naptime, so she can sleep on those windy mountain roads.
The best place to travel with toddlers is…
We couldn’t decide on one between the three of us, so here’s our top 3:
- Puglia: Amazing beaches with perfect shallow entries for young kids who are building their beach confidence.
- Budapest: A hip and vibrant city that has some of the best playgrounds we have ever been to.
- Bali: An incredible hospitality culture that makes traveling as a family so easy.
The pieces of gear Miss Adventure never leaves home without…
Jess: These anti-pressure earplugs I use on every flight.
Mike: My Leica camera. Photos are even more special now that Miss Adventure is with us.
Miss Adventure: Bluetooth kid’s headphones for stories, games, and screen time that doesn’t disturb other passengers.
What’s your best travel memory with Miss Adventure so far?
When Miss Adventure was a baby, one amazing memory was the moment we made it to Europe to begin our first international trip as a family. It was a real full-circle moment for us and it was so special. It’s kicked off so many incredible trips around the world with Miss Adventure! 🌎
Thank you, Mike and Jess! I think there’s this idea that vacation means throwing your routine out the window, and I love that you stick to naptime and bedtime as much as you can with a toddler—that’s my philosophy too. It definitely limits certain activities, but it also limits the meltdowns we have to deal with, and that’s 10000% worth it.
Thanks for being here.
I get very caught up in our routine, honestly. Probably too caught up. I remember chatting with another Mom at swim lessons about an upcoming Disney trip and her plan to do Extended Evening Theme Park Hours with her toddler, and I looked at her like she had three heads. “If they stay up late, they’ll just sleep in the next morning,” she said, and I believed her.
That is not our story, and that’s okay. We haven’t seen a single nighttime parade or fireworks or late-night concert yet, and that’s okay too. I know soon enough I’ll be shuttling them to late-night soccer practice or after-dinner playdates with friends and wondering where the time went.
Travel is designed to get you outside your comfort zone, and that’s exactly why I prioritize it with my toddler. I think, though, that exposing them to new people, new places, new foods, and new activities is enough—we can keep bedtime the same. Or maybe it’s just that I’m tired and I want to go to sleep.
Zzzzzz,
Kayla
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