When some friends learned my wife and I were having a baby, they were quick to warn: your window for travelling overseas is closing.
If you’re going to travel internationally, do it before your child starts to get too mobile. Go before he’s one.
We had a real zest for going to far-flung places before our son was born, and, like many parents-to-be, were yet to be mugged by the reality of parenting.
So we put this advice to the test. We wanted to find out: what is the truth of travelling with a young baby? Is it really enjoyable – or just ‘parenting on location’? And how can mums and dads do it better?
We travelled to two locations. One trip was short, sharp and close to Australia, both in terms of distance and culture: New Zealand’s North Island, home to the volcanic stink of Rotorua, the trendy streets of Ponsonby and the wind-blasted hills of Wellington.
The second trip was far from home – to Japan, a 10-hour flight away. It involved a change in season, a foreign language and a weeks-long itinerary. It was the quintessential big, overseas holiday – starting in Tokyo, literally the biggest city in the world – that wouldn’t have fazed us a couple of years ago.
One trip was a success… and the other was, on balance, a failure. This is what we learned.
The short and sharp trip: New Zealand
Three hours on a plane with a four-month-old? Survivable. After all, he slept for a lot of it. And when he wasn’t sleeping, he was often feeding.
That was the vibe of the whole trip. It wasn’t too challenging, in part because we made it easy on ourselves – and had a sleepy passenger.
Our kid detested the car so, aside from a taxi to and from Auckland’s airport, we avoided it.
Rather than roadtripping, we flew local Air New Zealand flights from Auckland to Rotorua and then onto Wellington. Think QantasLink or Rex-sized planes.
We explored Auckland on foot and on public transport – just as we were doing back in Sydney – armed with a travel pram.
It is possible to travel overseas with a small child – but is it fun?
We went on big walks to the park and to the trendy Ponsonby shopping strip up the road from our accommodation.
The furthest we went from our three home bases was a ferry trip to Waiheke Island – a renowned winery spot. The ferry ride was great – but there wasn’t a great deal to do on the island with an infant.
We stayed at well-equipped AirBnbs, grocery shopped at local supermarkets and cooked our meals at home.
Our sleep was already broken, and the quality of our son’s night-time sleep was basically the same as it was at home.
It helped that we kept to the Sydney timezone.
The trip was still trying at times – think poorly timed naps and tearful outbursts – and would not be for everyone. But it was a doable holiday – and a nice escape.
The longer trip: Japan
What do you do when your child is still breastfed but you’re holidaying in a country where it isn’t common for a woman to breastfeed in public?
In the case of Japan, you go looking for a parents’ room. But Japan is not Australia. Parents rooms are not everywhere.
They do exist, but are usually on, say, level 11 of an extremely busy (even claustrophobic) Tokyo shopping centre.
This was just one of the challenges of holidaying with a nine-month-old in Japan. There were many. So many, in fact, we ended up pulling the plug and coming home early.
Travelling around a metropolis like Tokyo (or New York, or London for that matter) is not easy at the best of times with the best of public transport systems. It is harder with a baby mostly in a pram.
Tokyo is the biggest city in the world, by some measurements. It is not easy to get around with a pram – even despite transport improvements for the Tokyo Olympics
Most Tokyo metro stations only had one lift to street level – and, for us, it was always on the opposite side of the station, hundreds of metres away.
That’s before you get to the daily commuter crushes and the language barrier – which made simple tasks such as looking for baby food difficult.
Our child’s sleep was also poorly affected by staying in different accommodation, which we did at least five times over two-and-a-half weeks.
And the Japanese have a different, much smaller idea of what a cot (known locally as a baby bed) looks like. A lot smaller than Australian standards.
We still had some nice experiences – including sleeping in a ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn; and seeing Mount Fuji.
And the eleven-hour flight was not anywhere near as punishing as we expected. We flew in the daytime, which prevented any witching hour meltdowns at the airport.
So would we do it again?
If I had a choice, I wouldn’t take as big a trip with a little one again. If you’re considering a trip overseas with a child – change your expectations.
It isn’t the same and won’t ever be. But it is different.
Do whatever you can to make overseas trips as logistically easy as possible – particularly when it comes to transport and very real barriers such as language and culture. Make it easy on yourself.
