Traveling Wadsburys

Sonya on a sled

Jason and I have sworn that we’re not going to be parents who end up staying home for the next five years. We’d like to start our kid on dinners out and traveling as soon as we can. Our motivation is to be able to continue to travel, but also to have a child who is comfortable in many situations. Since all of our family lives out of town, this will ensure good family contact as well.

I’m researching the author Laurie R. King for an interview I’m doing with her, and I just found this quote:

I’ve been to India twice, once as an undergraduate on a set tour, the other time for six months with my husband and daughter (when that Taj Mahal photo was taken). Perhaps the most interesting thing about the longer trip was traveling with a child. It’s a thing few people do (with reason — it’s hard work!) and as a result, the people who live there get a somewhat skewed idea of who and what Americans are. To see a Western family walking up the village street — mother, father and small blonde child — acts like an instant outstretched hand.

This may be an idea for diplomatic overtures to parts of the world with ambivalent feelings about the United States: offer free plane tickets to any family willing to take small children with them, and watch the amity grow.

Now I can add “bringing about world peace” to the list of benefits.

Yes, that’s a photo of me, on a sled, with kittens. I figured you could use it to get through your day.

  1. Seriously, you just do it, and they will be comfortable with it. Ol can sleep anywhere, and it’s so very nice! Go forth in to the world and your kid will love it.

  2. Kittens! Snowsuit! Sled!

    I endorse this plan of action, and would like to do the same, even though we have 0 kids now or in the works. I’d just like to get out of town more, and will use you + bebe as inspiration!

  3. We’re open to anyone who wants to come and visit, after month one. I’m reserving month one for learning how to be a parent. After that, I’ll have read the whole manual, and will be ready.

  4. We did this with our daughter from the get go. Car travel is more of an issue but when we visited relatives in Portland she enjoyed the flight and the food (in Portland, yay food).

  5. I think it’s a great idea. We used to take Sebastian everywhere as a baby, up until he was about two years old. After that (when Ollie was a few months old) it got much harder – Sebastian started becoming a lot les cooperative and it’s much more logistically complex to take two children out, for some reason.

    The furthest afield we’ve taken the two of them is to Melbourne, and that actually worked out pretty well. I’m not sure how long it’ll be before we get to travel anywhere now that we have four!?

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