international trip w/ a 2.5 year old?

[Deleted]

Hi all - I am mostly a dirty lurker but am making an effort to post more!! Thanks in advance...

DH and I are talking about our "big" trip for 2015. We try to do an international trip every other year but with the arrival of DS last year we didn't go on one this year (last one was France and Switzerland in 2012). Kicking around ideas and would love your feedback. DS will be 2.5, has traveled domestically several times already and is a pretty easy going kid. 

We'll probably go next fall for 2-2.5 weeks. Coming from the West Coast. We're both pretty well traveled to the stereotypical places and have hit all the major western European countries, a lot of the US/Caribbean, some Asia (DH - Japan), some Middle East (me = Israel). Currently, we're talking about Germany/Austria (DH really wants to go to Oktoberfest), Thailand, Greece/Turkey, Vietnam, Argentina. I am scared to death of the time change and jet lag but figure we'll just deal with it. We're more into slow travel and would prefer to pick 2-3 places w/in a country and stay put for several days at a time. DH has also talked about renting a motor home in Germany/Austria (but unclear on whether we can bring a car seat?). We like culture, food, history, architecture, out of the way and unexpected experiences, and avoiding (most) major tourist clusterf*cks.

I know how I would go about planning these trips pre kid but now a toddler in the mix... I have no idea! Tips? Tricks? Must dos / avoids? Which place would you go and why? Any other place I should consider that isn't on our radar?

[frlcb]

I would go any place you want to go to! We have been traveling overseas with both of mine since they were born, and we choose based on where we want to go and then figure out what to do with them that they would like. I think my kids recover from jet lag way easier than we do, but we are pretty go with the flow with them.

[muppetinma]

What specifically does he want to get out of the Oktoberfest experience and how would that translate into life with a toddler? That would be my only concern. I know my husband always has these grand plans, but doesn't take into account that we have a child. I believe that most things are easy to do with a kid, but if he wants to drink beer and fraternize with the locals, maybe this year isn't the right time.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 17:21:34 GMT -5 muppetinma said:

What specifically does he want to get out of the Oktoberfest experience and how would that translate into life with a toddler? That would be my only concern. I know my husband always has these grand plans, but doesn't take into account that we have a child. I believe that most things are easy to do with a kid, but if he wants to drink beer and fraternize with the locals, maybe this year isn't the right time.

That's a good question! I think he mostly just wants to go. He says that he doesn't want to stay more than a day. 

[frlcb]

There are family activities at Oktoberfest - it is like a carnival. Every Tuesday is "Oktoberfest Family Day" (it may change every year, I don't know) with discounted rides. I think that kids under 6 have to leave the tents by 8 pm, but there are definitely family friendly events.

[Brit]

I would just pick where you want to go and then adapt your trip to a toddler. My DD is 2.5 and we have taken her a lot of places. We took her to Phuket, Thailand in May and that went really well. Some places have been more challenging than others (carrying her through Petra was no picnic - I wouldn't change it either though). There is almost no place that we consider off limits for toddler travel though.

[pittpurple]

I agree with everyone, there are toddlers all over the world so everywhere is toddler friendly really! We have taken our daughter to beijing, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and geneva so far and have been back and forth to the states (we live overseas) maybe 7 times by now. We have had a few bad experiences with jetlag but if you just plan easy days for the first few days it's all fine.

I actually think the moving around is the hard part so I'd even consider 1-2 places and renting an apartment. It's really, really nice to have a kitchen with a kid around and some space so you can hang out after he's in bed.

The only place I've been that I thought would be hard was Venice since there are so many stairs. I would say pick where you want to go and then we can help you think through the trip.

[muppetinma]

Sept 4, 2014 17:45:31 GMT -5 frlcb said:

There are family activities at Oktoberfest - it is like a carnival. Every Tuesday is "Oktoberfest Family Day" (it may change every year, I don't know) with discounted rides. I think that kids under 6 have to leave the tents by 8 pm, but there are definitely family friendly events.

I'm sure it's very toddler friendly.  It just might not be the kind of trip that he envisioned.  If he wanted to hit up Oktoberfest for primarily adult reasons, it might be better to put off that trip until they can go without the little one.  

I mean, can you take a toddler to Vegas?  Absolutely!  There is a ton to see and do!  But if somebody says "I'd love to go to Vegas," it's likely that they're interested in gambling, drinking, and other adult-oriented activities.  I'm not suggesting that they don't go with a toddler.  I'm merely suggesting that they make sure to get the experience they want if they're going to spend time and money on the trip.  

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 21:44:54 GMT -5 Brit said:

I would just pick where you want to go and then adapt your trip to a toddler. My DD is 2.5 and we have taken her a lot of places. We took her to Phuket, Thailand in May and that went really well. Some places have been more challenging than others (carrying her through Petra was no picnic - I wouldn't change it either though). There is almost no place that we consider off limits for toddler travel though.

Can you tell me more about your trip to Thailand? This is where I really want to go but DH is convinced we need to wait until DS is older. I've never been to that area of the world and would have no idea where to start planning. Do you have any resources you'd recommend? 

[emilyinchile]

I have no kid tips, but Argentina would be very little time change/jet lag. Meals tend to be late there, which isn't as kid-friendly, but otherwise culturally it would be a pretty easy place to go with a toddler as people tend to be relaxed about kids acting like kids in public and often will let you cut in lines.

[Mushe]

I would go wherever you want, but just be prepared to take it slower than before, and create a prioritized list of what you want to see. We took our 22ish month old to Europe for about a month, and it went surprisingly well.

The big thing we did not do that we'll do next time is to take the easiest route there, even if it costs a lot more (layovers killed us), and to take more time at the beginning to adjust to time. He was just finally adjusting when it was time to leave Barcelona.

When we got to a new city, we made sure we had the same priority list, and scouted the local parks, then went on our way.

[orval]

We took our 3.5 year old to Oktoberfest. he had a great time. Plenty of toddler friendly food, rides, games. We got there early and didn't stay super late. If I remember correctly, we were not allowed to bring in our stroller - but I would look further into the family day.
We also went to Prague on the same trip. It was great!

[Brit]

Sept 5, 2014 11:58:03 GMT -5 @akswartz85 said:

Sept 4, 2014 21:44:54 GMT -5 Brit said:

I would just pick where you want to go and then adapt your trip to a toddler. My DD is 2.5 and we have taken her a lot of places. We took her to Phuket, Thailand in May and that went really well. Some places have been more challenging than others (carrying her through Petra was no picnic - I wouldn't change it either though). There is almost no place that we consider off limits for toddler travel though.

Can you tell me more about your trip to Thailand? This is where I really want to go but DH is convinced we need to wait until DS is older. I've never been to that area of the world and would have no idea where to start planning. Do you have any resources you'd recommend? 

Unfortunately, I'm a wing it kind of person. We had a hotel (I think it was the Movenpick Phuket) and rental car booked and just played it by ear from there. I got a local SIM card for my phone (note: my iPhone is unlocked) so we would have internet and Google maps. We hired the hotel daycare one day of the trip and that worked out well for us. Other than that we were pretty unstructured.