Traveling with a Toddler

Back in the fall, we saw an advertisment for a trip to Sydney, Australia for Christmas. It sparked an idea. What if we flew to Australia for Christmas? Doesn't that seem like an appropriate way to spend the holiday? Add another stamp to Olivia's passport? It will be summer there, so the weather will be sunny and warm. We can spend the holiday on the beach. Plus they celebrate a Christian Christmas there, so it will feel a bit more like home. And there is the best part: They speak English there.

After pinching some pennies and packing some suitcases, we met our tour group at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 22. The bus was ready to go. We were ready to go too: All we had to do was change Olivia's diaper, get her a snack, fill her juice cup and finalize our Visa paperwork. Slow. That's how you travel with a toddler. We were the only family with a child on the trip and the rest of the group was annoyed with us at first. But I ignored them and smilied when they rolled their eyes when they saw how much stuff we had. While the rest of our group had minimal luggage for the 7-day trip, we had two suitcases both approaching the 45-lb weight limits. Guess we won't be buying much in Australia.

We climbed aboard the bus and headed to the airport for our flight to South Korea. Yes, we had to fly 2 hours north to fly 9 hours south. If only there was a direct route between Okinawa and Australia, all would be good.

After checking into our flight, we got a quick lunch. Olivia proceeded to knock my water glass over, getting herself all wet in the process. Ah, traveling with a toddler.



We arrived in South Korea with no problems. Our layover was 5 hours long, so we had time to kill. Luckily the airport had a indoor playground and Olivia played there with coming-and-going traveling children from around the world for the next 3 hours. After that she feel asleep. Our plan was to keep her awake until the flight ... apparently she didn't get that memo. Just because it was a red-eye flight, doesn't mean that Olivia wanted to sleep on the plane. She wanted to watch Toy Story 3, which she did at least 3 times during the flight and cry for her bed. Ah, traveling with a toddler.

By noon on Dec. 23, we were in Sydney, ready for our first day of holiday, as the Aussies call it. The weather was beautiful, so we ditched our suitcases (we couldn't check into the hotel yet) and walked to Darling Harbour. This popular tourist destination was within walking distance of our hotel (Olivia's stroller riding distance) so we headed toward the water and went to the Sydney Aquarium. There, Olivia was excited to see a crocodile, lizards, sharks, stingrays and all kinds of colorful fish. She ran around the entire place, pointing and saying "fish" over and over again. She even surprised us by saying words like "turtle." The excitement. The energy. Ah, traveling with a toddler.






On the walk back to the hotel, Olivia fell asleep, so Benny and I took advantage of the adult time and strolled to Sydney Tower. We took in the sights from the largest building in the city while O snoozed.







We finished the day with a multi-course dinner at a lovely Greek restaurant. The food was outstanding and filling. Olivia wasn't a fan. She enjoyed her lunch of chicken nuggets at the Aquarium more and choose to color in her coloring book during dinner.

In the evening, we collapsed into bed. We survived day one of our vacation. I wonder how day two will go.