Lessons Learned

1. Timing

It doesn’t take 10 months to plan a big trip. Though we did have just about every Airbnb available to us. Next time I’ll aim for about 4 to 6 months out.  (It’s too easy to lose the excitement when it seems forever away. And I felt like I couldn’t plan any other trips because we had a ‘big trip’ coming up.)

2. Backpacks Only

You may be surprised – but backpacks only was a “worked well.”  Having to haul around luggage along with the kids would have been too much. We were able to fit all that we needed in our backpacks. The kids’ clothes went in our bags while their toys and snacks went into their own smaller backpacks.

Additionally, I don’t think we would have been able to successfully get suitcases up the stairs in our Amsterdam apartment (on the fourth and fifth floors with a steep climb.)

Shout out to Kim and Andrew for telling us about the backpacks that are much more like suitcases than book-bags.

3. Airbnb

We stayed in both Airbnbs and hotels on this trip. The Airbnb decision was a huge win! Largely because we had a great host in Amsterdam. The kids had space to run around, toys were available for them to play with and I could make meals for us at home.

I used 4 criteria when looking for an Airbnb:

1. Must be walking distance to a primary form of public transportation
2. Must be walking distance to a grocery store
3. Must contain a washing machine and ideally a dryer
4. Ideally walking distance to a park

I had no problem finding multiple homes/flats that met all 4 criteria.

Staying at an Airbnb was great; I especially enjoyed grocery shopping at the local markets and then cooking with the food. ….which brings me to the next lesson learned:

4. Know your children and try to cater to their specific needs. 

This trip was great for getting to know our kids better. It was the 4 of us together for over 12 consecutive days. We knew Sam was a homebody, but we learned exactly how severe during this trip. Though he gets excited about taking trips, he really rather just be in the comforts of a home. After being out and about for no more than 30 minutes he is ready to “go home”.

He prefers to do every meal at home.

He was a good sport on the trip, but we did get a bit frustrated with the whining and pleas to “go home” – which meant back to the airbnb.

So if you have a child who tires quickly and needs some alone-time to recharge, then be sure to plan some downtime into the days. An airbnb over a hotel can be very helpful if you know you won’t be able to spend the majority of every day ‘out’.  

5. Bowels and bathrooms

Miah was wanting to ‘go home’ as well, but she had our real home in mind and was waiting for home in order to go poop. Thankfully we cleared all that up with her on the second day, and she agreed to do her business in Europe.

We also packed fiber gummies for the trip, and I was diligent in making sure we stayed hydrated… these things are important every day, but especially when you are traveling. I think you know why.  

6. Losing a night’s sleep is a big deal

Not everything I blogged during the trip was published. There was this one rant about Daniel’s body needing to get-over-it and start functioning in the time zone that we were living in. I eventually deleted it. Sorry Daniel. Clearly the loss of sleep had me cranky and you sleeping-in.  

There was a 7-hour difference between our home and our travel destination. That type of time-change shouldn’t be taken lightly. Also we flew at night, but didn’t get to really sleep during the flight.   

After a long flight, I would plan on doing nothing specific but casually discovering the city for the first couple of days. If your trip is long enough and covering multiple cities, I would pad the first destination with at least one extra day for helping to get your body adjusted.

The kids (especially Miah) adjusted pretty quickly. 

7. Plan trips in the late morning or afternoon 

I made a list of things and places we wanted to do and visit for each city. Then I took the approach of ‘if we have time and the weather is right, we will do it; if not, then no big deal.’  Then I read Rick Steve’s guide to Amsterdam and realized that all major sites/attractions require tickets purchased in advance.  Like weeks in advance. 

So for a few things, I went ahead and purchased – sealing the date and time.

But for the first few days in Amsterdam, we were bound by no schedule. Free to tackle what we wish when we wished. AND THIS IS A GOOD THING. Because I’m struggling getting the crew up and ready to leave the house at any time prior to 11am.  We’d be one grumpy group if we had to make our way to a museum and the train station in the morning.

For future trips: when losing any significant time in travel, don’t plan any events for the mornings. 

8. Packing the kids’ bags the right way and the wrong way

Packing a bag of games, distractions and treats for the kids = great idea

Making it their bag and responsibility to carry = great idea (when it worked)

Not over stuffing the bag = good idea 

Not thinking about the weight of each item in the bag = mistake!

Packing hard-covered books when you could have done soft-cover books = mistake

While Target was having their Dr. Seuss sale, in celebration of his birthday, I snagged all of the books. Seriously, bought every one. It was a great deal, figured I could give them away as gifts and also, the kids could enjoy new books on our Europe trip. I showed them to Sam in advance (because I can not keep a secret). He was so excited. A couple of nights before our trip I packed the kids bags and realized that the books made their backpacks too heavy. But I kept them. Huge mistake. Weight is everything when you have a bag strapped to your back the majority of the day. 

9. Buy tickets in advance

When we visited Windsor Castle there was a ridiculous line. Thankfully we had two things going for us:

1. Melanie.  This was Melanie’s third visit to the castle. We followed her. She passed all the lines. When we got to the front of the line, she asked, “Do we need to stand in line if we have tickets?”  Response: No.  We passed all of those suckers! I would have never done that otherwise. I would have just assumed we needed to be in line with everyone else.
2. We bought the tickets in advance.  Melanie gave us a head’s up, and we did it.

We certainly saved over an hour of waiting in line.

Some places make you purchase tickets in advance.  Like the Anne Frank house – you need to purchase your tickets – date and time – at least 2 weeks in advance as they sell out quickly.

When it is something you know you are going to do. Buy the tickets in advance!

10. Strollers

We didn’t bring a stroller with us – packing lightly, so couldn’t. We asked our Airbnb hosts if they had any, and our Amsterdam host secured one for us during our the visit.

I also noted several places where you can rent a stroller.

There are both pros and cons for having a stroller, so you’ll want to weigh it out for your particular situation. Our kids are old enough, where they can walk but also not too big to be carried.

I would not recommend taking a stroller through the streets of either Amsterdam or Edinburgh. Unless it has some serious wheels on it. The streets are uneven and extremely bumpy. It’s very difficult to push a stroller through.

We took the stroller that Annemieke (our Airbnb superhost) borrowed from a friend for us to use at Keukenhof. It was used mostly when waiting in lines (which there was a lot of). But for the actual park, the kids ran around and the stroller became the keeper of the kid’s backpacks. Bringing it worked out well for us. But I wouldn’t have bothered bringing it from Memphis or paying to rent one.

So if you stay in an Airbnb, or have friends in the visiting city, ask to borrow one.

11. Travel-size toiletries

One travel size toothpaste tube is not enough for two adults for more than 7 days.

Everything else – travel size works.

The months leading to the trip, I tried to teach myself how to curl my hair with a straight iron. It just resulted in a lot of heat-damaged hair. I was hoping to bring only one hair tool with us on the trip. After giving up on the straightener, I bought a mini-travel-2-in-1-straightener-curling-iron. And it worked like a charm. In fact, I still use it when traveling on business trips. 

12. Bring a watch

I told myself to wear a watch and then forgot. I had to rely on Daniel for the time or hunt for my phone, which I did not keep readily on me. When you are trying to catch a specific train, knowing the exact time becomes vital.

13. Trains leave on time

We took the train a lot during this trip, and it left on its schedule time, every time. So if you taking the train, do not be late. 

14. Do the touristy things

I don’t regret one tourist-typical thing we did. Unless you know someone local, then the touristy things are the best way to learn about the city you are in, and cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. I loved hearing about the history associated with the places we visited. I was exposed to the history-lessons because we chose to do the touristy things.

15. The FIRST thing you should do every time you get on a plane

The first thing you should do when you get on a plane is: locate the barf bag. You never know when the person beside you is going to wake up from their slumber and toss their entire dinner.

Miah got sick on the way there. She started dry-heaving in her sleep. I panicked trying to find the barf-bag between all the magazines and other crap packed into the seat’s pocket. Miah is such a  trooper, I seriously think she was holding it back until I found the bag.

So lesson learned – find that bag…. maybe grab two, and put it first in the pocket so you can grab it quickly if a need arises.

16. Turnstiles

This Lesson could be titled “Pay Attention” or “Read the signs” or even “Protect your kids”.  But having been exposed to very little public transportation, and encountering the Tube during rush hour, Daniel and I were too busy trying to not hold up the line while figuring out where we were going to realize that there was a special ingress/egress through the turnstile for people with kids. (I use “turnstile” here, but it’s not the typical circular bar – these are heavy automatic doors.)  

Read about the experience here.

And if you have kids or strollers or a suitcase, anything in addition to yourself, then pause to find the handicap turnstile. It’s for you too.

17. Blogging

Blogging on the iPad was hard, but I’m happy we took the time to dictate memories closely after they occurred. It was worth staying up late at night to record the day’s events. Our kids will be able to read and remember this trip years from now. We will too.