Pretrip Planning

Seb loves to plan. So much so that 6 months out from the start of the holiday he had planned the entire trip day by day. Everything was budgeted for. Cities and national parks were researched.

The internet was the main source of information. Trip Advisor, blogs like this and Facebook groups were invaluable. Other useful sites included websites run by local cities and tourism boards. For example, Chattanooga has a great Facebook page and the Natchez Trace Parkway posts free maps and lodging information in the mail. We also purchased a few Lonely Planet books as we had both used them when backpacking.

The beginning of trip was centered around big metropolitan cities in Canada and North Eastern USA. This is also were some of Seb’s friends from university live so it made sense to visit. The rest of the trip is based on a few “must see” places and finding interesting routes to get around.

Kid’s Gear

This is our first big trip with both kids. From the outset we knew that for everyone to have a good time the kids had to be comfortable and entertained.

Unfortunately the car seats we have in Australia are not approved for use in North America. We opted against renting car seats from the car rental companies. There would be no guarantee with regards to their quality and comfort. Instead, we reached out to friends for suggestions and decided on the Evenflo Triumph LX car seats for both children. They’re convertible which means Ollie can turn forward facing in the middle of the trip.

Next was the stroller. We had a great stroller in Australia but it’s ill suited for travelling. It’s a two piece beast that takes up half the boot. It’s a pain to put under a plane because it’s counted as oversize luggage. Hanika spent weeks researching which to get. We bought a Babyzen YoYo 6+. It’s one of the smallest strollers available. It folds down small enough to be considered carry on and fits in the overhead bin! It’s very light as well. Seb had his reservations because it’s only rated for 18kg and the storage underneath barely fits a nappy bag.

For keeping the kids entertained we don’t have much! Moose has a small Lenovo tablet paired with Moki noise limiting headphones which we bought for his first overseas plane ride. It’s loaded with games and videos to keep him entertained on the 15 hour transpacific flights. Ollie… well he’s a baby so we’ll figure it out as we go! Unfortunately Qantas no longer allows use of the Plane Pal. It’s an inflatable block that goes in front of a seat to allow children to lay down and sleep.

We’ll do in depth reviews of each piece as we use them on the trip.