Before Baby, Dan and I would make these short, brutal trips with little hesitation - plow through the jet lag and exhaustion on the constant reminder that "we only have so many days with so-and-so". We would take 3-4 flights within the US to try to visit as many friends and relatives as possible, and we'd enjoy the late nights and early mornings, knowing it was all worth spending time with family. But with baby, things have changed.
When I took Luke home in April, we faced bad jet lag. My once-perfect baby who slept 12 hours a night was suddenly not going longer than 6 at a time. Add my own jet lag and exhaustion in and you have a volatile mix. I had a feeling that trip would be much different than the ones in the past. For the next 8 weeks, my baby and I struggled to find a routine - naps were random and sporadic, and we were sleeping in a new place every week or so. Luke never did sleep through the night, and by the end I was about to lose my mind (how DO parents deal with kids who don't sleep through the night? By the grace of God I'm sure because I couldn't make it!).
Although it was completely worth seeing so many friends and family, it was rough. If there was any doubt as to how tough all the running around had been on Luke, our first week back I was certain. After such awful jet lag in the US, my baby slept through the night completely within four days of being home! All he needed was a more structured routine and less excitement I'm sure.
So once Dan and I were able to sit down and think through our vacation plan for the rest of the year, I knew several things. One - I didn't want to travel back to the US alone again; if I am going to do jet lag with a baby, I need my husband for support. Two - when we do go home, we cannot travel as much as we used to; we need to pick one or two places and stay put. And three - we don't want to sacrifice vacation memories as a family of three just to travel back to the US.
That third one may sound harsh, but its part of our reality. So that led us to the decision to take a family trip, just the three of us, this September, and travel home to the US again in November instead. With only five weeks left of vacation, and a US trip taking up at least three of those, we didn't want to give up nearly a whole year of international travel just to go home.
So, we made a tough choice, and we hope our family and friends understand. Yes, we could buck up and endure the 24 hours of travel, but how much will we really enjoy it? And part of why we chose to live where we do is the travel opportunities.
With all that being said, this September we have decided to do a road trip through Scotland followed by a Norwegian Fjords 7-day cruise. We are really looking forward to it! It will be our first international road trip, and I can't wait to really get out and see the Scottish countryside.
We will miss seeing our family, but I know it will be a fun family memory for the three of us!
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