A holiday of fun and enjoyment or a holiday that requires another holiday after it?

The fam-bam just enjoyed a 2week holiday to the sunny coastal town of Cairns in Queensland, a first for us since my partner and I have had our two young boys. Heading into this holiday there were a lot of thoughts going through my head that progressively got worst the closer we got to the leave date:

• Yes, finally a holiday
• Yay, sunny weather during winter
• How are we going to do this with two kids under 2??
• What happens if they cry constantly on the plane, will I get judged??
•  I don’t want to go on this holiday!!

I’ll be honest, I think the possibility of the kids not settling on the plane was my greatest worry. I think it consumed me for most of the last few weeks leading up to the holiday, and it made the excitement that you generally feel for a holiday diminish… The fact that our youngest Fletcher (2month old) hadn’t really established a routine was also another worry of whether it would affect us too much.

I’m happy to note that BOTH kids did really well on the plane both ways. Not a lot of crying that didn’t take too much time to settle. Our oldest Lincoln sat for most of the flight on our laps (thank god for technology though. I think I re-watched Sing about 5 times on this holiday!). But there was a degree of stress during periods of checking in, collecting baggage and getting to our gates. We arrived to the airport on both occasions 2hrs before our flight, even though they only recommend 45mins… when traveling with kids, you NEED those 2hrs. Wrangling two kids during check-in and collecting baggage IS tough!

We had hired a car whilst away, which helped immensely. I couldn’t imagine doing everything without a vehicle. However, there was issues with Fletcher who hasn’t had a lot of time in car seats for long periods of time. We have often had small 20min trips back home, but on holiday there were often times where we travelled from anywhere from 20mins-2hrs! Naturally Fletcher got bored, hungry, tired, smelly, bored or hungry again… Exhausting car rides at times.

I have travelled quite a lot in the past (kid-free that is) and have loved the ability to relax, get drunk and just have the freedom to do what I wanted, when I wanted! Travelling with two young kids is anything but that. At the end of the day, when on holiday my partner and I love to absorb as much of what the destination has to offer; whether that be attractions, meals, sights or even different parks. So when we travelled to Cairns with the kids, we were trying to see as much as we could in the two weeks. Was it a bit ambitious on our behalf and did we deserve the backlash when the kids were unsettled at the end of the day? Perhaps.

Overall though, I’m happy we made those sacrifices. I think (for us anyway) being on holiday is about seeing and doing things that you wouldn’t normally do at home. If we wanted to relax, drink and do nothing we’d just get a babysitter and do that home or we can do all of that when we are old and have no kids.! For us, I feel it is important to make lasting memories for our kids of where they can look back and have great memories together as a family and pass on those experiences for their own family. I think that is key.

So, overall, how was it? Bloody tough! I’m am soooo buggered! We were going to bed at about 8:30pm most nights and up at about 6am most mornings. These were bloody long days full of kids yelling and crying. I think my advice is for anyone with two kids under two and travelling is this…. Preparation! That is it. I think preparing our meals the day before, setting up a rough itinerary and sticking to a routine definitely helped us in the long run. Without this, it would’ve been either a less productive holiday where we saw nothing or an even chaotic one!

In a sense though, it sort of feels like we need a holiday from the holiday hahaha. But it was a great experience that I’m happy to continue to do with our family into the future. Flying and being on holidays with two kids under two WAS tough, but looking back on the photos brings a massive smile to my face! I hope the kids can look back and see the fun experiences they have experienced.