I feel the accomplishment of summiting Everest! Only, for us, it was 21 hours of traveling with baby Everest. Maybe not in the same realm as a mountain climb, but it nonetheless required careful planning, a lot of effort, and sooo much stuff!
(If Mindy and I ever find ourselves wit hmultiple children under three years old, we have agreed we won't be taking them on a plane unless we have additional adults handy to help.)
Everest, for his part, made it as easy as he could on any two parents. 8+ hour overnight flight to Rome? Not a problem, he slept through most of it.
Shuttle to the train station? Everest and the slightly older child sitting beside him entertained each other. (The lack of a common language matters less when one of them doesn't speak any recognized language.) 2+ hour high speed train to Salerno? Everest made friends with the lady sitting across the aisle who kept offering him food. (In other settings, I'm not sure Mindy and I would be quite as easy-going about Everest getting potato chips(!) from a stranger, but we hadn't slept in 29+ hours and Everest was still tolerating the exhausting trip. We lowered our standards.) 2 hour drive to Sorrento from Salerno? The boy had the fun of his grandparents who had met up with us there, and he stayed in good spirits until he drifted off and slept. Everest was probably no edgier than the rest of us in the car as we were stuck in a 40-minute traffic jam in Sorrento - courtesy of the Gay Pride Parade. (We didn't get to see any of the actual parade, unfortunately.)
When we finally got through the traffic, we faced the dilemma of getting our wide car through an ancient, narrow, walled road. No dice. Our Airbnb host came to the rescue, meeting us at a local grocery store and leading us in her car to find the long(est) way around. (The second-most direct route also relied on a six-foot wide walled road, as we later discovered through Google Maps directions.)
Finally, we got to the accommodations my parents had found for incredible views. Worth every step of trouble along the way!
(If Mindy and I ever find ourselves wit hmultiple children under three years old, we have agreed we won't be taking them on a plane unless we have additional adults handy to help.)
Everest, for his part, made it as easy as he could on any two parents. 8+ hour overnight flight to Rome? Not a problem, he slept through most of it.
Shuttle to the train station? Everest and the slightly older child sitting beside him entertained each other. (The lack of a common language matters less when one of them doesn't speak any recognized language.) 2+ hour high speed train to Salerno? Everest made friends with the lady sitting across the aisle who kept offering him food. (In other settings, I'm not sure Mindy and I would be quite as easy-going about Everest getting potato chips(!) from a stranger, but we hadn't slept in 29+ hours and Everest was still tolerating the exhausting trip. We lowered our standards.) 2 hour drive to Sorrento from Salerno? The boy had the fun of his grandparents who had met up with us there, and he stayed in good spirits until he drifted off and slept. Everest was probably no edgier than the rest of us in the car as we were stuck in a 40-minute traffic jam in Sorrento - courtesy of the Gay Pride Parade. (We didn't get to see any of the actual parade, unfortunately.)
When we finally got through the traffic, we faced the dilemma of getting our wide car through an ancient, narrow, walled road. No dice. Our Airbnb host came to the rescue, meeting us at a local grocery store and leading us in her car to find the long(est) way around. (The second-most direct route also relied on a six-foot wide walled road, as we later discovered through Google Maps directions.)
Finally, we got to the accommodations my parents had found for incredible views. Worth every step of trouble along the way!
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