Sorry for leaving you hanging for the last couple of weeks. We were in Brazil taking in some sun, visiting the sites and watching the beautiful game.
The blogsphere has been lighting up over the last few weeks with the travel plans of various PF bloggers. Well Heeled Blog will be doing a whirlwind tour around Europe; Jordann at My Alternate Life is visiting England; Krystal of Give Me Back My Five Bucks is going to Las Vegas; Young and Thrifty just came back from Cuba. Maybe it’s the winter blues, but reading everyone else’s travel plans have made me restless. I’m itching to travel again.
“I want to go somewhere.”
“We just came back from Ottawa” Daniel says.
“Well Ottawa doesn’t count. We go there at least once a year. It’s neither new nor exciting.”
“But you went on a cruise a couple months ago,” Daniel reminds me.
“But that was a couple months ago” I retort.
“You have a trip planned every month this coming spring!”
When good friends of ours extended an invitation to spend a few days with them in our nation’s capital, we jumped at the opportunity to take a family trip. We arrived in Ottawa at midnight on Saturday and settled in for a good night sleep. Refreshed in the morning, we spent the next couple of days out in the cold, partaking in Winterlude (Ottawa’s winter festival) and other winter activities. We ate Beaver Tails out on the Rideau Canal and took the kid tobogganing for the very first time. When our toes lost sensation, we went indoors to watch Olympic highlights and play board games. Despite the cold, it was a rather relaxing long weekend.
A major concern that dissuades parents from travelling with kids is the cost. Travelling with a little one doesn’t need to be difficult, but how much more does it really cost to travel with a baby or toddler? As of now, I can’t speak for older kids, but travelling with a child under two years of age does not add a lot to the costs of travelling.
A couple weeks ago I asked my mum if she could babysit her beloved grandson on the first Saturday of December so I could have a date with my husband. “Sorry,” she said “your father and I are going on a cruise that week”. So then I turned to my brother, “can you babysit?” “Sorry,” he said, “I’m going on the cruise too.” What?! “Your aunt and uncle are going too, by the way”, my mum informed me. WHAT?! Why did no one invite me?! Wanting to feel included, so I joked that I was going too.
Two days later, I had purchased two cruise fares and two airline tickets.