Simply Exploring

Well, we did it. I don’t know how exactly, but somehow we managed to fit the basic needs of two adults, a six-month old, and a two-and-a-half year old, to travel around Iceland for ten days  into two backpacks. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you know that we try hard to organize our time and budget around the things we value most. Traveling as a family is one of those things, and our goal is always to travel as lightly as possible. The more we travel, the more we see the value in being able to move freely, without dragging bulky suitcases behind us, and having our hands free. This held true for our recent trip to Iceland.

Our plan was to take only backpacks that Ryan and I could each carry on our back. Our packs are not huge. Ryan has a 45-liter pack, I have a 30-liter pack, and we packed everything into these.

A few people we ran into before boarding our plane stared hard at our two little ones and our backpacks, and mentioned that we must be checking in more baggage. No, we were not. And, you know what happened? Nothing. We had what we needed, nothing more. No big deal.

So, because we always get asked, here’s what we took (or didn’t take):

Baby Gear. I carried Arya in the Ergo carrier. Johann, our toddler, has good stamina and can walk really well, but he is easily distracted. We borrowed a second Ergo-carrier for the trip, worthwhile since we used it on a couple of our longer hikes. (No one is paying me to say this, but we love the Ergobaby brand; it’s the only soft-structured child carrier we’ve ever needed to use, it is arguably the most ergonomic for adult shoulders and backs, and we’re sold on it for life.)

We carried a small daypack that functioned as our all purpose diaper bag/snack bag/plane distraction bag. We did not take a stroller. We did not take travel cribs or pack n’ plays. We did not take carseats, but considered it since we were renting a car in Iceland. We were on a tight budget for this trip since we had saved up for it, and wanted our money to stretch as far as it would go. The flights were cheap but nothing else in Iceland was! In the end, we decided to rent carseats there. This worked for us, since the idea of toting two cumbersome carseats sounded entirely impractical and totally against the purpose of traveling light. (There are many strong opinions out there on renting carseats, and regardless of what you believe, do what works for your family.)

Clothes and shoes. Three sets of clothes for all and a fourth set for each kid – just because. (Always bring spare clothes on-board for yourself and your kids.) We knew that we would be outdoors most of the time, that there was still snow on the ground in lots of places, and that the average temperature would be around forty degrees Fahrenheit. So we packed layers, including fleece layers, an outer rain/wind shell, and hat and gloves for all. This took up a lot of space in our packs, even though we rolled everything tightly! We also had our handy Scrubba Wash Bag. I seriously love this thing. Ever since I found it before our backpacking trip to Spain while Johann was a baby, we’ve brought it everywhere, and it has made traveling light so much easier for us. We packed hiking boots for ourselves and Johann, and we wore street shoes on the plane. Arya didn’t need any shoes, but she did have this rad bunting and baby booties that kept her warm and dry!

Toiletries, health and grooming items. Not much here. Toothbrushes, a small spool of floss and travel size toothpaste, hairbrush, the concealer stick and eye pencil that forms my only makeup, one sunblock that we could all use, a small tube of diaper rash cream and tylenol for the kids in case they needed that, a disposable razor each, and a few Q-tips. Anything else we could hunt down locally.

Diapers. We opted for disposable diapers on the trip. We packed enough to last three or four days for each kid, we bought more locally when we ran out. A pack of wipes, and a couple of bags to hold dirty diapers on the go, clothes to be washed, or dirty shoes.

Snacks & Entertainment. Arya is still breastfeeding, so no special baby feeding supplies. She has started solid foods recently, but eats what we eat (we are huge fans of the Baby-Led Weaning method!) so no special baby feeding supplies there. The only toys we brought were a small teether and sensory doll that she loves. She was happy with these during the whole trip. Babies are generally pretty easy travelers! This was Arya’s first flight, and we were nervous about that, but it helped that it was a nonstop flight from Seattle to Reykjavik, and seven hours and fifteen minutes flew by. We did not buy her a separate seat, so she was on my lap for most of the flight and napped or played happily.

For ourselves and Johann, we packed dry snacks that would last a couple days so we wouldn’t have to hunt them down as soon as we got there. Nutritious, high-calorie things like apples, dried fruit, nuts, hard cheese, crackers, etc. This is the name of the game for high energy toddlers who just will not sit still for any amount of time. We also threw in Johann’s toddler headphones and found that he was more interested in the seat-back screen entertainment on the flight than he was the last time we traveled overseas. It’s cool to see his attention span get longer as he grows older! He watched bits of movies and played the games that were on offer, and was generally was very well-behaved in his window seat.

We chose not to bring anything special for him besides snacks and headphones. He created his own entertainment. Or maybe he was forced to, because we didn’t bring anything? Either way, we were very proud of how well he did away from all of his familiar stuff. We asked him once, towards the end of our trip if he remembered our house and his toys and all his books…and his eyes lit up! We were touched at how fondly he remembered home, and were surprised to see how his memory is developing. It was a highlight of our time away.

By the time we added our travel documents, handkerchiefs, small electronics, camera, empty water bottles, chapstick, etc. our packs were nearly full. We were ready to see Iceland!

If you are wondering about specific items that we brought or didn’t bring, I’d love to try and answer your questions about it! Please leave me a comment or send me an email!

Next, I’ll share some of the things we saw and did. Iceland is much more kid-friendly than you think! Stay tuned.

We’re heading to Iceland with our baby and toddler next month. We have heard about Iceland’s jaw-dropping scenery, rugged terrain, numerous wildlife viewing and hiking opportunities, and that it’s cold no matter when you go. We can’t wait to experience a new country, its culture, and unique environment. Well…when I say “we,” I really just mean Ryan and I. Johann, our 2-year old, knows that we’re going somewhere on an “airpeen” soon to “ike.” We mentioned that we will do some hiking when we get there, and he loves to hike. Arya, our 6-month old, doesn’t seem to care, but she’s generally up for anything.

We weren’t actually planning to go to Iceland this year. However, we had saved up for a trip somewhere. An acquaintance had shared pictures from their trip to Iceland, and when a recent search showed cheap flights from Seattle to Reykjavik we booked it. Everything else fell into place quickly. Now, we’re in the trip planning phase, which I personally find almost as exciting as the trip itself. I’m poring over maps, reading up on places to explore, things to see, do, eat and drink. I’m pretty excited.

We’ll spend ten days in Iceland and, rather than try to see it all, we want to explore just a couple of areas really well. We also want to make time and space for our little ones to nap, play, and to just be, well, little ones. We found a guesthouse at one destination and an apartment in the other that are more affordable, spacious, and a bit more homey than hotels. They both have either private or shared kitchens where we can cook our own meals – a huge bonus since food is expensive there. We booked a rental car for part of the trip and can’t wait to drive around seeing the countryside and tiny fishing villages at our own pace.

We’ll be there in May, when the average spring temperature will be the 40s and 50s (Fahrenheit). We’ve been told that the weather can change on a dime, which means being prepared. We normally travel light, and don’t want to have bulky bags so we’ll be layering up!

Our son has enough base layers and insulating layers. He recently started sporting this awesome waterproof coverall to get a little extra rewearing time on his clothes (we’re outside a lot, rain or shine). But we still need to scrounge up some layers for the baby. She won’t need much since she isn’t crawling yet (one reason we chose to go on this trip now). New parents – if you’re reading this, take note: there are many advantages to traveling with babies before they are mobile!

So how do we pack lightly for Iceland with a baby and a toddler?

In our travels over the past two years, Johann mainly rode around in the Ergo carrier. Now he walks, and the baby rides in the Ergo. We thought it wise to borrow a second Ergo from a friend for this trip. It packs down easily and we can use it if we need to hustle to catch a flight, or if we do a longer hike and Johann’s little legs get too tired. Other than the carriers, and a daypack that we use as our diaper bag, we’re playing around with what exactly we need to bring.

When we went to Spain, Johann was an eleven-month old baby, and Ryan and I got away with just taking backpacks! No stroller or suitcases or anything. Even when we went to Germany and India last summer, I thought we struck a great balance between what we brought, what we decided to leave home, and what we bought locally (diapers!). Now we’ve got two in diapers, and will need enough clothes to cover all of us for a seven-hour flight and at least three days. Cold/weatherproof clothing, accessories, and hiking boots are heavy and take up so much space. Yikes! That’s already a lot of stuff.

Is it even possible for two adults to backpack around Iceland with a baby and a toddler? I suppose anything is possible. But this sounds crazy even to me. Still…Ryan and I often reminisce fondly while looking at pictures of our backpacking trip through Spain. That was one of the best things we did as a (then) new family of three. It made the unknowns very real. We felt released from the fear and anxiety about international travel with a baby, and knew it was possible to travel light, too. Not easy, but certainly doable, rewarding, and memorable. It challenged us, convicted us, humbled us, and made us better parents. Now we’re deternities to do the same for our new family of four.

Stay with me over the next few weeks as we figure out how we’re going to do Iceland with a baby and toddler!

How do you decide what to bring and what to leave behind when packing for big trips?