Why I Started intrepidparents.com

I started my intrepid parents FB page and website so we can share practical information and ideas about travelling with our kids.  I’d love you to introduce yourself, post questions and share your experiences/thoughts.

I had travelled long haul with Lucas from when he was a baby, but our first major trip was for several months in the Arctic when he was nearly three years old. Setting off with a toddler, I had so many unanswered questions. Lucas had been ill due to food sensitivities since he was 10 months old. Even if he was well, was taking him on such a trip the right thing to do? Where we would actually ‘fit in’ with other travellers? Despite my worries, the drive to go was unrelenting; I had to try at least. I eased my concerns by planning to abandon the trip immediately if it didn’t suit Lucas in any way.

Before having Lucas, I had been to around fifty countries alone or with friends. Seeing myself as a fairly seasoned traveller, I wasn’t concerned with the practicalities. Apart from making room in my pack to squash some tiny clothes and toys, and ensuring I could translate foreign food labels due to Lucas’s food intolerances, taking Lucas would be straight forward. If anything, it had to be much easier than my previous solo trips. English was spoken throughout Scandinavia; they have excellent health care and modern transport systems. This had to be easy. Right? Wrong!

Three weeks later… Lucas had never been happier or healthier. I, however, was exhausted beyond words from having no personal space day after day and sleep deprivation night after night. It was late. I looked over at Lucas jumping on the bed, and felt crushed by his immeasurable tanks of energy. I wanted to run far, far away. And never come back. Ever.
The next day we were to catch a boat taking us a further three days from an airport. Choosing to go an hour in the opposite direction from home seemed insane.
I knelt on the floor crying, fumbled desperately through the contents of my back pack, and pulled out my stack of how to travel with kids’ books. I thumbed through everyone of them before searching chapters and indexes. There must be something here about what to do on the hard days. PLEASE?! Surely, I’m not the only parent to feel like this?
There was no advice. The only solution seemed to go home, but Lucas had not been this well since he was 10 months of age. The plan had been to abandon the trip if it didn’t suit Lucas, I never imagined it would be me struggling. Seeing Lucas so well and happy, and fear of regret if I went home now, found us boarding the boat North to the Arctic as planned.
 

I’m incredibly thankful we took that boat; it was a turning point in the trip, helped by the wonderful staff on the Hurtigruten. At times, I wonder what on earth   possesses me to make my life so difficult, but those times are short-lived and the funniest to look back on. There’s no price I can put on the precious memories we have for the rest of our lives.