Frequent flyers...how young footsteps does airline travel

Hi all! Thank you so much for stopping back into the Young Footsteps Around the World blog. It means so much to us, and we hope you find our #travelblog useful. This post is packed with #traveltips about how we tackle flying with our 3 Littles.

For those of you who are new followers of ours and may not know, Julia is from Germany. Because of this, we take frequent trips there to visit her family. These cross-Atlantic flights have forced us become better fliers. Whether it be through some hard lessons learned or talking to other families we see while #traveling, we almost have flying with kids down to a science.

Despite the fact that our kids have taken their fair share of flights to Germany, they still find great excitement in each new flight. They love everything about flying. From packing their own backpack, to watching the planes at the gate, to the actual flight, our kids love it.

One thing that adds to this excitement is Julia's ability to keep secrets and make the trip a big surprise for the kids. We often don't tell the kids until a week or two before flying. This helps keep the kids excited from breaking the news to them until the actual flight.

Our recommended packing list

Another thing we let our older Littles do is to pack their own backpack. Of course, we help them steer clear of toys or games with a lot of small pieces that will get lost on the plane. Our favorites to pack are coloring books and crayons, puzzle books, reading books, and their own IPod and headphones. Their iPods are loaded with audiobooks and some music. We recommend kids' headphones that have volume limits so they cannot turn up the volume so loud that they damage their eardrums. If the plane has in-seat entertainment, that is an added bonus for the kids since ours don't get a lot of screen time at home.

For red-eye flights to Germany, we dress them as comfortably as possible. We always pack their puffy jackets because they don't take a lot of space in the backpack and you never know if its going to be freezing on the plane. If the plane ends up being warm, the puffy jacket makes for a good pillow. A recent purchase for our latest flight to Germany were inflatable leg rest pillows. Not every airline allows them, so be sure to check your airline's website. They don't take up a lot of space when deflated and are lightweight. While the "bed" was just a bit to small for our almost-9 year old, it was perfect for our 4 and 2 year old. For $16.99 each on Amazon, they were a great addition to our travel kit. Finally, we always pack their favorite stuffed animal, their blankies, and a ton of pacifiers (our tend to lose a lot!). The goal is for the Littles to sleep, but if they don't the key is to keep them relaxed and happy.

Finally, we let the kids pack some snacks and a little bit of candy in their backpack in case they get hungry. Apple sauce crushers and trail mix are our go-to snacks on flights. On our flights back from Germany, we take lots of German pretzels!

Other recommendations

If traveling with an infant, we highly recommend trying to reserve a bassinet. Not all airlines offer bassinets, but we've had great success with them on Delta Airlines. The bassinets are only available in the bulkhead row, so there is an added bonus of extra leg room. The bassinet prevents you from having to hold your infant the entire flight. Ours sleep quite well in them, but the bassinet is definitely better for younger immobile infants. Charlotte was almost 1 year old the last time we had one. She did not sleep much and kept sitting up to see what was going on around the airplane!

If you're not fortunate to get a bassinet, try wearing them in a baby carrier. A very small few number of European airlines don't allow them, but most American carriers do. It'll save your arms from getting tired in flight and ours sleep really well in them.

No one likes a screaming kid on the plane. So, to aid with the ear issues due to air pressure changes, we highly recommend feeding (breast or bottle) infants during take-off and landing. The swallowing helps them "pop" their ears. We give our toddlers their pacifiers and our oldest chewing gum to help them do the same. Our efforts to teach them to "pop" their ears have been largely unsuccessful, but we have found these tricks work quite well.

Flying with kids doesn't have to be hard, but proper planning and packing is key to a successful flight. We hope these tips will help your family have an enjoyable flight the next time you get to go on a plane trip somewhere.

If you are enjoying our blog or are interested in following along on our adventures, make sure you check us out on Instagram. Or contact us to get added to our email list.

Happy travels! The Youngs

life is where you park it

Thank you so much for stopping back in to read the Young Footsteps Around the World #blog. We think you'll enjoy reading about as well as see the pictures that Julia captured of our recent #RV #roadtrip.

Living in Colorado, we've grown to love #camping. We usually tent camp, but this year we decided to rent an #RV for spring break. One of the options when we start #fulltimetravel is to start out in an RV touring the US and Canada, so we thought we should try it out to see how we like it.

Planning Phase

One of the ways we use #instagram is to add destinations to our #bucketlist. When we see a picture of a beautiful destination, we go straight to Google Maps and save the location. We use the green flag "Want to Go" list for our bucket list. So, to plot out the route of our road, we immediately went to Google Maps. We had been seeing a lot of pictures lately of Kanarraville Falls, Bryce Canyon, and Antelope Canyon, so these were must stops. We also wanted to keep our daily drives less than 4 hours, so the #roadtrip itinerary quickly fell in to place.

After doing some online research, we discovered a locally owned RV rental company called Hightened Path RV Rental right here in town. There are many large, chain RV rental companies, but we really wanted to support a #smallbusiness. Looking over their inventory on their website, we quickly chose a 24-foot Class C #motorhome. A couple of reasons for this...you don't need a special license to drive, we weren't too comfortable towing a travel trailer, and the kids could spread out while we drove.

and we're off

We got driving after Papa got home from work. Unfortunately, a snowstorm slowed our driving and we didn't get into Glenwood Springs until after midnight. The next morning, we woke up to more snowfall. So, instead of taking pictures of the RV with beautiful Mt. Sopris in the background, we got back on the road for #Moab, Utah.

In Moab, we stayed at the KOA. We really like KOAs for the kids' sake. At KOAs, there is usually a pool, a playground, clean bathrooms, and kids' activities. This #KOA even had a bike washing station, so we were able to clean all the road grime off of our dirty mountain bikes. After washing their bikes, the boys spent the rest of the day riding around the campsite. The next day, we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park. We chose it over the Canyonlands National Park, so the boys could #mountainbike. We must say, we were extremely satisfied with our decision. The boys loved the trails, and we loved the amazing views of the Colorado River.

BACK ON THE ROAD

After burning some energy, we got back on the road for Cedar City, Utah. Around dinner time and after a seeing a sign that said "Next Service 120 miles", we decided to pull off at the San Rafael Swell View Area. Mama got to cooking and the boys once again started riding their bikes. We couldn't get enough of the views of the rocks as the sun was setting. After eating Mama's delicious dinner and snapping some pictures, we got back on the road. The kids jumped up in the bed above the cab, and were quickly fast asleep while Mama and Papa drove on!

Our main reason for going to Cedar City was to hike the #KanarravilleFalls. This #hike has gotten really popular as a result of Instagram, and the town now limits the number of hikers through a permit system. We highly recommend buying tickets in advance as the town now limits the tickets to 120 hikers/day. Another #traveltip is to take at least an extra pair of socks, if not shoes, because you will get wet. The slot canyon has water from side to side. Despite some really cold water, it was a really fun hike and the waterfall made the hike all worth it. The next day, we mountain biked the Southview Trail System, and had a ball. We had no idea there was such great mountain biking in Cedar City.

After a quick stop to see dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs in Parowan, we drove on to Bryce Canyon National Park. We stayed at another really nice KOA in Cannonville, UT, and for the first time on the trip had a fire pit. Needless to say, the kids had a fire going in no time, and we had S'mores that night after grilling steaks! The next day, we hiked to Mossy Cave and then headed into Bryce Canyon National Park. Due to the amount of snow, only the Rim Trail was open. We took in the magnificent views at Sunrise Point and Inspiration Point before getting back on the road for Lake Powell.

We arrived at our campsite at about 9 PM to find an RV already parked there. After double-checking the campsite number, we politely informed the occupants that they were in our spot. We had a 8:15 tour booked at Antelope Canyon, and needed to get some rest.

Although we loved the motorhome during our drives, we quickly learned their downside. We were up at 0615 to eat breakfast, get dressed, and prepare the motorhome to drive (disconnecting power/sewer lines, pulling in slides, stowing plates). We barely made it to our tour!

It was a good thing we made it to the tour on time, because #LowerAntelopeCanyon was absolutely amazing!. For an hour, we were totally in awe of Mother Nature and her ability to carve these beautiful #redrocks. It was impossible to walk ten steps without stopping to take a photograph. At the end of our trip, everyone in the family voted it as our favorite site of the whole trip.

After Antelope Canyon, we made the short drive to Horseshoe Bend. It was starting to get warm, but the hike was totally worth it. For once again, we witnessed the majestic view of the Colorado River flowing in the shape of the letter U about 2,000 feet below.

We spent another day at Lake Powell before heading onto Monument Valley. Mama and Papa woke up early to watch the #sunrise, and then started getting the kids ready for our tour. The whole family once again loved the red rocks, meeting Native Americans, and 4-wheeling on the dirt and sand roads.

After getting back on the road, we had to make camping plans. We had purposely left the last few days of the trip unreserved, but we quickly found out that it was still camping offseason in and around Durango, CO. We called about 10 different RV sites before we got someone to answer. It was Echo Basin Cabin and RV Resort that answered our call. They said as long we don't mind some snow we could camp there. The owner of the resort met us at about 9 PM, and showed us to our our campsite. There was about 2 feet of snow on the ground, but our site was plowed and clear.

The kids woke up the next morning and quickly put on their hat and gloves to play in the snow while mama and papa prepared breakfast. The campsite and the cabins looked really nice, so we'd like to go back in the summer when the weather warms up. We made a quick pitstop in Durango at the boys' favorite BMX pump track and to eat lunch before heading on to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and then on back home.

All in all, we had a great time on our road trip, and would highly recommend renting an RV for a vacation. We didn't kill each other, saw some great sites, and learned a lot of lessons about RVs and road tripping:

1. We were a bit too aggressive with our itinerary and picked too many places too see on our trip. As a result, we only stayed one night at most stops. This created more work to set-up/breakdown the motorhome.

2. Driving in the afternoon during nap time or after dinner when the kids went to sleep made driving a breeze.

3. We took advantage of the RV fridge and kitchen and made all but 3 meals in the RV which saved us a lot of money. We brought a decent supply of food and stopped at supermarkets along the way to re-stock.

If you are enjoying our blog or are interested in following along on our adventures, make sure you check us out on Instagram. Or contact us to get added to our email newsletter.

Happy travels! The Youngs

Happy Like a Finn! Our family travels to Finland.

Hello! And welcome back to the Young Footsteps Around the World journal!

As you know by now, our family absolutely LOVES to travel!  Today, I am sharing about one of our favorite #familytravel trips to date; Finland.

When we lived in Germany, we took full advantage of how simple and affordable it was to travel around Europe. We continued to check new countries off our #bucketlist (although that list keeps growing by the day!) :) After learning about the Northern Lights by watching the cartoon “Dinosaur Train”, Lukas added Finland on the top of HIS bucket list. His frequent talks about the Aurora Borealis, convinced us to take him north to see these lights.

Our first trip to Scandinavia

After doing some online research, we discovered that February/March was the best time to catch a sighting of the amazing #NorthernLights.  So, in February of 2017, Chris, Lukas, and I packed up for a big adventure! Liam was only 18 months at the time, so we were worried about how he would handle the extreme cold temperatures.  Because of this, he stayed home with Oma and Opa in Germany who didn’t mind the extra time with sweet Liam! ;)

Our travels started by flying from Stuttgart, Germany into Helsinki, the capital of Finland.  From Helsinki, we booked a cabin in an overnight train to #Rovaniemi. This was a great option for those of you traveling with littles, especially ones that like trains!  At the Rovaniemi train station, we rented a car and drove 2 hours north into the Arctic Circle to a small city called Ivalo. There, we stayed in an Airbnb for 5 nights, and then returned to Rovaniemi to stay at the amazing Santa Claus Village for 2 additional nights.

Finland Food Diary

#Food is such an important part of any culture.  When we #travel, we make sure to try as much local #cuisine as possible. It is always more fun to sample and taste new foods, which is exactly what we did in Finland as well!

While in Helsinki, we ate aboard an antique ship restaurant called Kuurnari Kathrina.  We were not expecting much from a boat restaurant, but it was a charming little restaurant with great food.  We shared a stew called Labskaus, some smoked salmon, and some garlic potatoes. It was also in Helsinki that Lukas learned to love black licorice and reindeer jerky. He is such an adventurous guy!

Our most memorable meal in Rovaniemi was in a teepee restaurant. In the middle of the teepee was a fire where they smoked salmon.  The salmon was amazing, and the ambiance of the restaurant gave us such an incredible and authentic Finnish experience!

Best of Finland: Outdoor Activities

Being the nature lovers we are, every Young family trip we take we make sure to spend the majority of our time soaking in the fresh air and the sunshine (even in #Finland!).  While in Ivalo, some of our favorite activities included dog sledding, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling (it was a first for Lukas!). We also did a tour at Petri Mattus’ Reindeer Farm, which is a must see for anyone visiting Finland! After Petri dressed us in warm coveralls, we jumped in a sleigh and got pulled by his snowmobile out into the middle of a forest.  There, Petri started calling his reindeer, and they all came running towards him to get fed. The reindeer were close enough to touch. It was perfect for the entire family, young and old ;)

Since one of our goals of traveling to Finland was to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), we spent many evenings outside in the countryside patiently waiting and watching for the fantastic light show. During the trip, we were able to observe the lights 5 different times!

#TravelTips with Kids: Cold weather edition!

Since we only brought Lukas, our packing list was much lighter than normal.  No stroller, diapers, or pack and play was necessary this time! Although we packed a lot of cold weather gear, the dog sledding and reindeer farm tours made us wear their provided overalls, boots, and gloves. The Finnish people are more than accustomed to the cold, and we were very thankful for not only their hospitality.

Having extra pairs of gloves on hand (and even hand or foot warmers) is always a good idea for the littles. They love love love to jump around and play in the snow, but don’t always love when their hands get cold from it. ;) Being prepared (but not overpacked) is key!

Increasing your chances to the see the Lights.

Although we generally like to go with the flow on our trips and not “over plan”, it is so important that you do a little research before taking any trip.  We really wanted to be in Finland the perfect time to maximize our chances of seeing the Northern Lights. And, by doing our research, we found our that the days start to get longer by February/early March in Finland.

Our AirBnB host told us about a website that predicts the strength of the solar storms that produce the Northern Lights will be.  We used this website and the weather forecast to decide if we would go outside to look for the Lights.  Our biggest recommendation for the lights is to be patient. The storms not only differ from day to day, but from minute to minute. We also found the best place to see the lights was out in the countryside, far away from the glow of city lights.

There is a lot of luck involved with seeing the Northern Lights

Unfortunately, we experienced some cloud covering that was so thick that if covered up the sky entirely. On these nights, we did not even venture outside into the cold.  However, our patience paid off and we were finally able to see some spectacular views of the Northern Lights that we had been dreaming about while planning our trip!

"Oh my gosh!"

The best show happened on the last night we were in Ivalo. We hiked up a hill to get a better vantage point.  As soon as I got my camera on my tripod, the lights made their appearance. The solar storm was strong, so the lights popped. But, after about 30 minutes, the lights slowly faded out. Lukas was freezing, so we decided to start heading back to the car.

The entire walk down, I watched the sky.  About halfway down, I noticed the lights getting stronger. I told Chris and Lukas that I thought the lights were coming back.  All of a sudden, the sky immediately filled with the most amazing colors. We all screamed out in unison “Oh my gosh!” Lukas was more than ready for bed at this point, but even he was completely mesmerized. My heart was SO full after seeing his adorable reaction to the beauty of those dancing lights!  They danced for about 15 seconds and then they suddenly stopped again. But, we were totally fulfilled and headed back to the car.

We'll be Back!

All in all, we truly had a trip of a lifetime and it was so special to build these memories with Lukas.  But, it's also bittersweet to think back on our trip. While I captured some amazing photographs on my Canon, I accidentally deleted all the photographs when we returned home.  It still makes me sick to think of this mistake today. I totally blame it on the pregnancy brain that I had at the time from having Charlotte in my belly. We tried many data recovery techniques, but were unsuccessful. So, the only pictures we have from our trip are from our iPhones.

Because Finland is such a gorgeous country, I know we will be back one day to replace our lost photographs!

Please let me know if you have any questions or recommendations about your own travels to Finland. I would love to share with you!

As always, thanks for following along with our adventure journal, it means the world to me!

Xo

Julia