Byrneand

My wife and I have 3-months off in April-June (inclusive) next year. We will have a six month old child at that point and so are conscious that this means our US$5 per night backpacking days are probably over... but equally means that everything has to completely change.

Question for everyone; what would you do with 3 months travelling?

General rules would be that we're happy to split up the trip into different legs (e.g. a month in California/SW N.America) and then head to Japan etc.. Are fairly adventurous and have a reasonable budget; say for arguments US$15-30k for the three months.

Thanks in advance!

Katzgar

I suspect the realities of traveling with infants hasn't sunk in yet. All the time you spend caring for the little ones will simply be compounded when you travel with very young children. There are certainly family obligations that necessitate travel with infants but keep in mind that a 6 month old isn't going to climb el capitan.....so to speak. I would plan to travel slow and try to stay in one place as much as possible to limit the stress on the child.

janisj

>>We will have a six month old child at that point << . . . which means the child hasn't been born yet. I'd wait just a bit to make big plans.

But once you can start making plans - me personally, I'd consider 3 one month stays - they could be anywhere. Rent an apartment or house for a month and explore the region, then pack up and move to your next stop.

Could be on the CA coast, or a flat in London, or a villa in Italy or an apartment in Hong Kong or anywhere. Just don't plan a long series of 2, 3 4 night stops. That would be a killer.

suze

That budget has a HUGE range. $166/day for 3 people is a lot different than $333/day!

If I had that much time off I'd just go to Europe or Mexico or Hawaii (3 past favorites), rent an apartment for 3 months somewhere, and 'live like a local'. Probably not what you have in mind though.

sofarsogood

if you like backpacking on $5 per day, and not staying in one place, then do what this couple did with their baby

maybe not for everyone though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZxhFPnvGtM

suze

Child or no child I don't think anyone backpacks on "$5 a Day" anymore
;-)

Byrneand

Thanks everyone.

We obviously appreciate that life's going to change hence the idea of asking "what trips have others done with a 6m old, that they'd recommend?"

I doubt we will want to be just staying in three random cities/ or villages for a month at a time, simply out of just wanting to also get a cultural/exploration experience. We'd envisaged spending somewhere between 5 and 7 days in a few different places.

Fair play to that couple doing the 800km walk.. I don't think that will be us. We struggled enough doing the Inca trail sans baby!! We were thinking perhaps more East coast of Aus, West coast US or... Any other great ideas anyone else may have, or trips they've done and loved! Mexico sounds an interesting option and one we could potentially explore the practicalities of; what we could and couldn't do. As for budget, there basically isn't one, was just trying to at least put some boundaries around it. With flights etc, we'd be wanting to keep it reasonable, but not exclude something because its an extra $50 or $100 a day extra...

Yeah, I agree $5 won't get you too far these days but hopefully you appreciate what I mean. We've lived the city centre lifestyle for a number of years and spend a lot of time in 5 star hotels with work, so simplifying things is actually quite refreshing and really let's us relax. Essentially we'd be looking to try and hit that sweet spot of practical and reasonably affordable 80% of the time but happy to splurge or head somewhere special on occasions.

Thanks again for all your comments

suze

Mexico is a huge and diverse country. And your money can go a long ways there. You could do the 3 months in Mexico, but stay in 6-8 different places. You can still find $30/night hotel rooms even in popular spots like Puerto Vallarta (re the $5/day travel style).

thursdaysd

Your money can go a long way in south east Asia too, and some parts of Europe are cheaper than others - Greece and Portugal, for instance. But I don't get your problem with spending a month in one place if you want a cultural experience - no better way to get it. But if you have itchy feet, how about two weeks? Once you figure out how MUCH extra luggage you will have with the baby you likely won't want to do too much moving around.

There are some posters on the Europe board who have traveled with small children, you might post there as well. Also the North America board.

Byrneand

Hi Suze, Thanks for the tips on Mexico it's definitely something to look into. Moving April through to June, do you think it makes more sense to move in one direction or the other, in terms of weather, or other considerations (festivals, holidays etc.)

Thursdaysd, again thanks for the post. As I tried to convey, budget isn't a massive constraint, all I was trying to make to was that in terms of broad numbers we were looking at <$50k for the trip, rather than an endless amount of say $250k+ for the trip.

For a bit more background, we've been expats for a number of years and have spent considerable time (1-3 years) living in cities in Asia, Europe and Africa. In terms of experience, we're trying to think along the lines of what "trips of a lifetime" if any, are doable with a baby. We're doing dry runs in November and then in December, will be doing transcontinental to Europe, across to the US for 10 days, back to Europe for two weeks and then back to where we currently live transcontinental. We knows it's not ideal, but have tried to reduce the burden but it's the knock on effect of having close family spread around the world.

To try and make things easier, we've bought duplicates of our home set up in each of the locations, will be travelling in J, and then have arranged for a family member to fly with my wife, if I can't travel with her. Will it make it a doddle... No, but should hopefully make it a bit easier.

We will be returning, to live in Europe in a few years and so ideally, would like to explore there more (we've both travelled the region extensively in the past) at that point. Alternatively, you could just rent a villa in Tuscany and kick back for a month. We're looking to try and turn the excitement dial up a notch however.

The original question, I suppose I was trying to ask was, has anyone done or attempted to do and trips that would typically be found on the "100 trips you'd do before you die" style lists with a baby, and if so, did they enjoy it, would they recommend it and if so any tips?

thursdaysd

I have never traveled with a baby. However, as I posted, there are people who post on Fodors who have, but very few people read, never mind post, on this particluar board. You will be more likely to find them if you post on the boards for Europe, Asia, etc.

Gardyloo

Just buy a couple of round-the-world airline tickets, plot out some places you want to see, go to the first one, then stay or continue on as you see fit. RTW tickets allow free date changes, they're good for a year, and you can use them to get to bucket-list places for a look-see. Easter Island? Fiji? Cape Town? All doable. Apri-June is ideal because it bridges several climate/region options, so you can "cherry pick" your local conditions by careful route planning.

Gardyloo

Was going to add, I wouldn't feel too constrained with a six-month old. It's not a bad time to travel; they're not as demanding as newborns and haven't yet become mobile enough to run up and down airplane aisles. <b>Twenty</b>-six months... now that's something entirely different.