I think everyone at Hellobee was inspired by Mrs. Scooter’s recent post on how to create and nurture your village. We are lucky to have a lot of friends in the same stage of life as ourselves; unfortunately, we are all spread out so daily interaction is not easily accomplished. To make up for lost time, we decided to go on vacation with two of our closest friends and their dear 13 month old. We had a wonderful time and hope to make it a family tradition!
There are so many benefits to going on vacation with your “village.” I enjoyed not having to apologize for our strict nap schedule, or for the few times when Scribble fussed. This was our first vacation as a family, and I was very nervous about maintaining Scribble’s routine as much as possible. Fortunately, the couple we vacationed with was in the same boat! It was so easy to plan our days around our kids’ sleep needs. I didn’t have to feel guilty about requesting an early dinner time or child-friendly restaurant, or taking fifteen minutes to get our gear together before an outing.
Traveling with our village gave us so much freedom. On a few occasions I left Mr. Sketchbook with our friends while I took solo walks or swims. I would never dream of leaving him alone in a hotel room on vacation if it had been only the two of us! We also split into wife/wife and husband/husband pairs on a few occasions, and our friends were nice enough to watch Scribble while we enjoyed time together as a couple as well!
It makes so much practical sense to travel with your village. We were able to save money on a condo and a rental car big enough for our whole group to travel in. We only packed one high chair, one beach tent, and one baby bathtub. We split food costs down the middle and shared tasks like dishes and laundry. The husbands cooked every night, which was such a welcome respite from my normal routine!
Most importantly, it was so gratifying to spend time with people who are in the same season of life– to coo at our kids and commiserate about the challenges of parenting. Because our friends’ child is six months ahead of Scribble, we got a sneak peek at what lies ahead for us. I was inspired by my friends’ parenting choices and found myself getting excited about all the promise of the toddler stage! Although Scribble is still a little too young to play with children, I got a kick out of watching him marvel at his friend’s skills. And it was so heartwarming to see my college pals playing with my child.
Scribble was such a joy on vacation. We tried to accommodate his routine and give him as much time to sleep as possible, and in return he was flexible and happy when we needed him to be! At nearly seven months, Scribble is curious about his surroundings, but not so mobile that he is hard to handle!
We had such a blessed time on our family vacation. It was so great to loosen our grip on the daily grind and devote ourselves to relaxing and recharging as parents, individuals, and as a couple.
Do you or would you ever vacation with friends?
pomegranate / 3383 posts
Your vacation looked awesome!!! I totally agree that it’s so nice to be able to vacation with others that understand your schedule and your baby’s needs. So great that you were able to spend some alone time and that you and your hubby could go out sans baby!
We’re actually on vacation right now and we went to visit friends one afternoon for an early dinner. They re expecting a little one in May so they have a nursery all set up in their house. They tried really hard to convince us to put our LO down for the night at their place but we arrived totally unprepared (no jammies, no sleepsack, no lovey, no bottle, etc…). I’m sure they’ll understand better a few months down the road.
GOLD / nectarine / 2884 posts
@Sammyfab: a similar thing happened when I was pregnant! Some friends with a two month old came into town for the day and we ended up having a long outing and a late supper while the LO napped. She had all the necessary items since they had come to visit for the whole day, so they ended up staying with us and she was the first to use his pack n play! Of course they had to share an extra toothbrush we had lol!
grapefruit / 4923 posts
what a great idea! sounds like you all had a wonderful vacation!
pomelo / 5178 posts
I hope to do this in the future. It seems like the perfect setup!
pomegranate / 3383 posts
@Mrs. Sketchbook: that’s awesome that your friend was so prepared!! We promised to be better prepared for next time. I can’t wait until I can just plop my LO down anywhere!
guest
I’ve been wanting to vacation with friends for a while now, but it’s understandably hard to coordinate with everyone’s jobs AND kids. Maybe once the weather warms. I was thinking something easy and quitable, like camping, for our first foray.
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
This looks like a wonderful getaway! We do vacation with friends, but usually we meet somewhere since our friends are far flung. In the future, we hope to rent a house somewhere and do a big gathering.