Hellobee

Just three weeks ago, Mr. Piñata and I returned from a 9 day trip to Italy! We have always wanted to take a trip to Europe together, but due to various circumstances (mostly financial), this was the first time it really made sense, so we were quite excited about the chance. Mr. Piñata’s sister and her husband are living in Florence for the year and we were absolutely shocked last November when we discovered that our credit card had accumulated the EXACT number of frequent flyer miles we needed to get two tickets there during the low season! After contemplating what it would be like to bring Little Piñata (our very high sleep needs toddler) on an international flight and then deal with jet lag for just a one week trip (I couldn’t miss more work than that), we quickly decided it would be easier and better for everyone involved if Little P stayed with my parents while we went on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

BUT, the problem was that I did so much to prepare for Little Piñata’s stay without us, that we didn’t prepare as much as we should have for our own trip! We definitely had an amazing time while we were there and it was a fantastic vacation, but looking back we definitely didn’t do everything right and know what to do better on our next trip for two.

Me and Mr. Piñata at the Roman Forum

1. Communicate with your partner about your travel expectations long before your trip.

Thankfully, this is something we did pretty well. Even though we were away from home for 9 days (and 7 nights), the total time we were actually IN Italy was just 6.5 days. And while we were there we wanted to do as much as we could! So, we had agreed ahead of time that we wanted to be busy and see as much as possible and put rest and relaxation on the back burner. Since we agreed that this was the type of vacation we were going for this time, neither one of us was hanging back and complaining about the fast pace of everything.

This also applied to our expectations of skyping with Little Piñata while we were gone. Of course we wanted to chat with him every day because we missed him so much. But, we decided that as long as the report from home was that he was happy, we didn’t want to confuse him or make him upset by showing up on a computer screen. Little P actually did amazingly well while we were gone, so we were sad to not skype with him the whole time! But, getting emails letting us know that he was happy and healthy and not even asking for us were enough for us to know he was doing great.

2.  Read the guidebooks ahead of time.

If we had taken a trip to the beach and just wanted to lay in the sun and read the majority of the trip, this would not have been necessary. But since we were going to Europe, a guidebook would have been invaluable. Actually, Mr. Piñata’s mom and step-dad had been to Italy just a month before we went and they recommended that we read the Rick Steve’s Italy Guidebook, but we foolishly scoffed at that idea. We thought we could get there and decide which would be the best attractions and restaurants and that we would have no problems figuring out public transportation. But, this was definitely our biggest regret! Especially during our time in Rome we were totally overwhelmed with all we wanted to do and the little time we had there. We tried to do way too much in those short 2.5 days. And, the bus system in Rome is a total mess. We wasted a lot of time figuring that out, but we would have learned that on our own had we read the darn book!

Thankfully my in-laws had shared with us ahead of time what they learned from their trip, which was a total life saver. We knew what museums and attractions to buy tickets for days or weeks ahead of time (saving us a lot of time waiting in lines), and had downloaded audio guides as apps on our devices (saving us lots of money on museum audio guides). These are the types of things you learn about in guidebooks. So, if you can find people who have previously traveled to your destination, it’s also great to get their tips and tricks along with the information from the books.

3. If you’re traveling to a country that speaks another language, learn a few important phrases.

Thankfully, Mr. Piñata’s sister speaks some Italian since she has lived there for over 7 months, so while we were traveling with her she did a lot of translating. I also know Spanish, so that came in handy when figuring out signs or anything written since the languages are so similar.  It also helped that in the big cities a lot of the people spoke English; but in my opinion, you shouldn’t assume that people in another part of the world will know your language.

However, one phrase neither one of us knew was, “Where is the closest hospital?” which would have come in handy! One day, thankfully near the end of the trip, we were having a picnic in a tiny village about an hour outside of Florence when I accidentally cut my hand deep enough to immediately know I needed stitches. We had absolutely no idea where to go though! We were very lucky that the sweet priest came to our aide and spoke fluent Spanish, so we figured out how to get to a clinic, and then a hospital with his help. But, had he not been there I have no idea how long it would have taken to find it! Of course, no one plans to have an accident like this on their trip, but it’s still good to know how to ask for the nearest doctor (or bathroom, etc.) in the language of the country you’ll be traveling in. (The good news if you end up needing medical care in a country that has socialized medicine is that it will hardly cost you a thing. Stitches and bandages at the ER in Italy? I paid less than $40.)

Yep! That really was my bandage surrounding my 3 stitches!

4.  DO make lots of checklists before you leave for before, during, and after your trip.

In addition to the lists I made for Little Piñata (which I will write about in another post), I made two separate lists for our trip. One list was for everything I needed to DO, like make sure the cloth diapers were clean before we left, get someone to take care of our yard and mail, etc. And another list was everything we needed to pack in order to avoid a forgotten passport or shortage of underwear. When you’re in a flurry of getting your child or children to spend a significant amount of time away from you as well as preparing for your own trip, it’s very easy to forget things. So, make as many lists as you need to to help keep you sane.

5. Plan as much ahead of time as you can.

There is so much you have to do at the last minute of your trip. You definitely don’t want to be looking at hotels the day (or even a week or a month) before your trip. Once you buy your flights, try to take care of as many details as you can ahead of time. We were grateful that Mr. Piñata’s sister told us about a 2 for 1 train ticket sale a couple weeks ahead of time, so we were able to get those before they sold out. We also found that we could buy tickets early for certain popular sites, and without buying those a couple of weeks ahead of time, we definitely wouldn’t have gotten into the Vatican Museum!

We definitely didn’t plan our day-to-day as much as we should have ahead of time. This was due to the fact that we have a toddler and jobs, but we should have taken a Saturday afternoon (or more) at least a month ahead of time to look at guidebooks and online sites to see how we wanted to spend our time best. We had thought we could plan that on the plane ride since we’d have to just sit there for 9 hours anyway, but just looking at a downloaded city map of Rome is not a sufficient way to plan your 2.5 days in one of the most amazing and historical cities ever.

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If you’re anything like us, the chance to go on a trip with just the two of you will be a rare opportunity! You do want to make the best of your time and remember that before you were ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ you were partners together in life! So, enjoy your time together and remember all the things that brought you together in the first place. Who knows what you’ll learn about your mate in the dedicated time to spend together just the two of you?

If you have already traveled without your kids, what are some of your big travel tips?