Since we had Stella I truly understand what people said to me for years before I had children, “you’ll never know the love you can give until you have a child.” It is clear to me now how much you can really love someone. It’s a love you can’t even explain. An unconditional love.
The past few days I’ve really thought about this a lot. A recent story in the news here in England has been haunting me. Terrorizing me actually. I heard the story in the car on the way back from Liverpool.
A man had been charged and sentenced to life for snapping his 16 month old baby daughter’s spine. Hearing the story on the radio was heart wrenching and painful just to listen to. How could anyone have the strength and anger to snap a child’s spine? And it was her own father? What parent could be so evil and uncaring to a poor helpless child?
Well on Saturday I actually read the paper and got the entire story. This little girl had been mistreated and abused since the day she was born. Malnutrition and severe dehydration (she weighed a little over 13 pounds when she died, a very low weight for that age, Stella weighed that much at a mere 6 months) was the likely reason that this evil man was able to break the little girl (Amy’s) spine.
Amy also had a broken arm, leg and ribs and bruised terrible. Amy hadn’t been seen by a Dr. since February. Her mother lived with her father who was also pregnant. The mother only got a 1 year sentence.
I am now haunted with the thought of what her unborn baby sister or brother will go thru.
Mercifully, according to the doctors, Amy died instantly and suffered no additional pain. Given that her mere 16 months of life were spent in pain I can only hope she’s in a safer and happier place.
I wanted to write about this as it has really impacted me. I look at our sweet Stella and think I don’t know what I’d do without her and am so thankful to have her in my and her Daddy’s life. We shower her with so much love each day.
So I dedicate this blog post to Amy. I hope that in some way she knows that there is someone out there who cares about her and is sending her a little bit of love.
Hug your children. Give them kisses (in our cases hundreds a day). Play with your children. Listen to your children. Enjoy your children. All they need is LOVE.
If you don’t have children, I’m sure there are some “little people” in your life in some way that you can probably make a difference in making sure they know they are loved.
Part of our trip was planned to visit family and friends that we haven’t seen in awhile and especially since we have moved to Vancouver. While it means we are moving around a lot, it’s been nice to see a lot of friends and family.
This week has been spent visiting Justin’s family and hitting Manchester so Justin could see a Manchester United game (a missing item on his “resume of sports events” that can now be “ticked”). While the week had its challenges with poor little Stella having a pretty bad cold, it was a nice trip.
Francesca and Stella
We started out at Eden and Janine’s house in Stratford Upon Avon. Wellington, Justin’s Dad, had arrived there for a visit so we met him for dinner with Eden, Janine and Francesca (Justin’s cousin). It was a nice visit and good to catch up. We had not seen them since 2005 when we were over for a visit.
We then headed up to Manchester so Justin and his Dad could go the match. We stayed in a really nice hotel, Yang Sing Oriental Hotel. I highly recommend it if you are going to Manchester. Free breakfast, mini-bar and very nice/ornate rooms. There’s also a great Chinese restaurant attached where we had a nice dim sum.
Stella and I spent the evening shopping and then hanging out in our hotel room with room service and a movie. It was very nice mommy/daughter time which was quite fun for me as she’s finally old enough to relate to - well sort of - and “hang out” with.
I even picked up a pair of proper English riding boots!
Manchester is a great city, shopping, culture and a variety of ethnic cuisine. And of course they have teh best footy team Man-United!
Helen and Stella
We then headed back to Liverpool to visit Justin’s Grandmother Alice and also see some close family friends (and Justin’s Mum’s long time childhood friend), Helen, Charles and their lovely three boys.
Charles and Samuel with Stella
It’s been nice to let Stella spend some time with family and experience the life and culture of her roots here in England. We look forward to the next few months as well where we will be taking her to Pennsylvania, NYC and of course VA to visit and experience some of my roots and places where Justin and I both have many memories.
That is the one thing about travel. Outside of experiencing new things (which we love to do), it’s also nice sometimes to go back to your roots and explore and remember who you are and where you came from.
Back to Marlow for 10 days and then off to St. Louis for work on November 5.
Some Baby Tips:
Make sure you travel equipped with a few relief medicines, balms, etc. for baby in case they get a cold and you find yourself unable to get to a market. Stella unfortunately picked up a really bad cold last week at the little daycare/play time we took her to. I had a few things that I knew helped relieve her cold with me and picked up a few other things here. At her age there isn’t much you can do but Vicks balm and menthol vaporizers really help. Unfortunately I was unable to find a cool mist vaporizer in England. Apparently no one uses those here.
Another thing to think about if you are traveling in Europe. Don’t run out of diapers on a Sunday (and in some places, any day for that matter). We were rationing out our last diapers last Sunday as I didn’t realize I was out until 5 pm on Sunday and every shop was closed. Thankfully we made it with the last 2 diapers until morning but we could have been in BIG trouble!
It’s been a nice week and half in Marlow.We’ve gotten caught up on work and life and have settled back into “the simple life” a bit.Stella even started a mini-childcare for 2 hours today at the local community center.I dropped her off and I could barely get her coat off before she was off and running and never looked back.
Stella and Mommy Having Some Fun
Clearly, Mommy must prepare for her little bird to take flight sooner than she had expected!
Train to London
Last weekend we went into London to visit with some friends, do some shopping and eat some yummy meals.We met up with Emma, Simon and Tiffin on Saturday at “Inn the Park” and had a nice long leisurely lunch in the park.Emma and Simon live in London and Tiffin was in town on his way home from work travel.They are friends from Vancouver and went to high school with Brandon (Justin’s brother).
Stella took some breaks and walked around the park carrying her new Louis Vuitton purse and was quite a hit.It’s her favorite thing to do, that is, walk around and carry her purse.And by the way, no, I’m not crazy, I did not buy her a real Louis Vuitton…she got a really nice fake while we were in Greece.
Lunch with Tiffin, Emma and Simon
Dinner at Aaya - yes, it was "HIP" and Stella loved it
Saturday Justin, Stella and I went to a very stylish and hip Japanese restaurant, “Aaya,” and all ate well.Stella even gobbled up her favorites:edamame, barbeque ribs and yam tempura.It was a great evening even with a small baby at a non-kid friendly restaurant.We had contemplated a babysitter but after finding out the prices (nearly $200 for 4 hours) we decided to risk it and take her with us.She was fantastic and it was an enjoyable meal.Don’t miss the lobster salad if you ever go!Yum.
After a very un-restful Saturday night…we were staying at the Le Meridian, Piccadilly, great location but incredibly loud and “wild” on the streets (and of course Justin had to stay up to watch the Penn State game and woke Stella and I up several times)…we were off for yet more great food at the very famous and old “Wolsley’s” for breakfast and then a bit of shopping at Selfridges and Zara (there was a line-up at noon to get in the door at Zara).
Tip:If you are in need of a stroller repair and are in a big city, hit some of the high end department stores.Selfridges had a bike shop and we think they “finally” fixed our tire issues on the Mountain Buggy.
We capped off the trip with an early dinner at a dim sum and tea house.We had some great dim sum and the place was just beautiful to look at.
Clearly the food was the draw for us to London and since we hadn’t had much Asian food in awhile we were all about getting our fill.(We eat Asian food at least 2-4 times per week in Vancouver so we were definitely missing it).
A few tips for traveling with a baby in a big city:As I’ve said before don’t over plan and wear very comfortable shoes.We failed on both regards.We had big plans to do a ton of stuff while we were in London but we only ended up doing about ¼ of the things we had planned.We both wore shoes that killed our feet and we even ended up buying Justin a new pair.
Plan for at least one nap in the hotel for your baby if they are still taking 2 a day.Stella only got 2 full naps the two days we were in London and both were in her stroller.It did not make for a very happy baby for much of the time we were gone but we still made the most of it.
Take cabs.While we tried to use the tube to be more environmental and save money (at the end of the day it was NOT much of a cost savings anyway) it was so much work with a stroller.There were few lifts/elevators and carrying bags and the stroller up stairs is not ideal, especially after being tired after walking and sightseeing, shopping, etc. all day.We finally just gave up and walked to most places and then cabbed back.
Be prepared for crowds.While we had just visited Munich and we live in Vancouver (both reasonably sized cities) I had forgot how crowded the streets are in London.I guess you also pay more attention to it as well when you are navigating with a stroller.Have patience and breathe…
We have a lot going on with our business right now but hope that the end of the week will bring some success and relief from a bit of stress.
The weather in England has actually been very nice and we’ve been enjoying walks along the Thames and exploring a bit.Stella still loves her daily trip to the park.
Of everywhere we visited so far I’d say Durbrovnik was my favorite. I highly recommend it to anyone who dreams of a Mediterranean get-a-way right out of Conde Nast. Thanks to Craig we had a gorgeous villa with amazing views. (Minus the 300+ steps from top to bottom—but we all have strong calves now).
Our Villa - A View From the Sea
There were kiwis, fresh herbs, lemons and limes growing right on the property and a lovely garden with roses and all sorts of trees and flowers. This was amazing given that the villa was literally built into a cliff. A lot of history in this house as well, it was used as a look out point during the war. For more information check out this article that was featured in the Washington Post in 2002 where the writer stayed in our villa. And yes, they left us homemade apple streudel as well.
The View From the Garden
Old town Dubrovnik is a beautiful walled city with red tiled roofs. We did the walk around the entire wall and had some great views. There’s also a monastery, one of the oldest operating pharmacies in Europe and many galleries. I read that the City of Dubrovnik spends 22% of their budget on cultural projects - that’s a lot given the country is still recovering from war torn status.
View of Old Town Dubrovnik from Tower Lookout Window
There’s a lot of debate amongst the locals regarding how and if they want to become a big tourist destination. Dubrovnik is already being called the Riviera of the Adriatic and there are 4-5 cruise ships docked their on any given day. The locals didn’t seem to keen to have any of us tourists there either. The friendliness of Greece was virtually non-existent here.
We also hit Korcula, an island about 100 KM from Dubrovnik. We were lucky to have a very traditional and yummy meal at our friend Randy Farac’s family’s restaurant, “Mate” in Putnap on the island.
Lunch at Mate
Most of the trip was spent relaxing on our porch overlooking the Adriatic and cooking fantastic meals in. While we had a pool and steps right into the sea it was too cold for swimming. Justin and Craig did hit the sea twice just to say they had been swimming but Sanaz and I weren’t going to brave the cold.
The only complaint anyone had was that since the Dubrovnik area and Croatia for that matter isn’t very toursity, outside of the Old Town of Dubrovnik we were hardpressed to find many shops or restaurants in the little villages we went exploring in. We did find a great roadside stand selling fresh oysters and mussels. We got 2 kilos of mussels for 16 kuna…that’s about $3.50 US!
There is a lot to see in Croatia and it’s on my list for a repeat visit. I think the best way to do it would be to do a sailing trip so that you can hit all the islands and coastal villages. Maybe in a few years when Stella won’t be falling overboard!
We are back in Marlow now and back on line and contactable via phone easily. So back to a normal life again. We are here for a month so we hope to get caught up on work and with friends and family.
As for the simple baby travel…we have to say that we are ready to not get on a plane or go anywhere for awhile. With Stella walking she doesn’t want to sit still for long. So perhaps the simpleness of baby travel may be coming to a close but stay tuned!
A tip on staying in a villa with children. Check out how many stairs there are and if the place is child friendly. We knew going in that our villa was not recommended for small children. We figured that since she was just learning to walk it would be OK. Carrying her up and down the stairs wasn’t so bad and she actually climbed a few herself. However, the challenges of baby proofing were quite high this go around and she actually fell from the picnic table while Justin and I were sitting and standing right beside her. But children will be children and they are going to fall! Our villa did provide a pack and play and high chair again which was great.
We continue to be happy to have had these experiences traveling as a family and look forward to our future plans.
So there were way less children at Oktoberfest than I had anticipated. From what I’d seen on line I thought there would be quite a few but I was wrong. NONE in the tents at all and a few at the fairgrounds. Ms. Stella was quite a hit as you could imagine.
Our visit to Oktoberfest was even more exciting as we got to see our good friends Alison and Stephen Lukan and Sanaz and Craig Pentz. Old college friends of Justin’s and actually Pentz and Lukan were my roommates back in the day. They’ve always felt like “brothers” to me so it’s always really nice to see them.
It has been 12 years since I visited Munich and I forgot what a great city it is. Beautiful, clean and very nice. We’ve had some great Bavarian meals (even got a night out with our friends last night as my Dad watched Stella). We were also lucky enough to have some local guides compliments of a friend (and chef) of Alison and Stephen.
Oktoberfest 2008
My Dad really enjoyed Oktoberfest…maybe a bit too much. He left today and it was sad to see him go. Little Stella cried.
Sanaz, Alison and I got all kitted out in our Dirndl today! Was fun to get into the spirit of the festival. Although I think we had just as much fun shopping for our dirndl as we did wearing them!
Alison, Dreama and Sanaz in Our Dirndl
We are off to Dubrovnik, Croatia with Craig and Sanaz tomorrow for 6 nights. Should be a nice trip and our last “vacation” before we are back to the grindstone full time!
Some tips if you plan to ever bring a baby or children to Oktoberfest.
Go ahead, it will be fun but have patience.
Go early and try to go during mid-week versus the weekend.
Leave before 6 pm as it gets pretty “ugly,” not a good scene for children.
The food in the tents is very nice but we actually enjoyed the food outside in the fairgrounds and there is tons of different things you can try at more affordable prices.
We actually got a lot of “free passes” since we had a baby. Getting into the tents was easier and we even had a really nice server chase after us and gave us a table. NOTE: it is not easy to get a table reservation in the tents. Reserve early or know a local.
Don’t take a stroller on a weekend. The crowds are elbow to elbow. We took our stroller on Thursday and Stella even had her afternoon nap there but today (Saturday) we used the Kelty Kidds backpack again and it proved to be a worthy purchase.
Daddy and His Weisn Princess
One last word on Germany. Everyone has been very nice to Stella. She’s gotten more free toys from restaurants, hotels, and even random people in the festival tents. She was a lucky girl.
Justin, Craig and Stephen are watching the Penn State game tonight at 2 AM local time…we have to be up at 7 AM to get ready for our flight. Wish me luck!
Well after all the fun, it had to end. Greece has been a very nice trip, despite the first few weeks of never ending chaos. The people are very kind and the island lovely.
We’ve hit all our favorites the last few days and here’s a round up of the best of our family trip:
1. Villages:
Lardhos Bakery - Stella got a free bread stick every time
Lardos: Nicest people we met and a real local feel. Don’t miss the bakery and butcher near the vegetable stand. Stella got a free breadstick every time we saw the bakery lady and “Mr. Vancouver” aka Justin, got 2 free sausages from the butcher every time. We shopped there often. And of course Roula’s the restaurant which I blogged about before.
Mr. Vancouver and the Butcher of Lardhos
Gennadi: Great restaurant called Mamma’s Kitchen and also a nice bakery and vegetable stand. Very local and you get a great feel for the island life here.
2. The Acropolis and village of Lindos. Gorgeous and incredible that it’s still here after so many years (their are ruins in the acropolis dating back to 400 BC).
Acropolis of Lindos
3. Old Town Rhodes. Beautiful walled city and again, incredible that it has survived this long and after so many different occupiers of the island of Rhodes (Italians, Turks, to name a few).
4. The mountain drive from the airport to Embona (wine area). Beautiful scenery and different from the rest of the island (plenty of trees).
5. Restaurants:
Dionysius in Lindos: great seafood (they tell you what is fresh) and nice atmosphere.
Roulas: mentioned above. Good Greek food.
Mamma’s Kitchen: as mentioned in an earlier blog. Fantastic homemade Greek food in a garden setting in the village of Gennadi.
Tsambika’s Taverna: at the top of the hill at Tsambika’s beach and on the way to Rhodes Town from Lindos. Great views and good seafood and grilled meat selections. Definitely worth the stop.
Lee Beach Cafe at Lee’s Beach/Pefkos. OK, we liked it for more than the name. Fantastic gyros and again really nice people. Great views. We went there more times than we can count.
Jasmine in Pefkos. Nothing to rave about their food but they have: bar, big screen TVs with football/soccer, and a playground for Stella. Great combo. We also went there often for high speed wireless internet.
6. Catamaran to Marmaris: don’t go for shopping as advertised but for the boat ride over (beautiful) and a walk along the port and thru the village. Both are very nice and you actually get a feel for Turkish life.
7. Beaches: St. Paul’s Bay (great view of the acropolis, quaint and nice beach shack for drinks) and Pefkos (sandy);
8. Hikes: Hike up Navarone Bay cliffs (Where “The Guns of Navarone” was filmed) and the hike of the mountains and cliffs behind our villa in Navarone Bay/Saltos.
All in all it was a fantastic trip to Greece. Would we do anything differently? One suggestion would be not to rent a villa when it is brand new. Wait until it has gone thru one season so that all the kinks and problems are worked out and all those things you wish you had brought but have to go buy are already there.
As for some baby tips.
I mentioned this before but call ahead to see if your villa or hotel has baby gear so you don’t have to bring it. Our villa provided us with a pack and play and a high chair and our car rental company, M&S (great company by the way) provided us with a free car seat to use.
And drum roll please…Ms. Stella finally walked. Check it out. We had been betting on when she finally would. She’s been crusing for months and taking 2-3 steps here and there for the past few weeks but yesterday she took off.
We are off to Germany to Oktoberfest on Wed. Should be a fun time.
We can hardly believe we’ve been here nearly 5 weeks. We leave next Wed. It’s been a really nice trip over all and we’ve experienced a lot of great things and spent some quality time as a family and with our family.
My Dad arrived on Sunday night after a very long flight (and 8 hour layover in Athens). It was really nice to see him. We’ve been hanging out, catching up on work since we have a little extra help again and doing some more sightseeing.
Paw-Paw and Stella
We hiked up the cliffs
Stella in the Kelty Kids Backpack
where the “Guns of Navarone” was filmed using our new baby carrier, “Kelty Kid.” So far so good, very good hiking backpack. Would recommend it.
We also checked out Prasonisi at the very southern trip of the island where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean Sea. A sand barge appears in the summer that you can walk across. Very pretty and tons of windsurfers out and about.
As our time here comes to a close I feel quite sad to be leaving but excited for the other adventures that lie ahead. We have been hitting all our favorite spots one last time and went to Rhodes Town again for some shopping.
Octopus Drying at Tsambika's Tavern
Rhodes Old Town
The weather here has gotten a lot cooler and it’s very nice except I really like it to be hot when I go swimming! A bit cold when you get out.
Everyone is getting excited about Oktoberfest next week. Even Stella is learning to do a bit of the German beer hall dancing in preparation.
Yesterday we went to Turkey. We visited the port town of Marmaris, which is only about 12 KM from the coast of Rhodes. Marketing for Marmaris is for shopping but I think they need to change their message. It was a beautiful port town and really nice people. The shopping wasn’t much and really the only disappointment (fake purses, etc., but they promised nice leather goods).
Marmaris, Turkey
Getting to Know the Locals in Another Bike Shop
We were lucky enough to have yet another flat tire on the Mountain Buggy and got to rub elbows with the locals even more. We now see the flat tires as a way to meet the locals and have just embraced it and laugh!
It was a very long day for us all…up at 6 AM and not home until 8:30 pm. 1 hour drive to the port, waited for customs to decide if they were going to strike for 45 mins., 1 hour ferry and then we did it all again (minus the strike) on the way back. We’ve decided no more day trips for us until Stella gets much older. It’s just too much for a baby and to be honest…I didn’t follow my “Golden Rule” of baby travel which is to get plenty of sleep before you go…Justin and I were out (not too late but too many bottles of wine) the night before for a little alone and uninterrupted dinner time.
But worth the trip just to see Turkey and experience the culture (which was much easier to find than here in Rhodes). We had a nice lunch in the port, walked around town, experienced the call to the Mosque several times and Justin even indulged and got a proper shave and haircut at the barbers. He loved it, he said it was the best haircut and shave ever (and I have to say, they gave him quite a “scrub…” never seen him so shiny!).
Justin Getting a Real Turkish Shave and Cut
So onto the title of my post. I got a chance to chat with some of the local Turks. You don’t really see many women out and about in Turkey so my conversations were with men mostly. While Justin was getting “polished up” I started chatting with one of the vendors of a “leather coat stand.” He’d joked with me and asked where I was from (”you from Canada, you need warm leather coat”).
Stella was asleep in the stroller so I sat outside the barber shop waiting for Justin and taking it all in. Just observing daily life in the bazaar and watching the vendor try to convince people to come into his store. His “schtick” or line was always, “are you rich?” He even said to two girls, “if you aren’t rich I don’t want to talk to you…” Not sure how that was supposed to get people in his store but he must have some psychological magic up his sleeve I just couldn’t grasp.
We also talked about Turkey. I told him how beautiful Marmaris was and that everyone I’d met so far was very nice. He asked me to take him to Canada. I said, “why, you don’t like Turkey?” He then said, “No, I love my country.” From what I’ve read the Turks are a very proud country. But, he continued, “I hate the people in Turkey…” I found this interesting because for me, the people are the country.
So as we chatted more he looked into the barber shop and pointed to Justin and said “is he rich?” I looked at him and thought for a second. We had been told on the way there by our bus driver that the highest paid people in Turkey made about 1000 - 1500 Euros a month. Not really much if you think about as these are the doctors, lawyers, architects, etc. So compared to the local income of Turkey I’d say, yes maybe we are rich by his standards.
But really, we aren’t. So I said, “no, not rich….rich in life, but not in money.” This really sort of made him think. He said he liked that and walked away.
This conversation made me think more too. I feel so lucky to have the experiences we’ve had and truly do feel “rich in life.” It’s not the money you make or the things you buy that make you rich but rather the experience you have and memories you make.
Granddad and Teresa leave tonight and I know he’s going to miss his little Stella. They have giggled non-stop since he arrived. Teresa has been a really nice help and Stella has really enjoyed playing with her.
Granddad (Justin’s Dad) arrived on Monday with his girlfriend Teresa.We’ve had a nice couple of days hanging out and plan to go to Turkey tomorrow as it is very close to Rhodes.I’m counting on my Father-in-Law to do some good bargaining for me with the Turks.
Hanging Out With Granddad
Granddad and Teresa have been great playmates for Ms. Stella and helped out a lot with her so her Dad and I could get some work done and have a little time alone.That’s the one thing about this trip that we didn’t really think about.We don’t really get any breaks or alone time except when Stella is asleep.But to be honest, we miss her so much when we aren’t with her…we are quite pathetic actually.
Justin and I actually hiked up the mountain behind our villa.Every time we’d get over one crest we’d see another one and kept going.Worth the effort as we had some great views.
Granddad also brought us 2 new tires for the Mountain Buggy so we have all new tires now.Hopefully (fingers crossed) we won’t have any more problems.For all those with Mountain Buggies or plan to get a Mountain Buggy if you will be a very hot climate keep the PSI to 17-18, not the recommended 20.This will allow for the inner tube and tire to swell.Since we figured out the air pressure thing and the heat has let up a bit we haven’t had any more problems.
Granddad's Little Helper
A note on the Greeks.Such nice people (for the most part).We went back to one of our favorite villages and restaurants last night, Roula’s in Lardos.We wanted to show Granddad and Teresa how nice the village people were and the restaurant workers.They absolutely love Stella and remembered us from our previous visit.All the waiters kept coming by and giving Stella kisses and picking her up.It was very sweet.
Granddad and Teresa leave on Saturday night and my Dad arrives on Sunday.
Being here in Greece has made me realize what an environmentalist I’ve become. Living in Vancouver, BC it’s pretty easy to be environmentally conscious and if you aren’t, you are a bit of an odd-ball. For those of you who don’t live in a recycling city here are a few examples….I was talking to some friends back East once and saying how much we recycle in Vancouver, that you wouldn’t believe it. They said, “like..what?” Well, for example, did you know you can recycle your toilet paper roll?I also read recently that 65% of all Vancouverites compost… Since we live in a townhouse I decided not to compost as I couldn’t stomach the worm composters…worms are “icky” but I have to say I feel a bit of guilt for not doing it…
Anyway, back to the post title. The amount of trash I’ve seen around the island is absolutely appalling. The majority of it is bottle caps and plastic bags. If you got to a beach maintained by a hotel or someone renting beach chairs and umbrellas it’s still full of cigarette butts and bottle tops.
And we thought when we got here there would be tons of fresh seafood and I had these great plans to go visit the local fisherman and get some yummy fish for our BBQs….well we visited him and he went into the freezer and pulled out this frozen tiny fish…all he had for the day. I still haven’t gotten a clear answer on where all the fish have gone … the guide books say overfishing. We do see some small ones swimming around in the sea occasionally.
But where have all the fish gone? Why aren’t we cleaning up our trash or at least trying to not produce so much? I know it’s not just this island (however, I don’t remember past trips to the Mediterranean being this destitute when it came to the fish or this dirty when it comes to the trash).
When I think about this it makes me really worried that Stella and Stella’s future children won’t have clean beaches to visit or fresh (and yummy) seafood to eat.
I know there are some out there who disagree with global warming theories, etc.But can’t we all see the harm we are doing to our environment?Forget about melting ice caps.Just look at the trash we produce?Where does it all go?Even my brother, who often calls me a “big hippie,” has said, if we don’t do something about the trash problem we are going to be living in trash.We are running out of places to put it.And he’s an expert on where the trash goes.He works for the largest company in the US that tries to find a place for all our trash, Waste Management.
And what about the overconsumption?We are fat in the Western world because we over consume.And I don’t just mean physically.Look at our debt…fat!Look at our trash cans…fat!
So what does this have to do with simple baby travel and what can you do when you are traveling to do your part in helping ensure there are clean beaches and fish in our seas for our future generations?
1.Probably the number one thing every traveler does is buy bottle after bottle of water.We are just as guilty.We did make a conscious effort when we got here to not buy bottled water and use the tap water.That was until we found raw sewage in our backyard and thought maybe that wasn’t such a good idea anymore.But we are buying large jugs of water now and pouring the water into glasses.When you are traveling try to bring along water bottles and re-use them.Especially if you are in the Western hemisphere where water is very clean.
2.I’ve commented on the whole packaged food thing before…but please…don’t.It’s not only bad for you but it’s wasteful.Perimeter shop (that’s shopping along the edges of the supermarket—no packaged goods there for the most part) and teach baby that wholesome good food is best.This will be good for your waist, your wallet and reducing waste…Justin and I have coined it “W3.”That is if you shop on the perimeter of the grocery store you won’t buy packaged food so you won’t gain weight (#1 diet buster) which is good for your “waist.”You won’t spend money on a ton of food you don’t really need which will be good for your “wallet.”And you won’t be buying a lot of food with packaging which will be good for reducing “waste.”
3.Try to walk when you can.See “W3” above.You are on vacation, relax, you don’t need to be in a hurry to get somewhere and baby will love taking all the new sights in while in the stroller (this might also allow for you to avoid the rental car which will really save on the wallet…and help you lose some weight or counter the vacation 5 lbs. so good for your waist and of course great for reducing waste).
4.Re-use your towels when staying in a hotel.While one of my favorite things about staying in a hotel is a fresh crisp clean towel each shower, I’ve even changed my habits and re-use our towels several times before we request new ones.This is especially important in countries where water supplies are already really low.
5.Use re-useable bottles and bring toiletries in these bottles from home.Buying travel sized items only creates more waste.But in all honesty with all the baggage weight restrictions these days I often buy the travel size…I’m not perfect, just some guidance and ideas, not preaching!It’s on the top of my list to buy some nice travel size bottles to bring along toiletries in the future (I did bring a few but they were plastic and I thought they needed a good cleaning and put them in the dishwasher…they melted).
6.Choose low energy use activities (that’s electricity, not low energy use for you!).Take a walk or hike versus going to ride a roller coaster every night.
7.Use public transportation when you can.
8.And definitely forgo the disposable swimmers.I blogged about this before.You can buy the reusable swimmers just about anywhere now.Use them.They work and are way better for the environment (check with your resort as some REQUIRE both a disposable and a swimsuit on top).
Hope this helps and hopefully we can all do our part to try to make sure our children have as many opportunities to enjoy this beautiful world we live in as we have.
