On travel and adjusting to the kids
Since I was 2 years old, I‘ve regularly travelled to Singapore, most of the time with my parents, since 2011 more often with my husband and now with our two kids. They say when you travel with kids, you just shift your „work“ to another place. In a way, that‘s true - and yet, this trip is so much more, for us as well as for them.
As far as I can remember, a trip to Singapore always meant for us a very busy schedule as well as dinner plans every evening (and towards the end of the trip, additional lunch plans so we could meet up with all the people we wanted to see). It also meant eating way too much food - even if every single dish was very yummy. Over the years, I have travelled with my parents and friends, in the later years with my husband. We have our routine places we like to visit, shops to go to, food to eat. Now, everything is different. And though I miss the freedom and spontaneity (and shopping without having to stop every 2m and negociating what we will buy for our toddler and what we won‘t get), I am still enjoying this trip in a very different way.
The last time we were in Singapore, Covid-19 just had started hitting China, but we were not really worried about it yet. We had a 9-month old baby who enjoyed sitting in the stroller and just watching the world go round. Though he doesn‘t remember anything from that trip, I have fond memories of him meeting our family and friends, of following our routines in a certain way and still having some kind of freedom, just at a slower pace and with an afternoon nap. I remember having a drink at Mount Faber while our baby unexpectedly fell asleep in the stroller in the late afternoon, enjoying some quality time with my husband to a lovely view.
This time round, a lot is different. Our 9-month old is now a 3-year old toddler who clearly tells us what he wants - and what he doesn‘t want. And we have a 7-month old baby - another tiny human with different needs.
Travel with kids - especially long haul - is tiring, there is no doubt. The week leading up to our trip was stressful, with a teething baby and toddler with ear pain just before our flight. And don‘t even get me started on packing. But at the end of the day, I would do it again. It‘s a compromise between being a parent and being me, keeping up the traditions and habits we adopted before the kids were born and adjusting to their needs. I know they will not remember much when they are older (especially the baby), but I hope that it will in one of or another lay the foundations to teach them to be open to other cultures, to learn about their own heritage, to explore new places and try different food. Because those are things that, in my eyes, are important and will benefit them in the years to come.