Pushing a stroller is not troublesome at all — six reasons to travel abroad with a baby

Traveling abroad with a stroller is actually not difficult — whether you say I have the silly mindset of a cheap skate or that I’m brave, it doesn’t matter. Ever since Little Mantou was born, I’ve been saying, “Since flights for kids under two only cost 10% of the ticket price plus some taxes — almost free — we have to take him on a trip abroad!”
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Maybe many people think kids don’t remember anything, especially a one-and-a-half-year-old toddler who probably forgets everything... Or even more people think that traveling is supposed to be relaxing, and bringing a kid is more tiring than dragging luggage — why make things harder for yourself?

I have a 100% clear memory of my own “getting lost incident” when I was three years old. (Yes, that’s the incident of a little shorty, barely 100 cm tall, an illiterate child who hadn’t even started kindergarten getting lost. Back then, maybe quite a few residents in Nangang heard the neighborhood chief talk about it — haha!)

It’s also because my dad used to ride his scooter every day to take me around the dusk market at the end of Section 7, Zhongxiao East Road. So I had a very strong impression of that road. Once, when my dad stopped at a stall to shop, I carelessly walked off in the opposite direction and couldn’t find him... so I just had to “walk home by myself”!

That journey home was quite long — even now, with my long legs, it would still take me about 35 minutes. (And I wouldn’t even bother walking — I’d borrow money just to take the bus!) For that three-year-old with little legs, it must have taken over three hours. (And I even knew how to cross the street at traffic lights — super cool!) Also, I heard my dad panicked and called the police, and I also heard he came home crying to my mom, saying, “What do I do? I lost my daughter!”

My mom said nonchalantly: she had already gotten home by then. Because my legs were really too short to reach the third-floor doorbell, she had been shouting downstairs for a long time before I noticed. As soon as I got in, she also said very calmly: “I walked for so long, my legs are super sore, I’m going to sleep!” (Whatever) (Pfft, I went on such a tangent — I just want to say, I almost became a missing child featured in the newspapers... (Hey, that’s not the point!)

What I’m trying to say is, I still remember the impression of almost becoming an orphan at the age of three, so “bringing your child abroad is totally worth it.” Or if you really want to analyze it, kids under two might not remember much, but since “the flight is free,” it doesn’t matter. After three, they start having memories, so of course it’s worth it to travel abroad as a family when you can. At most, that one or two-year period in between is a bit wasted — no memories and you still pay for the flight, haha.

Little Mantou’s passport photo — hahaha, the photo session was really tough back then.

The long-awaited family trip finally happened from December 23, 2016 to December 27, 2016. And it just so happened to be a chance to celebrate Fatty Hu’s birthday in Sabah + take Little Mantou overseas for Christmas + pre-celebrate our third wedding anniversary.

There are so many happy photos and memorable travel diaries I want to properly document. I’ll try hard to push myself to write them all into my blog entries. (Pinching my thigh — for efficiency!)

So it’s totally worth it.

Come on — when friends are everyday looking out for “budget airlines” and waiting for cheap ticket prices to drop, isn’t scoring a free ticket just super lucky?! So, a kid flying for free is basically saving a whole ticket. (But you also have to consider flight distance — because no ticket = no seat. Holding or strapping the kid to a bassinet for three hours to Sabah, Malaysia, is okay, but flying to Canada would probably leave your legs numb!)

We were treated well the whole way, so it’s totally worth it. And a foldable compact stroller can be brought onboard the cabin.
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Because we were pushing a stroller, it felt like we had a guide car leading the way in the airport, and every airline staff member was super helpful in directing us, telling us where the elevators were. Once we reached the security checkpoint, someone came out specifically to guide us, saying that those pushing strollers (or wheelchairs) could use the fast track.

The queue was packed.

We pushed the stroller and just went straight in. It was really fast.

So it’s totally worth it.

When it was time to board, the flight attendants specially informed passengers with strollers that they could board early. (Wowza, I was completely surprised!) Another mom holding her baby also came to line up, but the flight attendant actually replied: “Sorry, currently only passengers ‘with strollers or wheelchairs’ who are less mobile can board early. If you don’t have a stroller, please wait for the regular economy boarding time.” (That was the first time I realized how important a baby stroller is!)

So it’s totally worth it.

Fatty Hu spent almost the whole year in a tiring cycle of “1–2 days off per month.” This Sabah vacation should have let him catch up on sleep big time. But I still had to tease him: even Little Mantou couldn’t stand it anymore, seeing Daddy in constant low-battery mode, haha.
I personally witnessed how the power of a 30-year-old “old battery” deteriorates & also saw how a one-year-old “new young battery” recharges itself automatically.

So it’s totally worth it. Ahaha, it’s just the spirit of wanting to challenge myself and not lose out — ahaha.

So it’s totally worth it.

Alright, nothing too profound, nor am I overly optimistic — but whenever I want to do something, I can always think of 100 good reasons why it’s worth doing to convince both myself and the people around me.

So, taking your kid abroad is really, really worth it.

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