Let's Take A Trip! w/ Sam Shelton

Sometimes you know, you just need to visit a family member far away, or sometimes you just like need a vacation, you know, and we're here to tell you that it is possible and you can do it without losing your freaking mind. Okay, we are here today with one of my best friends in the entire world. It is the one, the only, Samantha Sky Shelton who has the most beautiful

She is a really freaking good friend of mine. And also you guys, she is the incredible singer and talent that you hear on the music at the end and the beginning of this podcast. You know when it says you do it, yeah that do it, do it, do it my way? And also just why I I was sam Shelton's backup singer for a good many years before scandal. When we would where would we perform? Oh, all over Los Angeles, the clubs of l A. And now I would happily be your backup singer. I would be your

backup singer any day of the week. All I can remember was at a time in my life where I thought wearing navy blue sequin booty shorts with like high heels and tights was like a good look. But I was like a backup singing. It was just to hang out and practice, like the songs and harmonizing stuff. It was an opportunity to chill. And you know how we figured that out week. Okay. So Sam and I met in an acting class a hundred thousand years ago, Mark

Casey's acting class. And then her husband Stephen and my husband Adam became friends separately, and then we put two and two together that they were becoming fast friends and she and I were becoming fast friends, and then it was just on, and it's been on for ten years or something like that. Craziness. Um. Sam has always been before babies, a traveling guru, like so sweet, No, you do love to travel? Traveling has been like it has been. Tell us like some of the places you went to before?

What did your travel life look like before when you were not well. I have always approached traveling like not so much as taking a vacation, but rather as like a way of life and how it's just a part of my year. I always set aside money to travel every month, and I still do to this day as just it's part of my own experience on this planet. I just want to see the world. I want to see as much as I can, and there is still so many more places to go. And you have seen

a lot more places probably than I have. But I mean some of my big adventures have been to Australia, Cambodia, Thailand, Um all over and then South America. Did you feel fear? Oh yeah, where did you go in Argentina? I want to go to the end. What do people feel like?

Did you ever have a fear when you were thinking or talking about family planning with Steven that like traveling was going to be gone, or it was like, oh no, no, we're just going to bring kid into the next We always just we're going to bring the kid into the mix.

But I think you have you know people have this, um, you know, there's this thing where moms are like, I'm just gonna strap my baby to me and just take them wherever I go, and like, you know, like they're just going to live my life with me, my life right right, right right, I'm just going to put on that, you know, put them in the sling and go. And I think the reality is it's a little more complicated than that, especially for us, um, but it's still not

even an issue for us. It's like they're just going to have to get up and go and and you have to tell us about your kids. You have to. I have two adorable children, Laslow and Poppy. I mean, guys, let's just give a big round of applause for those dope ass names. They're amazing. What's Samantha's guy Shelton would only have a Laslow Davis and a Poppy Davis. Um, Laslow is five and Poppies too. Do you remember your

first trip with Laslow? I do. We went to Zatjo Michel and Um, of course I was terrified, and you know, he's just there's so many unknowns. What's the plane going to be, like, what's the airport going to be? Like customs and then you're going to Mexico, and um, it was incredible. I remember that, you know the people around us. You know, if you have an adorable baby, like, people are generally pretty nice to you. And Mexico is a

country that loves kids and people bent over backwards. Um. One of the craziest things about that particular trip I'll never forget this is, you know, I had like the car seed and the bags and the diaper bags and like all of our documents and crab and we made it. We got to the cab, you know, things are falling everywhere whatever. We get to the hotel. Two days later, the security guard comes up to us and it's like,

can you come to the office. And we get to the office totally freaked out, and he's like he hands us our passports which had fallen out in the backseat of the cab, and this angel taxi driver came back to the hotel and brought the passports them. So talk about a moment of like seeing what your life could have been on the other side. I was like, attorneys, Um, you know, it was stuck in Mexico, Like what do

you even do? I would have had no idea what to do, and do you get just stressed about like like I think a lot of people get stressed about the plane ride, which we'll get into and is can

be a fucking nightmare. But and I know you've lived through some ship, but I always get stressed about only traveling to places right now where I think, like the hospitals are going to be okay, Like that is so my alarmist ass, dumbass self, But like I like, we took Albion his first trip outside the country to Barcelona. He was eight or nine months old, and I got into my head that someone had said you should take them when they're really young, before they're walking, because they

nap all the time in the stroller. I was still nursing, and I could nurse on the plane, you know, which makes plane rides far more easy because they're very suitable. I um, I felt like going to Barcelona Madrid would be God forbid anything bad had happened. Why I chose these cities is that a hospital would be as great as one is here, and so I wasn't comfortable going

to a place that might not be first world. Do you ever feel that way or you're like I think if I were to do it differently, I think you totally had it right, and I should have gone to cities like that when they were babies, because it's once they're walking and crawling, then that's a whole other ballgame. Should come in the stroller. Then yes, go to Paris. You know, yeah, I recommend the cities because they can do museums on naps. What's kind of romantic about it

is even if their jet lagged. What I found is like if you woke up at four or five o'clock in the morning, we just threw him in the stroller and like Adam and I like strolled the city like by ourselves before the city was awake, and it was like super romantic and dope and awesome. And so I had heard this tip of advice to like travel with the baby before they're crawling and moving, and it's like, actually, it was like adding and I say, it was like

better than our baby moon. That thing that people take is totally queasy and you can drinking baby Moon is so stupid. It's this like dumbass hallmark thing of like you have to take your last trip before the baby is there. Well, you can't drink, you know, you feel like garbage. You definitely don't want to have sex all the time. I mean, I guess some few lucky women are like super horny during pregnancy and go with God.

Great for them, but like I was not so I like I just thought my baby moon was like supposed to be this epic, amazing thing, and it really wasn't. We went to Hawaii, but then when we went to Barcelona with the baby, it was like very romantic. Yeah, that sounds so dreamy. I think we went to loom as a baby moon, and then we went to Palm Springs or something, and I kind of have these vague like like kind of hot, uncomfortable case memories, like it's

just not great. Like going to your point about hospitals, I do always double check and just kind of make sure I know where it is, what your first line of defense would be. And in fact, I have a friend who was staying in a beautiful villa in Tuscany, and she had her twins were four years old at the time, and you know what can go wrong. They're playing one of her twins gets bit by a viper extremely rare, extremely deadly snake in Tuscany. That's unheard of,

and she it was a whole drama. But basically she was in you know, Taxis, two clinics than the clinic too, in the ambulance to you know, Florence, and in the hospital for two weeks. Her son is fine, thank god,

and everyone's okay. But she actually gave me the great advice, which is to not only double check where the clinics and the urgent care is and all of that, but also to understand what your insurance is in a foreign country and how to just be prepared something about that, Like you just, I guess spend some time googling wherever it is you're going and where the closest places like I wouldn't know, and I guess you call your insurance company, like the hotel would know where the town you're in,

or you know. Yeah. On the other hand, I don't spend too much time worrying about it. Yes, Sam Shelton is one of these amazing moms to have around, because you're very good at that. Like I'm the warrior and Sam is like it's fine, Like it's gonna be fine, It's gonna work out. Okay, you guys, We're going to take a quick break and then we will be back with more of Katie's Crib. I gotta tell you guys about this app Drop. Have you heard about it? I am.

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Katie's Crib. And now you get a free Starbucks on me. When you sign up for Drop using the code Katie's Crib, You're welcome and get your caffeine on so you can keep being your awesome mom selves. Okay, let's get back to my conversation all about travel. I love this stuff with Sam Shelton, so Lajo which was his first baby trip, and um, how how was he on that flight? He was people really nice. Yeah, and he was again I think he was five months and so he was just

nursing and snapping and easy. Easy when they're when they're toddlers and you do long flights, you know there and he's five now and we just had a really rough flight that included a night terror, which was ye, can you explain the story? This is horrifying. Well, night terror has happened, you know, fairly often with kids around three four years old. It's a crazy dream. It's like a nightmare that they can't wake themselves up out of and you can't wake them up out of and you just

have to write it out. And it happens when they're overtired, and um, we happen to have one on a cross country flight from New York to Los Angeles, and my poor son just was sleeping on my lap and then just sat up and started screaming bloody murder on the plane for fifteen minutes, solid could not wake him up out of this thing. He gets on the floor in front of my knees and then throws up all over my legs, up dress, into my shoes. I'm sitting there

in a pool. God lets supply attendants, but they're not really great and they actually don't have cleaning supplies for this kind of thing, right, They only have barf bags for adults, but like if there's throw up everywhere, it's only to have like an amazing endless supply of like white Like yeah, so I was like had my baby wipes from my two year old. I mean, it was

it was a disaster. And plus, you don't bring a change of clothes for your five year old or yourself, so notice, you know, maybe pack your own self a T shirt, especially if you have a baby good or you know, pants. But we like wrapped a hoodie around my son's lap and then and he was just naked, Yeah, he was naked. And then he we had an hour left to go in the flight we got and luckily we were heading back to Los Angeles, so we were going home. But he woke up and he was like,

where are my pants? He had no memory of the incident. Wow, can you tell me what is your like flight suggestions? They're both now of the age, so you guys know, babies blow to fly for free, and so a lot of people like to take advantage of flying to visit family or taking vacations before the babies too, because they don't have to pay for an additional ticket, although it is can be a nightmare that the baby's on your lap in a tiny ass economy seat for however long.

So you're at the place now where they're getting their own seats. Yes, And not only that, but since I have two kids, you know, a lot of planes are three and three. So I will be sitting next to my two children. My husband's crossed the aisle listening to his podcasts and having a drink and at the time of his life. And that just because both kids want you, right, they're both like, I wanted the next I want to the next time. What is your like plane packing list?

Right now? What are your tips or like a. Is there anything where you're like, they need this, they need that? Like, are you at iPad level? Like had you checked to see if the planes have TVs? Are you against that? How does that hole go? We bring kindles for both of the kids, and we're totally like screens are great on planes, like, go for it, kids, and we always have I actually never checked see if the plane has a TV because we know we'll have our our kindler

eight pat or whatever. Um. Absolutely. There's this one thing which I highly recommend. It's called a trunky and it's a suitcase. It's like a plastic suitcase for toddlers, and it has wheels on the bottom of it and a strap and handles and the kids. It's like an It's a toy for the kids to play on while they're waiting in the airport because they can scoot around on it. You can pull them by the strap they hold on and you give them a ride the airport. They look amazing.

It's genius. My son loves it. And then what's in there? Suffer, Yeah, we bring the iPad. My son's obsessed with travel and airplanes, no wonder, so he always brings his toy planes to have on the plane and then we pack workbooks, coloring books. Magnetiles are great. Magnet magnetiles are those plastic magnets that you can build structures with, but they stick together. Their magnetic Albie will soon be doing um. But they are incredible because they're they you know, suck together and so

they're they're easy to say. They're kind of like their own game exactly. And what's the snack situation for you on planes? Do you are you like a big pre snack packer or I bring tons of snacks. I bring like tangerines, goldfish, whatever snack you know, veggies, all all of that stuff. And I also part of the fund for my kids is getting a snack at the airport to take on the planes. So they always like to get the muffin or get the treat eminem's. We always

keep the eminem's. If something's going wrong after five minutes, you've got to bring those eminems and off for a couple of eminem m. This is all so smart. This is what's coming down the pipe for me, because see I'm still dealing with a toddler who like I can't give him magnet tiles because abby's are the age like, I can't bring anything on the plane that he can throw because he will throw it into aisles in front and behind us. Um And I packed the most snacks

you've ever seen in your entire life. But you know how it used to be like you would travel with your backpack that had like your booking it that you were reading and like your planner, like whatever. Now Adam has a backpack that has like a few of my things in it because I don't. I don't read on planes anymore. I don't do anything for myself on planes anymore. It's just a full time job of entertaining my child. Um so that I'm trying to be respectful of the

other people flying. Um and so I there's one pack pack that has like my wallet and passport, and then my backpack is filled with you bring I've heard a bunch of diapers. I think it's one per hour when they're little, was what I had read. The most wipes ever,

a change of outfit, the most snacks ever. And then I also always bring on the plane motrin a thermometer, which it's crazy, I just feel like I should have it, and Bena drill and I was reading that you bring those things on the plane because God forbid they have a crazy like allergic reaction at thirty five thousand feet or they start running a temperature um you can administer

either of those things. You should also make sure you've tried those things before you're trying them on a plane, just to know that your kid doesn't react poorly to them, Like you don't want the first time you're trying motor or benegroul to be on a plane, have tried that before, Like I did. You did that with my older son

he Um. I gave him benegroul for the first time on an eight hour flight, and he is of the two percent or three percent of kids or something who has the opposite reaction, and instead of it making them sleepy and drowsy, it made him like overactive and crazy. So definitely talk to your pediatrician and maybe give that a tribe. Have you ever been one of those people?

And I have not. I've seen on Instagram like amazing people who come onto the plane with a baby and like have brought gifts or Starbucks gifts cards for everyone who sits a readily against that. I'm against the too. Fuck that. I'm sorry, but like what the fuck, like like I have time for that. Like I'm not going to buy gift cards, Like I'm sorry, I'm a nice person. I'm going to do the best I can exactly, Like I've never been given a little baggy of ear plugs

and treats and whatever. But I honestly like it's the last thing on my mind when I'm getting ready for a flight. And by the way, like you know, everyone's doing that, Everyone's doing the best they can. I just kids are kids. They're going to do what they do that. You know, you're not getting on an airplane to have a vacation on the airplane. It's like it's a mode of transportation. So let's just all like hunger down, put in your earphones exactly, like bring your own sinking air plugs. Yeah.

I see this on Instagram, like these wonderful parents who are like I might be a bit I mean, I don't know, but like I was like, oh my god, that's what I'm supposed to be thinking of. I mean, I'm trying to pack for my entire family. I'm trying. I know that I will walk one thousand. Oh. Here's a question. Have you found it to be easier to fly with breaks or do you think it's easier to flight overnight? Um, I definitely think you should just get

it one and done do the longer flight. I personally like, don't want to go through taking off and landing, getting off plane, getting on a plane. For me, that's I know other people have a different opinion and like they like the break, they like to let their kid run around or whatever. For me, I just prefer to, like, let's just get it done with. Are your kids having Do they have bad reactions to the ascend and decent? They don't. Um, they have both been pretty even killed.

But you know, they say sucking on something I've I've nursed my kids and I usually try to do that on take off or landing. But they say you can also give them, you know, like a lollipop. I have some friends to give their kids lollipops or that's brilliant because a lot of times cry the most with the they can't regulate their ears going up and going down. And that's Have you ever had negative run ins with fellow passengers, because I just had my first one and

it was a fucking nightmare. I haven't. Actually, I think most people have been pretty nice. I mean you get some like some sour looks. I'm sure with my son through up. You know, when there was an hour left to go, people were not necessarily but I didn't even look because I mean, what can I do. It's like doing I You guys was away over Christmas? Did I tell you this yet? Oh? I did? Okay? I um came home. We were flying home from the Dominican Republic,

and I treated this is a huge controversy. I've since done a lot of research and looked into it, but there is a whole thing about should babies or should babies not be in first class. It's a big touchy subject. I most of the time do not fly first class. Um it's really expensive, and that's for when mommy's working and someone else is paying for that. But um, I the first class flights from Atlanta to l A were crazily not expensive, and I went for it. Also, I

think the holidays. Being a former scandal actor, I get people asking to take a lot of photos and sometimes I'm really tired and I have a baby, and I don't really want pictures of Albi out there. So I bought the first class ticket and we walked on the plane, and in the first two minutes there's a dude and his girlfriend or wife whatever, three rows behind us, and they are shushing Albie every two seconds every sound he makes.

He did not cry, he was talking. He's a toddler, so a lot of like oh lah and like yeah and like boo boo b B B like whatever. And they keep going and rolling their eyes at us anytime I made eye contact. It lasted for about an hour, the tons of shushing, until my husband stood up went to go back to the bathroom holding Albie, and they shushed us again. And Albie and Adam went up to the gentleman and said, hey, is there a problem. Is there something we could be doing to make this flight better?

I'm really sorry, And they said, this is ridiculous. We're the only people that have the balls to speak up in first class. But your baby is screaming and you need to get control of your baby. And he I heard this go down to which then I stood up and said, excuse me, we're doing a great job. Our baby hasn't even cried, and he's you need to be walking your baby up and down the tile areas. I said, oh, I took my hoops off, and I was like, do you just hate babies or something? That's what I said.

This guy said, no, I have a daughter, and his girlfriend was like, yeah, he has a daughter, and I was like, well, obviously you're like a fucking horrible father. Um. It was a nightmare. Uh. Thank god we didn't get into an actual fight with them, because they were tan and ripped as hell and they would have broken Adam and I in fucking half. But they were horribly. They

hated the baby, they hated us. They said we paid for this flight, and I said, you know, we've paid for first class as well, and we have every right to be here. We got the bulkhead and it was absolutely what did the stewardists or the flight A flight attendant came up and said came up and said, yes, sir, you can't be constantly shushing the baby. In my fifteen years of being a flight attendant, I've never seen behavior

like this. He asked for her name because he was going to file a complaint with Delta, to which then I said, well, yeah, what is your name because I'm gonna be finally a compliment with Delta, which I did for Stacy Brooks. I know you Stacy Brooks Delta flight. I can't remember the number, but from Atlanta to No Standard Domingo to it Ad Republic, no Punta Kana to Atlanta. Anyway, this is my first and only running that has been

very negative. But since then I've done some research and there are people who just really believe babies shouldn't be in first class and maybe I don't know. I mean, the only freaking problem is that I'm like Kim Kardashian flies first class with her babies. I've seen her do that, Like what do you do if you're someone who's in the entertainment industry? And when I fly economy, which I do all the time with a hat and glasses, everyone in the back of the airplane is always like, what

are you doing back here? And I'm like, well, I'm just like a person like you with like my kid, and they're like, yeah, but you're on scandal and I'm like yeah, but I'm also like an actor who's like looking for a job. Do you know what I mean? It gets very odd. Um, I think that's crazy. I've never heard that about babies. But I think that if I could afford to fly in business or first class with my baby. I would absolutely a percent and do that because that's going to give you a better experience

with your kid. And at the end of the day, I think and this is probably a good rule of thumb for travel in general, which is just you cannot please all of the people all the time or care about what people are thinking. Like if I see a kid on a plane crying or whatever, I just want to see that the parents are trying to do something, you know, that makes me feel like, well, what can they do? But it looks like they care and they're

making an effort. Now Albie wasn't even crying, So these people are insane and this is and it sounds like, I mean, you've traveled with your baby so many times and this is definitely and this was Albi's thirteenth flight, and I've never had an experience like this, So this is obviously the exception and not the rule. But I think you're right. I think it comes into a lot of like if you're someone who's you know, very attached

to what people think, this is the biggest exercise. Flying with the baby is the biggest practice you will ever have of just you cannot care not you can only do what you can do exactly and find that meditative place inside of you to just tune out the eyeballs or whatever and just try to help your kid out with whatever is going on. And you know, some there's a reason, sometimes there's not. But you know, my daughter screamed for about nine hours straight on an overnight flight.

And where are you going Fiji? I mean, you guys babies to Fiji? Like this woman is a beast, Like these are goals right now? These are goals because I cried, like when I had a baby, we were making Albie, Like one of the biggest concerns I had was that I felt like my travel life was over, and because Adam and I had been not working actors for so long, our travel life was very short. Like we had some years where we actually could afford to see the world.

And I feel like you do. I feel like it's my responsibility to try to see as much as I can. And I love immersing myself in other cultures and other places. And I just was very upset when I got pregnant, like I don't want that to change. Um, And you're such an inspiration to me. You really mean you've seen that you have been everywhere the baby. Do you know that. I think at the end of the day, it's like

it's as hard as it can be. And you know, the rough nights, the sleeping, you know, the jet lab whatever, it's always worth it. I've never regretted a trip. I've never regretted. And it's like time passes. You're on a plane for ten freaking hours. It's going to end eventually, and then you're going to be in Fiji or worry wherever.

And it's you know, if you can just keep your head out of other people's you know, issues, issues, and I'm focused on just getting through it and getting to the next stage and taking a nap or you know, making it work with your partner. It's it's always worth it. What about UM now that we've gotten off the plane, which, guys, that is the big That is big. That is a big part of it. Let's talk about hotel situations, staying

with friends, relatives, like what do you prefer um. We've done a lot of airbnb s and um rentals and that's always great and fun, especially if you know you want to have a fridge or you're making your breakfast for your kids or whatever, like that's always great. On the other hand, it can mean that you're also doing exactly what you do at home on vacation with a million dishes a day, or you know, step two. So I can see the benefit of just like the room

service the hotel. I think that's a really good idea because I have found so far in our baby I'll be travels that like, yes, having a house is sort of a better situation because there's like a bathtub and like some of these nice hotel rooms only have a shower, or like you know, we have a full kitchen so I can do his food. But you're right, like, then

you're just doing the same ship you do. You've brought all this gear from home, all the pouches and the things and the spoons and the sippy cups that you like to have at home. And then the next thing, you know, you're like doing the same thing you're doing home, and you're ever thought about it like that, Um, when you're traveling, what are you what are the things that

you UM? Space is also important, so it's like a hotel rooms don't often have you know, the best space, and I know you've like I'll be slept in many a bathroom with many bath to get the black out. We have these baby this travel we take it when we travel. We take his travel crib everywhere. It's thirteen pounds so it's so light, and we pop that ship open. Everywhere we've been. He's lucky if he gets a room.

Most of the time he doesn't. He's usually in like a nicer sized bathroom with the door closet, a roomy closet. We've done a bunch of those. I just is for me. It's like, as long as I know there's air ventilation, that's the only thing I get like a little bit nervous about because you want there to be like a fan or vents or whatever. Um but that white We

bring our white noise machine. We bring the travel crib, We bring his sippy cups or bottles, and we always bring I know it's not the best, but we do bring pouches, you know, of the food and all that stuff. Because sometimes we've traveled places where I just came to our first experience in Dominican Republic, there was no milk. WHOA, like, there's milk, but it's it's fun a lot which I had never given him, like like shelf in those boxes in the boxes, which I've never I didn't know if

he would have some. You know, I just my dad and I like ran to the grocery shore and it's like, well, Albie has like, you know, his two bottles of milk every single day. And I was like, oh, ship, there's no milk here. The milk that I know, like in a refrigerator like this is like it's all on a shelf and it's like powder or whatever. I don't know. But he did fine with it. Yeah, he had diarrhea for like a day or doing. Then it was fine. He loved it. And actually then the whole family loved it.

Everyone was like trying it with like our oreos at night and we were like, holy sh it, this Parmelant is freaking amazing, And then we were putting it in our coffee like its delicious. There's certain things you can get on the other side that you don't need to pack, like diapers white although some countries diapers are weirdo. You can't get some generation and I haven't found that Amazon.

I mean, if you're flying domestically and you're doing it, I definitely Amazon in advance a thing of diapers, a thing of wipes, a thing of baby octop Yeah, I sent it to my family's house in advance because I don't want to fly with that stuff. And then also it's so great to get there and not have to do an additional run to the grocery store, Like you show up and there's already diapers, wipes, the soap that I use in the bath, like the few basic things.

Um uh. I do think that people go can go a little overboard with the gear though, like I have seen, at a certain point you have to just say enough and that like we're going somewhere that people live and it's going to be accessible, yes, you know, maybe yes. Like the pack and play or the sleeping situation, whatever is you feel comfortable with. That's always very key. The

love ees. I always pack a love in the suitcase and then bring one on the plane just in case a lovee gets the luggage gets lost or whatever, like my kids need to sleep. But the genius I never even thought about that. I always check the lovees. I don't even think at the time the lovey got lost. It's not cute, Oh my god. A love e is just like the little baby, a little blank in the little blank that goes in their crib, that whatever little thing that they've had since they were a baby, that

they always sleep within their crib. It's like a lot of babies have a little teddy bear teddy bear or a little blankie or something like that, and a lot of parents will have a few of them so that when one eventually gets lost their comfort objects. Yes, their comfort objects, so you fly with one and you check one,

which is genius. Um, what about routine, Like if you're someone who's really on a good sleep schedule, want a good eating schedule, that is you're like pretty stuck with I think that holds a lot of people back from traveling to They get scared. They get really scared about time changes and how they're going to do it and all that stuff. How do you handle it well? As you know, my kids are not great sleepers, and it's nothing. They just really like to be alive in a week

and like part of this world. So I think it's just that part we just it's like you're going to travel, it's going to be different anyways. You know, we go with we go with God. But um, yeah, I always think that you know, the nap we're not ones to try to skip naps. I do believe that, like you know, but when you're traveling, sometimes they have to nap on and go, or you think about it, like, okay, they're going to do We're bringing the stroller, so we'll do

like a stroller nap or a car nap. Trying to time out your your road trip or whatever, you know, part of the days for the nap so that you can get that out of the way. You know. Sometimes my kids have had a hard time napping in like unusual hotel rooms or whatever, and so I usually try to figure out how to do nap on the go um bedtime. It really depends on the time change, you know. Sometimes it's like if you're travling to the East Coast, it's nice to keep the l A kids on the

East Coast schedule, which I know you just did. I rock that. My whole family's on the East Coast, And obviously we live in l A. And it is the ship like because he sleeps seven to seven here. So when I go back to the East Coast for the holidays at any point, which we do every year for every freaking holiday, we just do ten to ten. So like,

what's great about that? Is he wakes up at like nine, ten o'clock in the morning, he takes a nap three hours later, he takes another nap three hours later, and then he's up, you know, from six to ten at night, and he has dinner with the whole family will take him out to dinner. It's wonderful. I just keep him on his exact l A schedule, and I just move it three hours later. What happens with my kids. We

go to the East Coast. It's like that for two days, and then because they love to be awake the sun, they just start waking up. Or if you're going like to Hawaii or you're going west from here, and then you're up at four in the morning, and that's not fun. But it's usually just a day or two, I say, especially like going to someplace I think is easier than coming home. Yeah, how is the home transition for you?

It's always a ship show. Yeah, but like you've said, you've never found it to not be worth it exactly, and you know it might be hard coming back for a couple of days or whatever, but there's also a comfort about everyone's got their own beds there, you know, like the routine, the night that your your back. There's something about that that's very also soothing for them. So it might be rough depending on where you've been. But have you ever flown with the kids by yourself? I don't, Yeah,

don't take a friend. I mean it is. I mean, single moms out there, we've had some of you on Katie's crib. It is. It is the realist thing. I just traveled with him by myself over on an overnight flight, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could more than anything. Like Adam so wonderful and he's such an involved dad, and he's so helpful on the plane, Like I don't even think I've ever before that had ever changed Alby's diaper on a plane, because Adam just

does it every time, which is the jam. Also, by the way, we play in the bathroom for a good fifteen minutes. That's like another event on the plane is like, oh he's the bathroom. Okay, we're gonna pull down the changing table. He's gonna sit on it for fifteen minutes. He's going to pull out all these tissues and we're gonna put them back. Then he's going to play with the soap that we're gonna put that back, like it's

just oh, another activity where he's like being held down. Um. But I flew by myself overnight to Buffalo for Christmas, and it was he didn't sleep for one minute. I blest an entire night of sleep. I walked probably seven miles up and down the fucking aisle for five hours while he did back bends and screamed and punched me

in the face. And it was the first time I ever like kind of grab I mean, I don't grab him, but I like held his arms and I was like looked him in the eye and I was like, please, please stop, please, like I had been pushed to the brink without a break. And then my you know what. And then I was like, this is why it's really interesting being an older mom, because my back from carrying him up and down aisles for five hours was like on a fire. Like I just was like, this is

so much pain. Oh. I always bring aspen for myself. Oh, great advil for yourself. You're going to be in some weird positions. We always bring the ergo on the plane to which is the baby carrier, because we'll do breaks where like he'll play in the seat, and then we'll hold him walking up down the aisle, but then we'll put him in the carrier, which gives your arms sort of a break, but then it screws up your back. I mean, it's always just about like what body part

is being injured at this point. Well, and you had mentioned earlier with the bulkhead, which I'm such a huge fan of, there's anyway you can get those seats first. I mean, it's a little tricky to take off the landing because you have to store things up above whatever. But having a little play area if your kids are old enough to sort of like have an activity on

the floor there, you know, bulkhead is the jam. We build like a blockade so that he can't get to the aisle and we just put Adams like backpack there and then we throw all his toys on the floor of the bulkhead and it's like having a little playroom right now. Thank God. Can I tell you also what I do. The first thing I do when I get on the plane is I bring wet once antibacterial wipes

and I just wipe every surface. Seat belt. You have to trade to people who are moms because my mom my aunt Glenda is a flight attendant and I love her very much, and she confided in me, and now I will confide in all of you that those tray tables and TVs are very rarely, if ever cleaned. So um so, all y'all traveling and don't want the flu in this? Then the other thing. You might be the psychopath that everyone judges why you're taking out your chlorox wipes,

but I wipe that down. Don't care well. Also for babies, because he does put the remote in his mouth. It does like the television. He does do all of those things. They're my kids. Faces are on the windows and lifting and closing the windows and like blowing on the window mains and stuff. I'm just imagining all the hands and if lifting clothes, you know, great tips. Uh. We've talked a lot about the stress involving ravel, But what are okay when we say, which I think is really the

point of this episode, that it is worth it? Why do you think so? Like? What is your I think, first of all, travel is not just the trip, but it's looking forward to the trip and it's planning it. And that brings me joy in advance of the trip, and for me that's a hobby and it's something I really love to do. So it's kind of like not just a week in time or whatever, but it's the

whole leading up to it which gives me energy. Um, and the anticipation of it and then knowing that it's never going to be how you anticipate it, but um, to let go of that and to be in it, it's almost like a mindfulness thing and it's it's so amazing and I I just at this point in time, I'm not picking places that are going to be super challenging as far as like planes, trains and automobiles and you know, maybe cities that are difficult to get through

and get around. But rather I'm looking for a place that have a lot of natural beauty that will be welcoming with the kids, that I can sort of have an easy going kind of landing experience and just kind of go with it. But um, for me, it's just so life affirming to be around people of different cultures and to hear their stories and to eat the food and not just try to recreate my own life in another country, but to kind of be a family in another country and see kind of and just absorb and learn,

you know, from the world around me. When people say that thing, I'm like, well, it's not worth it. The kids don't remember it or things like that. Do you feel like you're giving them memories or life lessons or like how do they does Laslow? Like I'm dreaming bit like does Laslow remember these things? He's starting to? I have thought about that, And there's a lot of things. You know, he does not remember, you what Tomahow and all, but there are a lot of things now he remembers.

You know. Surprisingly, his memory is very sharp, and I think even if he doesn't remember it, it's in his fabric, it's in his muscles somewhere of that. And also it's my memory. I remember it, and you know, frankly need that. Yeah, they're building the memories. The biggest thing that one of the loveliest things that Adam has done so far as a dad was we went to Barcelona, as I said, and again it was something like I wanted to prove

to myself that we could do it. Um. But he when we came back, made a children's book that had pictures of Albie in Spain with like you know, when we saw a church or this, and then each word in Spanish, so that it's like a Spanish picture book. But like Adam was like then that way when albis like three or four or five, six, and we're going to build books like a library of the places in

the world he has seen. And I'm hoping that it affects his memory, that he remembers that the world is a big place and he's been like super fortunate to see some of it. And I hope that he gets the travel bug. You know, I growing up, we just went on road trips to my grandparents or camping, say, we never took vacations like so maybe for me it's more exciting and part of what I want to do because I didn't have that as a kid. So maybe our kids will not have that. See, maybe they'll be

spoiled bread I didn't. Yeah, my kids like my first speech vacation with Fiji. I know exactly. It could be a total jerk that way, but you're right for us, for us, for you, Um this is so I could talk about this stuff for hours and we travel is literally one of my life passions and where I feel happiest. I think it's not coincidental that when I travel with

our family, our phones are off. We're very present with each other, um, which I think is what offsets the stress of travel, Like I think is stressful as it is to fly and pack and be prepared and send ship there in advance, and what are you gonna do about food and there is no milk and all that stuff Once you get there, You've set aside that time for vacation and for experience. And I mean we turn off our phone. We only check our phones once a day.

You know. It's like a totally different thing. And I feel like that's worth it sure, an opportunity to unplug and just kind of be where you are, and it's huge. I think it's really and it's a great privilege. I mean, let's be honest, we have We are lucky to be able to even have this conversation, you know. So I'm not looking forward to when Alby's over to and I have to buy him a flight. I'm like, what how two kids over to and tickets and then from there?

Now I know my parents only took us on road trips. Is there any advice you want to give to moms who might be afraid of traveling or might be having their first travel coming up or well. I think that it depends. Like if you're just have you have to go to your in laws or to your family, or you have to do something, then you know you might be nervous, but it's just it's not even an option. So just to arm yourself with as much you know,

help And luckily my partner is great trading off. Like I might have a really rough night with my kids, but like we have a deal where I get to take like an early morning nap and he takes a turn with the kids and then after that point, you know, all is well. We can deal. It's just as its taking care of yourself in little baby steps, like what do you need to get through this day? I have sobbed on planes lots of times, ben totally overwhelmed, and it's just part of it. I think, like you're still

doing it. I still do it. Why I'm crazy, You're you're so awesome, And I think you have to take care of yourself and also as a person, like if travel is something important to you and you had that bug and spark and you did that when you were you know, before you had kids, then maybe honor that and you know, don't shut that off just because you

have kids. But give him a chance to see what happens, and if it all goes horribly well, you can that happens, you know, and you can change again, like kids change so much, like they might be terrible at it too and then great at it at five. Like it's so, I mean, I can't wait. Albi's not at the age at where he understands stories on an iPad, so I don't have it's just me entertaining him for six hours,

but like we're longer. But as soon as he gets like good at watching a movie, hello, I can't oh, I cannot wait to put him down in front of a screen. I mean, I I'm not a screen person otherwise, but for travel, forget it. Sure, And you know, there's all kinds of little devices you can get, like earphone splitters if you have two kids so that they can share one iPad, or you know, there's these amazing like battery charger packs you can you know, because things run

out of charge. Not all airplanes have the charging stuff on them. And there's a whole industry of travel stuff, which I'm not really you know, great at getting everything, but there are assumptions of travel travel hacks. Yeah, I know. The first time a bunch of my friends travel, they were like all calling the airlines in advance, like do we need the birth certificate? Do I need a passport? Even though I'm only traveling domestically, Like what are you?

What do you bring for that kind of stuff? I have been stopped at the gate by UM flight attendants who want most UM. My daughter has let me, how do I price having to get in my head about this UM when traveling, I've had to show my daughter's passport or proof that she's not too. If you have a toddler who looks maybe like they're a little bit older, they will sometimes asked to see said they're not too,

but like I think Southwest always checks UM. But you can usually get by with a picture of it, of their passport if you show them a picture or some kind of proof. I think I showed him in Instagram birth announcement that had my daughters like that had the date on it, and they were like, okay, that's fine, like they let that go. But in general, I always have a picture of their passport because something happens with the actual passports or whatever like that. So you always

travel with, which is really smart. Domestically, I don't take my kids passports, but I'll have a picture of their passports on my phone. Great, okay, so a picture of their passports on their phone for domestic And I did travel when I first traveling with him with his birth certificate because that's what I was supposed to do and

no one ever asked me for it. So like, I have no idea now that he has a passport, which, by the way, for all of you guys, if you're interested in getting you kids pasport is the cutest freaking thing in the entire world. Like his passport photo is I cannot it is so cute. Um, we travel with that, Um if we're flying outside of the country, but in the country, Yeah, I don't bring it, but I do have a photo of it on my phone just in case.

That's a smart idea. And he's getting older, so you might get asked next time you go he is he too because you are because you should have paid for this a seat for him? Yeah, or they just want to see because I guess I can imagine people try to get away with that. Hell yeah, save that money to last months. You know. It's like still my god. But as far as documents, you know, I have been places where they, like a daycare that wanted to see his communization records or whatever. But that stuff is all

question we ever talked about. Have you hired babysitters in foreign countries or or any were on vacation, because some people are really nervous about that, Like some people are very like you know, sometimes hotels have daycare offered or like nanny's for like not that much, and you can hire a nanny to come to your hotel room at nights that you and your husband can go out to dinner or like you and your parents or whatever. Have

you done that before? Yes, we've hired, Um, we've hired babysitters through hotels in foreign countries and um it was I trusted them and it was fine. It was you know, were they the best babies that I've ever had? No? You know, I've fired babysitters through friends in cities and then wished I had gone through the hotel because these people ended up being kind of like, you know, wackos.

So sometimes maybe your friends are not as vetted as like the hotel, which is like like the certified, like like chances are a lot of times if you're hiring a nanny through a resort or through a hotel or through something like that, they've had to be CPR trained, they've had to have a lot of experience, background checks, things like that. So most of the time, even though their personality wise might not be your exact am, they're

probably experienced. Yeah. And I've had some sitters through friends who have been amazing too, And I felt so comfortable because I at least had one degree of separation and I knew a person and their kids, and I felt so comfortable. I think it really comes down to your comfort. Like I was so nervous dropping my son off at his first like daycare in a foreign city. I think it was like a ski trip and toe or something, and I was like, oh, terrified, And it was fine.

He had a blast and it was it was all good. But I think trying to fold in some sort of childcare into your trips so you can maybe have an opportunity with your partner to go out to dinner and do something is nice. And you know, what about have

you ever heard of these things? Like I've had friends text and asked like, so is it bad if We're like in a hotel room and the monitors on, and we go down to the restaurant in the hotel to like go out to dinner, and no, I'm seriously, these are the texts I get, like, Okay, we're in Mexico and our room is over here and the restaurant is like right across the pool, and if our monitors on, can we go out to dinner and get waste? Did? Like what's everyone's failing on that? What do you think?

I haven't done it, but like I probably would do it. I thought about doing it in the Dominican Republic, Like we had the hotel room right next to the bar and my parents were meeting there for like a drink at five, and Albie was still napping, and I was like the monitors on my phone like I'm literally looking at him and I am literally, I don't know, thirty five steps away. So I mean he ended up waking

up and it didn't happen. But I was almost doing it, Like I was almost like it's fine, saying we almost did it once, and we was before video monitors, so we had like the sound monitor, and then I think, my oh no, how is it? I think my husband, and so his phone was on and we had a phone, so we were like listening and we walked but I think we'd like chickened out, Like we walked out ten minutes and then we're Some people are pretty brave about it. Like I have a friend on a tour right now

of a show. You know, she's in a music coal tour around the country, and her babies with her and um they're staying. So they're in a lot of hotels, a lot, and she'll get out of the show to eleven PM and like the babies asleep and they have the monitor on, and like her and her husband go down to the hotel bar and they just like have drinks and she's like, I mean, god forbid that one time though, It's like that terror would live within me. But like what would happen? I mean, I guess it's scary.

I don't know, but I'm sure like thirty years ago, I mean, oh my god, Like my mother in law would be having a heart attack right now. But like my parents, I used to my parents used to take us camping every year and we would be asleep in the cabin, all the babies, and my parents would be like down the row of cabins at the fire pit with everybody like drinking a thousand beers, roasting hot dogs, and we were far away in the cabin, and they're like, we would just hear, like you could scream, like if

you woke up, Like you know what I mean. I just were so attle bit protective, protective, and we are always nervous of the worst scenario happening. So I'm curious of how other moms speaking to worst case scenario. You know.

I know I've texted you a picture of the amount of medication I take to foreign countries because um, my doctor, you know, he said, like, look, if you're in Hawaii, I can call you in a Z pack or whatever for the kid, but like if you're in Figiarior and the one of these other crazy places, like it's going to be more difficult. So let me just give you this um prescription in advance, and you have it in your bag and you're ready to go. So I always

bring like some kind of antibiotic. Couldn't so smart, huge travel tip. I used to do that for myself when we would travel along, like when we went to Africa, I brought like or anywhere we would go, I would bring U T I medicine, travelers, diarrhea, medicine, infection, East infection, Hello, give me dice blue cans. But like I would travel with that stuff because you come on, we're we know, like you got East infection, We like know what's happening,

and like I don't you know? So you don't want to like four days to to find a monest at seven that's like hundreds of years old. Um, But this is a great call with babies too. If you go to a place that it might not be easily accessible to you to go to your pediatrician and say, hey, I'm traveling to this foreign country that it might not be so easy to get stuff. What do you recommend taking? Can I take one antibiotic with me? Should I take cold serap, cough syrup? Of your child's of age to

be taking that stuff exactly? My son has really bad egg amunt so we always have like different kinds of the hydro cortisone creams and the things that we can have just extra. There's like an antibiotic ointment in case one of his eximas gets infected. You know, things like that that would be hard. And again you could go down a crazy wormhole and go way overboard on this stuff. So it's not really necessary in general, but um, for places where it might be a little more off the

beaten path, I definitely recommend that. So smart. You are my travel and friend goals guru of having amazing, awesome kids who are world travelers like their mommy. Um, and I hope I'm sitting here in three or four years saying that I went to feed you with two children and I was brave enough to do it well. Likewise, you are an incredible traveler with your son eating already taken into such amazing places, and gosh, do all your listeners know how wonderful you are? You love you travel together,

kids together. That's our next live podcast. Yeah, come on, guys, will live stream our travels of the plane with our children's throwing up and watching iPads. Thank you so much for being on Katie's Crib. I love you, do it, do it, love, Thank you. Thank you guys so much for listening and for your amazing feedback and tweets and messages and reviews and sharing Katie's Crib with your friends and your family. It means so so much to me, So please keep it coming and check us out on

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