Full-time Traveling Day-to-Day Life with a Toddler

I don't know why, but traveling with a toddler/child often gives most people anxiety. I can understand where this sentiment comes from, but it's also a very limiting belief. With this post, I want to unravel this belief and showcase how freeing it can be to travel with a child.

First, let me tell you, parenting is hard, period. Whether you are at home, traveling, or anywhere in the world, challenges arise daily, and as a parent, you have to adapt to your child's growth and new learnings constantly. I want to invite you into our daily routine, our traveling routine, and showcase that traveling with a baby might not be as daunting as it seems.

Our day-to-day life varies with our current location and its options. So, this daily schedule is a summary and might look completely different once we are in a different location again.

Rise & Shine

Noah and I do not set an alarm in the morning. Yuma is our wake-up call. His waking window varies from day to day and is usually heavily impacted by the events of the previous days and how much rest he was able to get during his naps. He can wake up around 7 am or, occasionally, at 9 am. Since we all sleep in the same bed, waking up is pretty smooth and stress-free. I often wake up before him because I can sense he is waking up, so my mama alertness is ready. We stay in bed for a couple of minutes, give some hugs and kisses, and then I take Yuma to potty. We do our morning routine together; he uses the potty, and I freshen up. Yuma then takes a shower or bath (depending on the bathroom situation). Yes, Yuma showers alone, and he actually loves it. I give him around 3-5 minutes of "alone-time." During his shower time, I do my simple morning routine, brushing my teeth and washing my face. After that, I take Yuma out of the shower, and we dress together.

This all sounds very romantic, I know, but let me tell you, it rarely goes like this. This is just the ideal scenario, and we go with whatever comes our way. There might be screaming in between, we might skip a part because Yuma doesn't want to do it, or we might do something completely different. So, don't be fooled by this nice-sounding morning.

Morning Things 

Anyway, moving on. After our quick morning routine, the rest of the day varies. Sometimes we go to the kitchen together and make breakfast. Sometimes we go straight into play, or we even leave the house and go outside for a walk or play. This is the beauty of our current lifestyle. It allows us to adjust to our current needs. There is no need for us to have a strict schedule or force Yuma into one. We pretty much take it day by day and see what happens. Sometimes it's just me and Yuma alone because Noah is getting some work done, but sometimes it's all three of us.

Then comes another time window, his nap time. Usually around 11 am to 2 pm, Yuma naps. It can be 45 minutes or 2 hours long, depending on where we are, what we're up to, and how much rest he needs. Again, no forcing, just going with the flow. Sometimes we all eat lunch together and adjust his nap window to 1 pm. Or he naps first, and we work during his nap, having a late lunch around 2 pm. Surprise surprise, his nap time also offers a lot of flexibility. Sometimes he nurses to sleep, sometimes he falls asleep in the carrier, sometimes in the stroller, and even sometimes in our arms.

Afternoon Things 

After lunch and his nap, it's play and explore time again. Sometimes all three of us, sometimes just me and Yuma, and sometimes Yuma and Noah if I need to get some more work done. We either go on an exploration trip or stay in our current neighborhood and go wherever Yuma wants to go. Of course, dinner follows. We usually return home around 6 pm, cook and eat together, and then hope that Yuma is super tired and goes to sleep around 8 pm. Usually, this is not the case, and his bedtime is much later. Until we feel like Yuma is very tired, we try not to think about putting him to bed too early because if we do, it usually doesn't end well and is very frustrating for everyone. So, again, it takes a lot of patience and just going with the flow. If it's past 8 pm and Yuma is not tired yet, alright then, it's two more hours of play.

What about Solo-Time and work hours? 

As you can see, there is little to no time without Yuma because once he's awake, it's nearly impossible to do anything alone or let him play independently. Of course, sometimes we manage to do a workout, some stretching, or some household chores, but it's always interrupted. If one of us needs to focus on something, we ask the other to take over Yuma alone.

Up to this point, we have no fixed working schedule, meaning we squeeze work in where possible, often during his nap and in the evening when he's asleep. In the future, we'll try to create a weekly schedule and allocate specific times for work and free time. We don't intend to have a strict schedule, but we've found that having a guideline could be helpful. So, after waking up, we already know what type of day it is. It might be a working day, so both of us engage in activities alone with Yuma, giving the other some work time. It might be a full-on family adventure day, so after waking up, we embark on a trip together. We'll see if we're able to create a weekly schedule and if it fits our family vibes.

Free time or "me time" currently doesn't really exist for either of us. I can only speak for myself, but in general, it's not really necessary either because our loose and freeing lifestyle provides me with a lot of relaxation and happiness. I don't really need a specific time in the day to compensate for what I've missed. Our daily life is already in balance, and there's nothing that needs compensating for. But of course, there are times during the week where I feel like I need this time to recharge. So, I ask Noah if he's able to create some time, and he usually is.

So, this is basically it. Nothing fancy, nothing wild, very basic and simple. But that's exactly what I love about it. The newfound freedom allows us to just be and surrender to what happens.

To give you another perspective, before starting our full-time traveling, Noah and I both worked 50%. I worked in the morning while Noah was with Yuma, and after lunch, we switched. Only the weekends were dedicated family days.

Therefore, now we have a lot of family time, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. This specific time will never be the same again, so we're enjoying it to the fullest.

Sending Love

Santemi