REAL LIFE: OUR (TOO LONG) RV TRIP

Traveling with my family last week was not easy.  I'll be the first to tell you that being in such a small space with my husband (for too long) is not always a good idea.  I love him, but damn.... we can get on each others' nerves in such tight quarters!  I also discovered on this trip that RV'ing (as they call it) just isn't for me.  I guess I'm more of a city girl who likes to dress chic & sip on cappuccinos.... I ADMIT IT.

Nonetheless, I decided to go because I thought it would be a good idea to experience the back roads, farms, fruit markets and the beautiful animals we don't see in the city.  I guess you could say, I wanted to be rugged for a bit.  On this trip, I realized I'm too much of a city-girl to go rugged more than 4 days. Our trip went for 9 days. Tooo long.

In the meanwhile, we also traveled with our 7 1/2 month old son.  He wasn't a handful, he was ACTUALLY two.  We had to make stops every time he was to be fed & changed. To be fair, he has a good temperament and isn't a huge crybaby but he certainly got irritated being in the car seat too long.  Car seats are wonderful & horrible at the same time, right?  Because he's still under 2 yrs old,  he has to face towards the back of the vehicle, so he doesn't get to see much out the window. Like a friend told me recently, when you take kids with you, it's no longer a vacation but a trip.  Don't get me wrong, I thank God for the time off, but hoping for a vacation next time.

All in all, the sights I saw were as beautiful as any movie & the places we visited were SUPER fun. I learned a few things along the way, if you decide to  travel in an RV + baby, it will require a few things:

• patience
• a good amount of baby clothes
• if you're traveling in the cold, pack warm attire
• Organic baby food to-go like Ella's Kitchen or Happy Baby
• portable baby tub like Puj - that folds & hangs to dry easily
• a comfy car seat that is easy to remove like the nuna PIPA
•  Pre-fill bottles with water or pedialyte to carry around if you're child is thirsty
•  Do not plan too much, because trust me, most of the trip will be spontaneous and you may be disappointed. 
• have lots of possible destinations as back ups, in case plan A fails.
• download cartoons or kids learning videos on an ipad or whatever for your child to watch during his/her traveling time in the car seat. 
• always charge phones, iPad, etc. 
• With an RV it's better to opt for plastic dinnerware because renting the ceramic dishes etc. like we did, wasn't a good idea. Why? because with every bump all you could hear are dishes & I was fearing the cabinets opening. Although the dishes are in a safety box, still...it was annoying for the baby to hear as he slept.
• bring plenty of bottled water for everyone - which baby can also drink from. 
• Forget bringing your entire wardrobe. Almost all RV parks have laundry & while you are there you can do a quick load. 
• if it's cold, I'd suggest bringing a small portable heater. You never know when you may need it.
• stay organized, put things in specific places so you don't spend most of your trip wondering where you're shoes are etc. 
• Do not overeat. Not for anything but... being on the road too long with a baby you will be sitting around a lot. The kitchen should be used to cook meals. We used it almost every single night. 
• We decided to cover the cloth RV seats with towels we bought at a Walmart after i spilled some water on one section then sat down on it. Got up to discover i had a dark spot on my jeans from the dirt that collects on the RV cushions. Gross. So, cover those things up! This is perfect when you have to place some baby items on the seats. 
• Use the main RV bed as the baby changing station. But make sure to never leave your infant alone!

-post by jen ramos