Traveling with young kids is not for the faint of heart. Between COVID and adding a second little one to the mix, we hadn’t been able to visit my parents and grandmother in China for far too long. In fact, my grandma hadn’t even met the boys in person yet. It was a trip we knew had to happen before Alfie started Kindergarten, even though I didn’t feel ready yet. But before I could talk myself out of it again, Sam booked our flights, and the rest was history. So after a few days of freaking out, randomly running around the house screaming, and lots of deep breaths, we got our visas, made our packing lists, and prepared for a month-long trip to the far east.
The Nightmare Trip There
The bags were packed and the boys were buzzing with excitement. We booked an overnight flight departing at 9:30pm in hopes that they would just sleep through the whole flight and wake up on the other side of the world. But as with most travel plans, or wishful thinking, when traveling with kids, things went totally off track. Neither kid took a nap on the way to the airport as I had hoped, which was at their typical bedtime. Then we got to our gate only to find the flight was already delayed two hours to 11:30pm. What could be worse than starting a trip with two over-tired and out-of-routine kids stuck in the airport with hundreds of other passengers? I was about to find out soon.
The five-year-old somehow stayed awake for 17+hrs before finally passing out after take-off. The two-year-old managed a short stroller nap at midnight after much protest. But then he woke up during boarding and wouldn’t go back to sleep for hours. The boys, most inconveniently, slept in turns. Which meant Sam and I didn’t get much sleep at all, even though we tried to divide and conquer.
Two hours before landing in Taipei for our layover, the cabin was still dark and everyone was sleeping. The little one woke up and shortly started crying despite being offered the tablet and snacks. Then he vomited, which I caught with my bare hands. The flight had been a bit turbulent and he was tired and had too many snacks, so my never-been-motion-sick child became motion sick. After everything and everyone was finally cleaned up, I decided that we were just going to stay in China indefinitely, because I couldn’t handle another flight like that.
Thankfully, the second leg of the trip from Taipei to Beijing was uneventful, and the Hello Kitty painted plane was a nice cheer-up after the nightmare longhaul flight. We landed in Beijing, went through border control with cumbersome forms, got our luggage, and finally walked out of arrival and into my parents’ eagerly waiting arms! It was the longest and most exhausting 1.5 days of travel I had ever experienced, but seeing them made it all worth it.
The Dream Trip Back
The international terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport was beautiful. There must have been multiple upgrades and additions since I last went through there, because I hadn’t seen these replicas of traditional Chinese architectures before. Perhaps they were installed prior to the Winter Olympics. Also, a kids play area is always a plus.
Backtracking our steps, uneventful flight to Taipei, a short layover, and overnight flight back to the States. But unlike the flight to China, the boys got comfortable and SLEPT THE WHOLE FLIGHT BACK!!!! They only woke up when breakfast was served before landing. I was so grateful I could cry. Sam and I slept and even got to watch a movie or two. Look we were smiling in the photo!
Huge thanks to our friends who not only gave us rides to and from the airport, but picked us up with a hand-painted Welcome Home sign that their daughter made. What did we do to deserve such amazing people in our lives?
The Summary
We stayed a full three weeks in China:
- We skied in the 2022 Winter Olympics mountains.
- We climbed the Great Wall.
- We relaxed on the beach in Hainan.
- We saw pandas and went sightseeing in Beijing.
It took days to get over jetlag. There were lots of meltdowns, skipped naps, and poorly eaten meals. We were definitely overly optimistic about how much we could do and learned the hard way that kids needed time to settle into each new place. But we sure soaked up family time. Watching the boys spend time with my parents and grandma IN PERSON was everything. It was beyond important to me that the boys know and feel how much Laolao and Laoye love and miss them.
I would do it again in a heartbeat… after some recovery from this one, of course.
More posts to follow.
C.