For those who read my blog regularly, you know that I already covered this when my daughter was first born, but this weekend we’re traveling again and the difference between trips is amazing. Last time we talked about this subject, Diane and I were really new at this whole parent thing, so we brought lots of things “in case of an emergency”, which really just added up to more crap. At the time we really did need all of it, if not for peace of mind, it was for sleeping, or burping, or whatever! Now though, it’s a completely different story. When we travel, I feel almost like we’re leaving something vitally important behind because we’re traveling so light.

Here is the list of items we brought last time:
•    Bouncy chair
•    Auto-rocking swing chair
•    Instant baby food formula (and a water bottle for food on the go)
•    4 bottles
•    Breast pump
•    Mountain of diapers (and said changing equipment)
•    A couple of onsies
•    A couple of socks
•    Spit rags
•    Stroller

And here is our new list of things we’re bringing:
•    Travel crib
•    A few toys
•    A few bottles of baby food
•    Instant Formula (and bottles)
•    4 Bottles
•    Diapers
•    Clothes
•    Stroller

I know it may not look like much but the fact that we can travel in Diane’s 4 door versus the mini-van is proof enough that we can travel lighter now. If you look at the items and how much space they take up, it’s really rather small in comparison! It also means that my daughter is starting to get a little bit more independent. I guess independent is the wrong word since she’s only 10 months old but you get what I’m saying. She sleeps in a crib, she’s walking, she’s playing with toys and exploring the world more. Hell, we’re only bring the stroller because we’re planning on walking around Portland and don’t want to carry her the whole time. Plus, we’re not bringing a whole mess of baby food as we’re expecting her to eat lots of our food.

So now that we’re traveling lighter, does this mean this trend is only going to get better and better? Obviously we’ll dump the travel crib soon and the bottles won’t be far behind, but will we pick up more stuff later? More clothes, more shoes, more toys. I’m trying to think back to when I was little and recalling a rather packed backpack filled to the brim with every toy I could ever want. The best part is, I remember several occasions where I’d return from said trip with a bag full of toys and open it up to realize that I didn’t even touch half the stuff in there. It was because of this feeling that I slowly learned that I didn’t need to carry everything with me when I traveled. But now I’m getting on track. I know that as time goes on we’ll all get better at this traveling thing and that’s exciting, it’s something I’m looking forward too.

So that covers the little one. For me and Diane, we’ve got this down to a science: iPod, lap top, sketch book and chargers.

Oh! And clothes. I hear those are important too.