As some of you know I was born in Europe. In fact, my parents still live there, so do my in-laws. This can be a bliss sometimes, visiting the folks on the other hand is not an easy trip.

The 26-30 hours transit time is trying for even the fittest. I did it once without kids. A round trip in 3 weeks knocked me out for a six, I didn't even contemplate doing it again for a couple of years.

Then when my son was little I decided to take him over to see the grandparents on my own. Learning from the previous experience I decided to spend a bit longer time over there. I had an 8 months old in tow, so 7 weeks sounded better. My little boy was an angel, as long as we followed our routines he was fine. Great sleeper too, I just had to put him in his cot...

So we got on the airplane to visit the relatives. Night flight - to stick with the routine. All good at take-off, he fell asleep. Then I put him in the bassinet, hoping he would sleep all the way through the 16 hour flight. But he had other ideas. He screamed 8 hours of the first 16 hours, then another 3 during the next flight. To make matters worse we lost his comforter somewhere along the way. When I arrived in Vienna in tears, my first sentence was:

I will never do this again.

Our life changed significantly while we were in Europe in 2009. I learned to back carry my little boy with a woven wrap. Realised my body was capable of providing the comfort necessary for him, no need to worry about cots or comforters. Needless to say the journey back was easier.

Looks like I have short memory, in 2011 I decided to do the same stunt again. The only difference, I had 2 kids under 3 to accompany me.

I am crazy.

You should have seen the horror on the faces of the people around me when we were boarding the plane. But I had a secret weapon. Well, not so secret.

Babywearing.

Knowing that my body was a safe place where my babies could snuggle and go to sleep. My hands wouldn't fall off if they needed cuddling for the entire flight. I was enabled. It was a very pleasant journey. No screaming (ok, 3 minutes). When I got to the other end, I was smiling. The kids were happy too. Happy to see grandparents.

The journey home was very similar. We were tired when we arrived, but happy to see my husband, their father.

And I will do this again.

Thank goodness for babywearing.

Agnes

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