travel

Hi, my name is Jacqui, my husband and I have not traveled either and the thought terrifies me. I have lots and lots of travelers stories from adoption couples that I have collected from the internet and in some cases I have e-mailed people that have adopted and asked questions. We are looking at adoption from China and one site I came accross has a great packing list. [url]http://www.night.net/rosie/pack-Emilee.html[/url] I havent looked for travel tips for South Africa but I'm sure there are plenty to be found. I find reading other peoples stories great help. Good luck.

Pack very light, my Daughter wanted to be held or/and carried on the return trip and this was very difficult to manage with a carryon. Alot of people take for comfortable clothes to relax in. Clothes from a Thrift store for two reasons. You can throw them away to have more room on the trip home. They are not a chunk of change to replace if your suitcase gets lost. Alot you can buy once you are in Country also.

Nicole- pack light. We've been to China twice and both trips were wonderful. Bring enough baby diapers though. you can usually buy them in country but they don't work as well. Split up everything between the suitcases. That way if one gets lost you will still have some things with you. Also I always bring my toothbrush in my carry on it helps with those long plane rides and you might want to have a small container of babywipe also because the air on the plane is very dry and you feel like your skin is all dried out. Walk around on the plane a few times it helps. Lets see what else.....On the return trip have a bottle ready for your baby because the pressure on the ears sometimes hurts little ears and they don't know how to pop them. My first daughter had no problem with that, although she was awake the whole time but my second daughter had some problems with the pressure, not bad, but not fun either. Bring some hand sanitizer along with you as well. We took two fairley, good sized rolling suitcases and a back pack for each of us that way we could manage everything including the baby in case there were no porters... Good luck have fun.-

Thank you all very much for the advice. Would you recommend bringing an umbrella stroller, or not? nicole

Nicole - How old is the baby you are adopting? If they are small enough for an infant carrier, I would suggest a "travel system" the stroller with attachable car seat. It makes moving in and out of cabs easier and gives you some storage room underneath. You can take the stroller right to the door of the plane and site check it and the flight attendents will store the infant carrier for you. A couple of things to keep in mind - SAA (South African Airways) does not do standard pre-boarding. They did let us though - I don't know if it was because we 1) asked 2) had twins or 3) were flying business class. If they won't let you pre-board, plan on boarding last. It is much easier to manuever once most other people are seated. They also will not allow you to put the infant carrier (even strapped in) on a vacant seat so make sure you get a bulkhead seat so you can request (at least 24 hours in advance) a bassinett. They have good food though! When are you going??? michelle

I would recommend either a stroller, or baby backpack or front type pack.