Traveling with twins

I don’t think there is anyway to prepare someone to have twins. I also think that the experience between having a singleton and multiples is no comparison. The challenges are probably amplified more for my wife than for me. Like, “how do you change the diapers on one baby versus two babies at the same time in an airport?”  Or, “What do you do about their sleeping in strange places?”

The challenges of traveling the way that we used to versus the way that we travel now is different, but the concept is still the same, see everything you can for as long as you can.  We have been multiple places with the boys during their first 18 months of life, and every trip has been different. From Florida to Alaska, it has all be fun and challenging at the same time. You just make it work. You buckle down, make changes, and enjoy your time.

I’ll be the first to admit that the first 16 months was the toughest for me. As a man, you want to play baseball with your boys, eat beef jerky, and go on river boat gambling trips, but you just cannot do those things at that age. The last two months has completely changed for me, and I enjoy being a father more and more each day. Not to create sappy, heartstring tug post, but to hear “da da” when you walk in the door; there is nothing like it.

Guatemala was a chore, but looking back we made it work, and came out alive. We would do it all over again, just a little differently. Arkansas and Florida trips have been the easiest, and the boys tend to do fine if they get out and move around every 4 hours from long car rides. Alaska was the best trip by far, and we got to see and experience so much with them with great friends. I one hundred percent believe that those memories will be deeply ingrained in them.

To be able to let them walk along the beaches at Homer, watch whales in the ocean, eat fresh halibut and watch soaring eagles, was something special. I remember that first day of our trip to Alaska. We stayed with friends in Wasilla at their home. I took Sawyer outside to play in the yard, and he stared in amazement watching young eagles soar in the sky above him. It was a fresh reprieve from the hours of Baby Bum we just watched on the plane.

I guess the question we get asked the most is “How do you travel with two?” Some tips of the trade for parents of multiples are:

1. Go slow, much slower. You just want be able to hit up a new city each day, and that’s ok! Take time to relax and let everyone enjoy a place for 3-5 days.
2. Buy diapers and supplies in the cities you will be traveling and don’t try to pack too much. As we found out in Guatemala, you can take way too much stuff.
3. Your kids are going to scream on the plane. At some point in the trip, they will cry and lose their shit on the plane. Just apologize to everyone around and move on.
4. Always have a bottle and snacks on hand and ready. This is a key ingredient to saving a come apart for the boys and for dad.
5. Just enjoy the craziness. Morgan and I have always traveled different than most and we still do. Stuff always happens that is not planned and will always happen. Just roll with it, and make the best of it.
6. As long as you stay in a safe, dry, and warm place, most everything else will work out. With kids, safety is now a higher priority, but this is one thing not to be ignored.
7. See and do everything and don’t hold back because of kids or twins. Tote them on your back if you have to, we have done it. They will thank you later in life. Just see everything and go everywhere.