Destination: Unknown

A week before my daughter was born, Luke came down stairs one Saturday morning.  He sat down at the dining room table beside me and I looked at him and said, “We need to have a talk.  I need to go somewhere, I need to take a trip.”

With out even looking up from his email, “Now? You’re about to have a baby.”

 “Yes, I know…but how soon can we travel after she’s born?  It’s been six months since we went to Tortola and I’m starting to get the ‘Itch’ ” My Dad was getting ready to go to Fiji with my sisters and I was secretly hoping that we could take our three week old and go too…I guess one could say I was feeling Luke out about it.  “Ash, this is ridiculous.  What do you want for breakfast?” he said as he walked into the kitchen to refill his coffee.

After having our daughter Sutton, I quickly realized that traveling would have to wait for a few months while we readjusted as a family.  Fast forward to a year later….

With our anniversary a month away and our daughter had just turned one, we decided it was time to take our first international trip.  We had been taking long weekend trip to visit friends and family since she was four weeks old and we both felt like it was time to go international.  Now the big question…where to go?

Being the thoughtful and loving wife that I am, I encourage Luke to pick a spot that would have good surf in June.  This way we could both be happy!  Now let me tell you something about my sweet husband…he likes his research and prefers not to be rushed on such important decisions that involve weather patterns, swells, and waves.  Needless to say, after about a month, we finally had it narrowed down to three places: Cabo, Costa Rica, and Panama.  After another week and some more research (safety, surf swells, and flight time) we decided on Panama. 

As we shared our travel plans with friends and family, I noticed there were two groups of people: the “That’s so cool you’re taking the baby” group and the “I can’t believe your taking the baby” group.  Need less to say this second group can really make you second-guess you choices.  The best thing that we could do is listen patiently to all concerns and then roll our eyes when they left the room. However, it will lead to a roller coaster of emotions....

"Yay!! Were going to Panama!!!"

"OMG...Were taking a baby to Panama?!?!?!?"

"It's cool...we can do this"

"WTF...Can we do this?!?!"

We consulted our pediatrician about our plans and made sure all vaccinations were up to date for our daughter to travel…it’s really the best you can do.