In my true spastic spur of the moment decision making form, I committed to a trip to Chicago before I had little Rocco. I knew he would only be a few weeks old, and in my experience, they are much easier to travel with when they sleep all the time;) He is already three weeks old, and really it took until now to feel back to normal energy wise (at least as much as you can with a new baby). I look forward to sharing about his first few weeks of life soon!
I was asked to mentor at the Create + Cultivate conference for bloggers and business owners. Gabe was actually the one who encouraged me to go, and he offered to hold the fort down while I was away. Since I have a weak spot for helping entrepreneurs, I jumped at the chance.
My wonderful mother in law is from Milwaukee so she met me there to help with little man. The conference was one of the best I have ever attended. Incredibly organized down to the detail, a perfect location, and a knowledgeable line up of speakers. They spoiled both the speakers and mentors, and the attendees with hair and beauty stations, swag, and drink and food stations on hand. Rocco and I thoroughly enjoyed the day! It is always fun to connect with long time blog friends as well like Amber, Kate, Shalice, and Liz (check em outttt). If you are a blogger or creative business owner, I highly recommend you sign up for the next C+C conference since it offers some really thorough content and opportunities to learn.
We got to spend some time by the navy pier as well as brunch with old friends before taking off back to Atlanta. (Fun fact: Gabe and I met at the Navy Pier except I was clueless he would end up being my husband. We were only 18!)
SIDE NOTES ON INFANT TRAVEL:
Traveling with Rocco was actually pretty smooth sailing. My faith in humanity was restored by the end of our flights, as almost everyone was willing to lend an extra hand when needed. The flight staff loaded my luggage for me on the plane as I held Rocco, and even tried to get me an extra empty seat. You can check your carseat and stroller at the gate which was LIFE SAVING. I will say the security check was the only stressful part because as you know, it is already set up to make you have a minor panic attack before you make it through the body scanner. Thankfully in the ATL airport there is a line for strollers and babies and I teamed up with another mama traveling solo as we helped each other get all our gear through the line. Rocco slept the whole flight and pacifiers came in handy when I needed to hold him off till I could feed him. The Quinny Buzz Xtra and carseat was extremely easy to use and got us in and around the city with ease. Other than managed to book an international flight leg back to Atlanta and being lost on the wrong side of the airport, we didn’t run into to many hiccups.
Packing for two in one carry on and one tote bag was a puzzle I managed only by sitting on top of my suitcase (literally). I only packed what I absolutely needed for me, and left the rest of the space for little man’s items.
Outfit details: Top (nursing friendly), Pants (50% off!), Sandals, Diaper Bag/Tote c/o, Earrings Also wore this nursing friendly dress to the speaker dinner. (So helpful to travel with comfortable and versatile pieces!)
Have you traveled with a baby before? Any helpful tips you want to leave for fellow readers, please do!
