Must Have Accessories for Infant Travel

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With a little (okay, a lot) of extra planning and creativity, your newborn can be your best traveling companion. The following are some accessories that will make your travel experience with your infant a much more enjoyable and carefree event.

1. Baby Bjorn Carrier

I never leave the house without my Baby Bjorn. This is such a handy and durable carrier, whether you're going to the grocery store or embarking on a five-mile hike. This carrier is sturdy, so you can have your hands free, do something physical and feel confident that your baby is snug and secure. This is a great carrier for the outdoors.

2. Moby Wrap Carrier

I love this carrier as well because it allows for discreet breastfeeding. I use this carrier when I'm doing less physically demanding things, such as eating dinner at a restaurant or going to a museum or shopping. The Moby is cloth and molds your baby to you. My son loves being toted in his Moby, and I love that it allows me to breastfeed in public without having to flash my breasts to the world.

3. J.L. Childress Changing Pad with a built-in baby wipe packet

Public changing tables are a hotbed for germs-yuck. I never lay my little one down without the security of a changing pad. The J.L. Childress changing pad is great because it has a built-in baby wipe packet to store your supplies and can be wiped down and sanitized after touching that dirty changing station. Changing pads are also handy if there are no changing stations in sight, as you can unfold them on the seat of your car or on your lap to create an instant diaper changing surface.

4. Okkatots Travel Baby Depot Bag

Ingenious I say, this bag is simply  the best! There are so many handy water proof pockets and sections in this bag that comes with a changing pad and dirty laundry pouch. You can pack your babies items for the day as well as your own and set out with just this backpack for a full days worth of fun. Mesh pockets allow for the easy drying and ventilation of pacifiers and there are built-in bottle holders as well.

5. Graco Portable Play Yard

I love this item! The Graco Portable Play Yard is really only handy for travel via car (unless you want to pay extra for your checked baggage) since it folds up to the size of a large stroller. The Play Yard doubles as a play/sleeping station and changing station providing a safe space for baby to snooze and play while at a hotel or relatives house.

6. Little Remedies Baby Travel Kit

Little Remedies is a handy little travel first aid kit to have by your side. Complete with saline spray, gas drops, a nasal aspirator and oral numbing gel, you pretty much are ready for anything with this kit. I like to throw a thermometer, baby Tylenol and nail clippers into the handy zip-up pack as well.

7. One Step Ahead, Tuck Me In Travel Bed

This bed is so great. Super portable, the Tuck Me In Travel Bed is inflatable and comes with little bumpers on the sides to keep baby from rolling out. This is a great alternative to the Graco Portable Play Yard if you are taking a flight and don't have a lot of room to pack extras.

8. California Baby Calming Basics Tote

Your baby has sensitive skin, that hotel toiletry set may work for you, but will most likely irritate your little-one. The California Baby Calming Basics Tote is a great solution. Complete with baby wash, lotion, shampoo, diaper rash cream and calendula cream, the products are scented with yummy lavender to encourage a peaceful rest for infants on the go.

9. Random assortment of plastic bags for storing wet clothes and holding dirty diapers.

Never underestimate the importance of hanging on to your grocery bags!

*All of the above mentioned items can be purchased online on amazon or directly through the manufacturers page. Happy traveling!

Ten songs that make me want to get my travel on!

I have the tendency to lose myself in elaborate daydreams, often sparked by hearing a familiar song or two. The following ten songs, make me want to lose myself in adventure. The artists listed are not necessarily the originals, they merely sing the versions that speak to me. 1.  Mozambique  by: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's classic ode to the beautiful people and beaches of Mozambique resonates. My time in Inhambane, Mozambique was pure magic (well, most of the time) and this song stirs a longing in me. The Indian Ocean from the shores of Mozambique was so placid and warm.

2. You Belong to Me by: Carla Bruni

This romantic little song makes me want to set out solo and explore the world (cue my husband, singing the lyrics to me in deep mournful tones). In my fantasy, I don't stay away for too long and return home with souvenirs and postcards (don't ask why I don't send those, in my fantasy they peek out of the top of a brown paper bag) to a beautiful and happy reunion.

3. Africa  by: Toto

This song reminds me of so many moments I've experienced beneath the dark starry southern African sky. It makes me want to return and relive those experiences over and over. There is nothing like the soft (and often-times not so soft) rains down in Africa.

4. Aux Champs-Elysees by:  The Gilles David Orchestra

Who doesn't want to stroll merrily along the Champs-Elysees, baguette and brie in a bag slung over their shoulder? I do! I experienced Paris once and I have memories of my friend Freddy and I singing the song excitedly as we took it all in. I also remember an argument regarding who sang the correct lyrics and who had the better accent but whatever. It was mostly a beautiful moment, one that I long to experience again.

5. Country Roads by: John Denver

This song reminds me of driving down the dirt roads in Brandywine, Maryland. It reminds me of the beautiful landscape of New England in the Autumn (don't ask) and of the often overlooked beauty of the Mid-Atlantic in the Summer. It also makes me want to embark on a road-trip, something I've fantasized about, but have never managed to experience.

6. Leaving on a Jet Plane by: Peter, Paul and Mary

This song stirs in me the excitement of a new journey; of leaving things behind, notes of uncertainty and even melancholy in order to pursue the unknown.

7. Changes by: Seu Jorge

This song takes me to the idyllic Brazil that I only know from my imagination, from my longing. Forever on my list of places to experience, Seu Jorge's version of Changes stirs the romance, the grit and the free-spirited movement that I know awaits me when I finally make it to Bahia and Rio.

8. Girl from Ipanema by: Pery Ribeiro

This song evokes the sultry, rhythmic, salty essence of that undulating ocean water on Ipanema Beach in Rio, where I've never actually been except in my imagination. I want to go. Pery Ribeiro makes me want to grab a caipirinha, throw on a sarong, put a flower in my hair and dance on the beach as ocean water laps at my ankles. In another life, I swear I've been there.

9. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans by: Billy Holiday

New Orleans is a magical exotic place, one of the most mysterious and culturally unique cities in the United States (in my opinion). This song makes me want to visit the Louisiana Bayous, taking in their lush and murky beauty. It makes me want to go back in time and stroll the French Quarter with its cobblestone streets, towering French architecture and Jazz.

10. Sail Away by: Enya

With a voice as etherial as ocean mist, Enya makes me want to set sail from the foggy shores of the British Isles on a slow and dewy morning. This song makes me want to go to Ireland and watch the sun set from the vantage point of a rolling green cliff, a misty breeze ruffling my hair. Freeing and meditative, Sail Away, invites me to do just that, to sail away and lose myself.

Help me choose my next travel destination

Hey Everyone, I'm trying to plan my next family getaway and I need some ideas. For the first time we'll be traveling with an infant so I'd like to keep the flight from New York relatively short. We want to leave either late Fall or early Winter, other than that I'm open. If you have any suggestions go ahead and post, I'd appreciate your help.

Best,

Sojourner