Family Travel Bloopers
Sooner or later, traveling with kids makes fools of us all
Chalk it up to human nature, but people never seem to tire of laughing at each other. As evidence, I submit the fact that America’s Funniest Home Videos has been on the air for over 20 years now. So, in honor of April Fools Day, here is my family’s not-so-funny-when-it-happened travel blooper reel.
The great stroller blow out of Salzburg
They make some crazy cool strollers in Europe, which we eventually decided to treat ourselves to. Air inflated wheels make for a super smooth ride until you are on a bumpy cobblestone road in Salzburg, with your toddler sleeping cozily inside, when you pop a tire…and then realize you didn’t bring the pump… and the car is a mile away. Sounds like a tragedy, Mozart.
The Ghent Suitcase Incident
We were on the road from the west coast of Belgium to our home in Germany when we decided to stop in the charming town of Ghent because our tots were enthusiastic (read: screaming) to get out of the car. In the parking garage, I hurriedly dug out our double stroller out of the trunk (it was buried under luggage) and threw the suitcases back in the trunk.
We had a lovely day and drove back home late that night. While unpacking, we realized that we were missing a suitcase. I had left it sitting next to our car in the parking garage.
The following day, my husband drove 8 hours round trip to retrieve the suitcase (after working all day), limiting himself to only a handful of remarks about my relative lack of braininess.
The so-called romance of Venice
Picture an evening in Venice: gorgeous bridges, art museums, gondoliers serenating you lazily along the canals. Now please contrast this to my family’s night in Venice: a room so small the 4 of us could barely fit, hubby and I crammed in the bathroom of our hotel room after tucking the little ones in, huddled over the kids portable DVD player with headphones on so we wouldn’t wake them. Così romantico!
London lifting, without a lift
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of riding the London Underground, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, envision this: a metro system packed with people who all appear to be on a very tight schedule, constant construction, and 3 flights of stairs at many stops without elevator access. Add to that two travel weary toddlers, 2 suitcases and my husband and I trying to carry all of these. Crikey!
So there you have a sampling of our family’s bloopers. We may not always travel gracefully, but, oh, the memories we create! What does your blooper reel look like?
April 1st, 2011 | by Julie Breitigan 7 comments
1. Theodora on April 1st, 2011
We’re kind of blooper central in our travels. Taking a skiff down the Mekong only to find it leaking sits high on my personal bad list.
2. Jamie Pearson on April 1st, 2011
Okay, I’ve got two stories. Both happened on the same God-forsaken trip.
The barf story: My daughter threw up in the dining room of a semi-swanky hotel. I heroically caught the puke in my cupped hand, called to the waiter for help, and waited for what seemed like hours. Finally he returned…with ONE paper napkin.
The diarrhea story: There’s a chocolatier on every corner in Bruges, Belgium. We didn’t show quite enough restraint with my 2-year-old and let him eat his weight in truffles.
Back at the hotel, he blew out his diaper. When my husband (who was wearing a hotel bathrobe) tried to change him, he managed to get diarrhea on his bathrobe, the bathmat, and all our bath towels.
He had made the decision to soak it all in the bathtub before I could stop him. Calling housekeeping and asking them to take the mess away was pretty much the low point of my entire life.
3. Elisa Carballo on April 1st, 2011
Great stories! PArticularly the London one…Actually the first time I ever rode the London tube, I was just arriving to the city with my kids, same thing like yourself, trying to rush through the masses of people with 5 suitcases, a stroller, and like a million rucksacks! At the time you feel awful and as if you were kind of in an action movie, but then its good to kinda look back and just have a couple of laughs about it…Just makes traveling more fun, right? hehe great stories !!!
4. Elisa Carballo on April 1st, 2011
Oh, I’ve just remembered another funny story! We were visiting the Canterbury Cathedral and suddenly my 1 year old had a nappy emergency!!!! oops!!! In the middle of the guided tour and well you can imagine the funny smells, so I had to sit outside the church on a bench to change my poor baby! It was quite embarrassing but then me and my husband just kinda had a laugh about it! What else can you do, huh? hehe
5. Jane on April 2nd, 2011
Kudos to Steve for going to retrieve that suitcase! Cedric would have said, “forget it” and wouldn’t think twice about it. Your travel bloopers sound like every day life, even without the travel! By the way, that picture with the flat stroller tire – it looks like Steve is saying, “ha, ha sucker! ‘ve got the bunk stroller!”
6. Bluegreen Kirk on April 6th, 2011
I didnt even know they made strollers with inflated wheels! Geeze what will they think of next and they dont even give you a spare to replace them with? My son forgets his luggage all the time.
7. Sonja on April 6th, 2011
Yeah . . . the London Underground with kids and suitcases takes the cake. A painful experience.
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