Tag: Travel

15 Things Nobody Tells You About Traveling with a Baby or Toddler

- Alexis Leave a comment

Traveling with a baby: my husband trekking through the Irish countryside while wearing our toddler in an Ergobaby

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know that I recently spent two weeks in Ireland with my 17-month-old son and husband. We had an amazing trip — the weather was perfect, the Irish landscape is serene and breathtaking, and we interacted with lots of history and had some awe-inspiring adventures.  Our first time traveling with a baby internationally was a success!

This was my son’s first time flying, but it wasn’t our first time traveling with him. When he was six months old, we went to Destin, Florida for a week, which is about eight hours by car from our home (longer when you factor in the flat tire we got on the way there, on top of the usual necessary stops). He’s also taken several overnight, weekend, and long weekend trips to places like Nashville, Tennessee; Beaufort, South Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; central Virginia; and south central Pennsylvania. Each of these trips occurred at different stages in his growth and development, so the preparations and strategies were a little different for each one. They all went relatively smoothly, though, or at least the difficult parts don’t stand out in my memory. Read more

Snapshot: March 3, 2019

- Alexis Leave a comment

In this occasional series, I share what I’ve been reading, watching, thinking, and doing.

Sitting on the porch listening to the rain on this Sunday afternoon

What I’m Reading:

Nightstand: The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child; Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self
Handbag: Man’s Search for Meaning (yes, still)
Audiobooks: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; There There (for a book club I just joined – I read part of this and listened to part of it)
Article: “This is the Secret to Being a Successful Working Mom” (don’t let the click-bait-esque title fool you – there’s a lot of good advice in this piece)

What I’m Watching: The Good Place; Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt (I’ve been watching very little TV lately and haven’t seen a movie in ages)

What I’m Listening To: I’m way behind on listening to podcasts, but today I listened to this episode of HerMoney with Laura Ling talking about resiliency

Current Guilty Pleasure: Looking at tiny houses and renovated RVs on Instagram

Where I’ve Been Recently: Beaufort, SC for a long weekend in January

What I’m Looking Forward To: Going to a yoga class with a friend this week. It’s a small thing, but I don’t go to many yoga classes these days, and spending time with a friend is always a bright spot in my week.

Where I’m Going Next: Malibu and Nashville for professional conferences

Latest Personal Project: I don’t know that I’d really classify this as a project, but I’ve begun listening to positive affirmations and hypnotherapy tracks on YouTube, and I think they are helping to shift my perspective.

Recent Moment of Joy: Teaching my son to say “thank you”

Grateful For: Increasingly longer days and the lack of snow here

Have a wonderful week!

Alexis

PS: If you were hoping for the next installment in my series about being adopted, it’s coming soon — I just needed a little break from writing about that for a while.

What I Learned from Tracking My Spending for a Month

- Alexis Leave a comment
Close-up of twenty-dollar bills

As I wrote at the end of the year, one of my resolutions for 2019 was to get a better grasp on my finances by tracking in a detailed way all of my discretionary spending for the month of January. It was a little tricky to do because of the way my husband and I separate our accounts and divide our expenses, but I analyzed the data as best I could. It was an eye-opening experiment.

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Goals and Resolutions for 2019

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New Year’s Eve/Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. It’s an occasion to reflect on what has been and look forward to what will be, to process the past and leave it behind before making a fresh start. I love the hope that January 1 brings. Now that the winter solstice is behind us, I find myself getting exited about the days growing longer, the weather getting warmer, and all the adventures that lie ahead.

2018 was a year of transition for me, and also a year of joy. I spent most of the year settling into parenthood and finding a new normal, so until very recently, I haven’t been setting many goals or tackling new challenges (aside from the big and obvious challenges of caring for an infant and managing to keep the machinery of life chugging along). I now feel ready to reprioritize some of my former goals and begin moving forward again.

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Why You Need a Vacation

- Alexis Leave a comment

Hazy sunset over pier and trees, from my recent vacation

I just returned from a lovely beach vacation in the Florida panhandle, so this seems like an opportune time to talk about the value of vacations.  A recent survey found that just over half of U.S. professionals don’t use all their vacation days, and the number is even higher among Millennials (especially Millennial women).  That’s despite the fact that Americans already have fewer paid vacation days than Europeans.  But taking a vacation isn’t a luxury.  There are very good reasons to take some time off and get away (aside from the fact that not taking your paid vacation days means you’re leaving money on the table and essentially volunteering).   Read more