Completing the Take 12 Trips challenge

12 months. 12 trips. 1 challenge. After I came across the Take 12 Trips challenge, thanks to Lucy of OnTheLuce and Clare, who came up with the idea for Need Another Holiday, I couldn’t have predicted quite what we’d pack into a year.

The idea itself is simple. Take one trip per month, whether that’s abroad, in the UK, exploring somewhere on your doorstep or ticking something off your bucket list.

I used to average two or three trips per month, partly thanks to work, before Minnie arrived. But only a year or so into travelling with a baby, a bit of extra motivation to get planning and booking was ideal.

Now, of course, she’s not a baby any more (wail). I even have to pay for her flights… When we started the Take 12 Trips challenge, she wasn’t even walking – now she’s running, climbing, chattering and far more involved on each trip.

If you’d told me quite how many of our travels would coincide with her being ill (Portugal, Copenhagen, Paris, St Lucia, Glasgow), I might have despaired just a bit though.

But we did it. We’ve visited the Caribbean twice, had city breaks and beach holidays, we’ve discovered some great family days out in London, and ticked off 10 countries in total (11 if you count England and Scotland, rather than the UK as a whole).

It got off to a rather unpromising start in Portugal’s Algarve for trip 1. The villa was lovely, the sun shone and Minnie was teething viciously.

In between reminders to myself to always pack plenty of Calpol, we did manage to visit the world’s end, eat piri piri chicken in the restaurant that invented it, see an ancient castle, have a Michelin-starred meal and discover more about this family-friendly area.

In contrast to the sunny south, we followed it up with trip 2 to Copenhagen in Denmark, far more family-friendly than you might expect. Alas Minnie kept up her own traditions by catching a virus and scaring the life out of me in the city’s aquarium.

Despite that, I got my Viking fix, saw the city’s iconic Little Mermaid, and had a taste of Hans Christian Andersen and smorrebrod. I also discovered the joys of AirBNB if you’re travelling with children.

Trip 3 was illness-free – hurrah! A cruise in the Caribbean, where a newly walking Minnie got her balance, I discovered why cruises are so baby-friendly, she swam/splashed in the sea off Grand Turk, I had an afternoon off in Jamaica and we saw flamingos in Nassau.

Then Miami confirmed for me that something needn’t be called child-friendly to fit the bill on a Cuban food tour.

Trip 4 was closer to home, taking in a Christmas market in historic Winchester, along with a visit to the cathedral – who needs buggy-friendly when you’re stubbornly determined to explore and people are helpful?

Trip 5… even closer to home after a flurry of New Year-inspired travel booking, with a slightly chilly wander round the London Wetlands Centre in Barnes.

We headed back to see their otters in the July sunshine as well, and realised just how much difference six months can make to a day out with a toddler.

Trip 6… to Paris. Somewhere I’ve visited half a dozen times, it was like seeing an entirely different city. The Louvre was out, the parks were in, I walked for miles, saw a family-friendly side to the Canal St Martin and survived both the Metro, a delayed Eurostar and my own pre-trip panic.

Trip 7… was baby-free! My first trip away from her, I finally got to see the city of Granada and make a long overdue return to Spain.

Not only was the Alhambra as incredible as I’d hoped, I could enjoy leisurely wandering up winding alleys without worrying about buggies on cobbles, nappy-changing stops or naps. Plus I could scoff tapas to my heart’s content as I people-watched.

Trip 8… a serendipitous discovery, and definitely in the spirit of the challenge. Determined to find one trip to take as part of the challenge, I finally got around to exploring one of my (fairly) local parks, to find Gunnersbury is home to more than slides and ducks.

Trip 9… back to the Caribbean. It took me well over three decades to travel there twice. It took Minnie less than two years!

And St Lucia is a fantastic one to visit, with chocolate, volcanoes, zip wiring and spice markets. Plus an ear infection, ending our run of germ-free travel and introducing me to one of Soufriere’s less well-known sites.

Trip 10… back within the UK (for now at least), discovering the child-friendly side to Glasgow just before it hosted the Commonwealth games.

From a couple of great museums – Kelvingrove and the Glasgow Science Centre – to the botanic gardens, we managed another train journey, welcomed back the ear infection (not) and I rewarded myself with seafood.

Trip 11… so close to the end, we nearly failed altogether. A hectic few weeks of work and a packed August ahead meant we only managed a few revisits, including a quick trip to Kew Gardens.

Trip 12… we made up for a quiet July with a burst of activity. I didn’t even need to count the lovely Henley River & Rowing museum or our day at Bounce Festival as we had two long weekends away. So I’m including both!

First to East Anglia for a wedding where we braved torrential rain to cuddle bunnies on a farm, before hitting the beach for some traditional seaside entertainment.

Then heading north to my parents’ home, fitting in a teddy bear’s picnic, Eureka! The National Children’s Museum and monkeys in Staffordshire.

In fact, it’s been so hectic, I feel like a few weekends at home would be good – although after three months without a flight, I have itchy feet.

Perhaps one lesson from the challenge is to pace myself. Some months are so busy that even one trip is enough, while longer-haul holidays are wonderful but not exactly relaxing.

But 12 trips in 12 months is definitely possible. We even managed to make half of them overseas and half of the rest involved more than a day trip within the UK. Who knows, if we do the Take 12 Trips challenge again, we might even manage to keep teething, viruses and infections to a minimum. For now, I need to get planning for September…

 

Main image courtesy of Depositphotos; all others copyright MummyTravels

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