Travel lessons learned: St Lucia
Each trip still has the capacity to surprise – and to reinforce lessons from previous travel. So, what did I learn this time, after our latest trip to St Lucia – my travel tips for St Lucia…
1. Ditch the routine
Not entirely, perhaps. Meals and naps still need to happen, ideally – and the best way to overcome jetlag is to structure the day. But toddlers won’t nap if they don’t feel like it, and straitjacketing yourself means you’ll limit what you can do.
2. Relax about ditching the routine
Otherwise you find yourself attempting to wrestle a squirming toddler into a ‘relaxing’ position in your arms to encourage sleep. Resulting in tears of frustration for everyone and no nap at the end of it.
3. Factor in fatigue
Broken sleep, early starts and busy days are tough to avoid when I want to pack lots in and there’s a time difference to contend with. I appear to have forgotten this will leave me distinctly tetchy by the last day and less inclined to chill out about the small stuff. (See point 2.)
I’m not sure what the solution is but will settle for awareness for now.
4. Don’t fret, you’ll work it out
If you’d told me in advance that I’d spend part of my holiday getting an appointment with a doctor thanks to illness striking Minnie yet again on holiday (I swear she’s rarely ill at home), I’d have felt very panicky.
But if it happens, when it happens you find the solution – advice from the hotel, the knowledge we had travel insurance if necessary and thankfully the worst bit was getting the antibiotics into her rather than the ear infection itself.
5. Nothing ventured
A volcano, an aerial tram through the trees, even trying a long walk/tour where Minnie would be stuck in the buggy – none sound child-friendly but we had a go and we managed them all.
I highly recommend taking a helpful grandmother along and/or picking a country where everyone adores kids. But if you never try, you’ll never know.
Image: copyright MummyTravels
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