THE RUNWAY: Mother’s Day Special – Oye, Olumide & BABY Share On Their Florida & Bahamas Adventure
Today’s Mothers Day Special of The Runway catches up with couple Oye and Olumide on their recent trip highlights and challenges travelling with their baby.
Enjoy and be Inspired!
Meet the Family
I am Oyeyinka, a pharmaceutical consultant who has always loved travelling; I enjoy learning about different cultures and I like the buzz that comes from adventures. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity of travelling to many countries but I have one more continent to cross off my list.
I am Olumide and I live in London where I work full time as a Project Manager. I have a beautiful family and we try to travel as much as we can. My wife introduced me to the world of adventures and travel; it has since become one of our favourite things to do together.
Our baby Boluwarin was 18 months at the time we took our last holiday.
2. Where was your last trip to and why did you choose that destination(s)?
We drove across parts of Florida and took a cruise to the Bahamas. We arrived in Tampa, drove to Orlando (~1 hour) then to Miami (~4 hours) where we took a cruise to the Bahamas. On arrival back in Miami, we drove up to Tampa (~5 hours as we made a few stops) which was our final destination before coming back home. Honestly, we just wanted to get away from the winter and going somewhere cold was not an option. We wanted somewhere relaxing and fun that was ideal for the whole family.
View of Miami from the cruise ship
3. Did you feel anxious about traveling with your baby? (What helped, if so) Him/Her
On this occasion no, as we had travelled with him a few times before this trip but yes I think we were a little anxious when we first had our long haul travel with him. However, we quickly found that being adequately prepared makes it easy and it is definitely not as bad as it seems. Having snacks on the flight, comfortable clothing for flying and watching children’s TV helped for the flight and having a flexible itinerary for the holiday was also a good idea as we took things easy.
Bahamas Cruise Ship
4. What was your highlight of the trip? Him/Her/Baby
Him –It was a very good holiday and there are few things I specifically enjoyed; driving between the different cities, taking the bus and boat tour of Miami and spending time on Miami beach relaxing.
Her – The cruise!!! That was the best part for me and I would definitely recommend it. I like relaxing holidays with a bit of sightseeing and adventure so it was nice to have the option of doing nothing or doing so much with all the facilities, shows and activities on the cruise without having to rush anywhere. It was perfect and there was something for everyone including the little one.
Baby – I guess for him, it was about having his mum and dad with him 24 hours and just enjoying being together. He must have noticed that there was no need to get him ready quickly and we all just enjoyed every moment. I suspect he also enjoyed not having to wear many layers ☺.
Miami
5. What were the challenges you faced with your baby such as in logistics, sightseeing and how did you deal with it? (If any)
Again, it was not too bad at all because we had the right expectations about the type of holiday we were going on. The key challenge was that there was a limitation on the types of activities we could do since he is still too young to do a lot of the activities – someone had to always be with him and there was no point in doing it alone or in turns so we just did what all three of us could do .
Road across from Miami Beach by WeekenderHQ
6. What 3 items could you not do without on the trip for the baby?
- His bag
- Stroller
- Car seat
Although the bag counts as one item, it has everything from drink, snacks, wipes, nappies and change of clothes ☺. The bag is a must and the stroller was also very important as it meant we didn’t have to run after him or daddy carrying him everywhere. An important one is the car seat since we were driving most of the time; I think it was good we took advantage of checking it in free with the stroller, otherwise we would have paid about $10 per day to the car rental company.
Clearwater, Tampa
7. Have any funny/unusual/horrible experiences while travelling with your baby?
Nothing unusual or horrible but our toddler realised he could open the door shortly before we travelled so while we were on holiday he was always opening the door to our hotel rooms whenever there was no security chain or latch. At some point we had to put our suitcase against the door which he then climbed ☺.
8. One thing that surprised you both about the destination(s)? Him/Her
Him – How small the Bahamas was as we toured the island in a day.
Her – Although I had been to Florida a few times in the past, driving across meant that we had to do a bit of research and planning. It was so amazing to find out so many new things about the state.
View while approaching Nassau Bahamas
9. What was the best thing about travelling with your baby?
Spending quality time together; watching him grow and doing everything with him every moment of the day for the whole duration of our holiday. It was amazing and definitely worth the time and investment ☺.
Beautiful Sunset in the middle of nowhere on the Cruise
10. Best tips for travelling with a baby (And/Or What would you do differently if anything on your next trip)?
- Having everything the baby needs to hand; drinks, food, snacks, familiar toys, comfortable clothes for flying and always plan to do something the baby will enjoy no matter how young they are.
- Whenever we travel with him, we try to hire a car unless the city has an excellent transportation system. Imagine waiting 20 mins with a toddler for a bus or train?
“We don’t think having a baby stops you from seeing the world or doing what you love doing, it just changes the dynamics”.
Thank you for sharing your amazing trip to Florida and the Bahamas! Cheers to many more adventures with your family!
The WeekenderHQ team would like to wish you HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Leave a comment and tell us about your travelling with a baby stories!
**Photos are courtesy of the couple except otherwise stated.
My peoples! Lovely couple and brilliant read.
Fantastic! I hope to travel this route later in the year 🙂 Beautiful family! Thanks for this 🙂
Thanks for the tips. Planning my first trip with twins next month so definitely was nice to read ur experience.
That’s awesome Efe. Have a lovely trip with the twins!