“To travel is to live”, so the famous Hans Christian Anderson quote goes. And for many a year, Mr and Mrs Lighty have lived to travel. Seeing new places and experiencing new cultures enriches the soul and refills your spirit in a way that nothing else can. But as we’ve just discovered, seeing the world through your child’s eyes truly adds life to your travels.
Having just returned from our first family holiday abroad, I already know that the new memories we’ve made and seeing the holiday though Baby Lighty’s eyes will stay with us forever. Two of Baby Lighty’s favourite words at the moment are “wow!” and “oooooh!” (they seem to cover a multitude of occasions!), and the pretty little German town of Monschau gave him – and us – plenty of opportunity to use them.
Beautiful Monschau.
Right from the off, we could see the wonder in his eyes as our train delved into the depths of the channel tunnel, his little mind no doubt racing with “where are we going?” and “what will we find when we get there?”. Then we happened to have a pyjama change stop at the poshest baby change ever, complete with love hearts wallpaper and disco ball overhead. Throughout the whole change, Baby Lighty lay there perfectly content, pointing at the pretty lights overhead, oohing and wowing as the reflections danced around him.
Poshest baby change ever?!
And so it continued throughout the holiday: you could see the wonder in his big blue eyes at the likes of the waterfall that rushed past our holiday home, and the fun he had shouting “Hiya!” as he waved to everone that passed by the window of the town’s road train; you could see him mentally lick his lips as he spied the scrummy Monschauer ice cream or the big plate of “baby’s first Wienerschnitzel” as it came to the dinner table; and even the likes of the awning closing above us as we sat on the terrace of a pretty riverside restaurant one evening seemed magical to him, which in turn made the moment – and now the memory – magical to us.
Baby’s first Wienerschnitzel! And you’ll be pleased to hear that that’s not Baby Lighty’s beer!!
But I think the whole wonderful experience of the weekend was probably summed up best by the lovely lady in the town’s bakery, who, when I enquired if she had anything suitable as a snack for my 15 month old, insisted that she give me one of her Milchbrot buns on the house because – in her words – “the children are our future, and we must look after them”. How humbling to find such genuine kindness.
Looking after our children’s future must require us to educate them in tolerance, differences and broadmindedness, something which is surely taught by the experiences of travel. We have made some amazing memories during this first holiday abroad as a family, and the joy I experienced at seeing Baby Lighty happily playing in the sand at the sand sculpture museum, or giggling as he bounced on the trampoline with Mr Lighty, are special enough to overshadow other memories from perhaps more prestigious holidays past.
Enjoying playing in the sand at the town’s sand sculpture museum!
First time trampolining!
And out of all of that excitement, what do we think Baby Lighty enjoyed the most?! Probably that all-singing, all-disco-dancing baby changing room, of all things…!
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Aw brilliant post. We first took our eldest abroad when he was 10 months old and have had an annual holiday every year bar this year, and he keeps asking us “when are we going at holiday?” I love seeing the world through his eyes. It was a memory to treasure in Spain on the sand when he was crawling on the sand going “aaah and oooooh” We’ve yet to take the littlest one abroad, and I’m slightly nervous haha but look forward to it too. It looks beautiful where you went and oooh that changing room! xxx
Ah thank you! I’d highly recommend Monschau if you like sightseeing / walking, it’s so pretty! The apartment we stayed in was really set up for babies too (it even had a changing station?!). Hoping to do a full write up on my travel blog if I have time! xxx
Aw it sounds like you’ve had an amazing time – such a chocolate box location too. No wonder Baby Lighty was filled with wonder. It looks truly magical! (Especially the baby change. I have got to get us a disco ball. Anything to stop him trying to bolt nowadays!) 😉 xx
It was so beautiful Dawn, I highly recommend it! And yep, I’ve been saying the same thing about getting a disco ball!! ? xxx
What a fantastic holiday! It looks so pretty and Baby Lighty really looks like he enjoyed his first holiday abroad! Love that baby change, every baby change should feature a disco ball….new blog campaign maybe?
Haha, do you think it would be as worthy as the one to have baby change facilities in men’s toilets?! It was sooooo pretty – I’m currently working on a full write up for An Answer on a Postcard, hopefully with more photos – wish I was back there now! xxx
I would love to travel and see the world. And that baby changing room sounds really fun #DreamTeam
It really was fun! Not often you take to Twitter positively about a baby change station!! Thanks for taking the time to read my post 🙂 #DreamTeam
Sounds like you had an amazing time! We are also big believers in travelling. We have to get off the rock we live on otherwise we would go potty! We are sailing round the canary islands with the girls this christmas – can’t wait! #dreamteam
Ooh that sounds amazing! Hope you write a blog post and if you do, please flag it up for me to read! Thanks for taking the time to read my post 🙂 #DreamTeam
Can’t beat travel and seeing the world through a little one’s eyes. #DreamTeam
Nope. I just need to book more holidays now!! Thank you for taking the time to read my post 🙂 #DreamTeam
Who can blame Baby Lighty! I want a disco ball! Maybe you just inspired a theme for our downstairs loo 😉
You are so right, travelling with kids is a bit scary but also magical – thank you for sharing with #coolmumclub
Haha!! A disco downstairs loo would be amazing!! #coolmumclub xxx
What a gorgeous place to visit! Personally, I think that all baby changing rooms should look to this one as a standard to follow hehe! How clever to think of adding in a little disco ball, Baby Lightly… were you getting your groove on? Jokes aside, I think there is something so beautiful about your title – to travel with your child is to live. Whether abroad or home, getting out and about and experiencing life is so important for everyone.
Thank you for linking up to the #DreamTeam xx
Ah thank you. After this first taste we definitely want to see more of the world with Baby Lighty. The baby change was seriously amazing!! #DreamTeam
I completely agree with your post. Travelling has this kind of magic on everyone, little ones and grown ups. We are a multilingual family, and I can see in my 5 year old how that helps her as well to open up her mind to other cultures and languages. It’s an amazing thing. 🙂
#MondaysEscapes
Ah that’s so interesting, as I’ve just published a post about feeling like I’d lost my second language because of baby brain!! I’m hoping that Baby Lighty will have an aptitude for languages, but we’ll see. Thank you for taking the time to read my post 🙂 #MondayEscapes
What a great quote and he was spot on wasn’t he! Sounds like you had a brilliant time. There’s nothing like travel to broaden the mind. Thanks for sharing on #fortheloveofBLOG X
We really did have a lovely time, I’d love to go back and at the same time want to explore loads of other places with Baby Lighty in tow! #fortheloveofBLOG
How lovely! It looks amazing there and sounds like you had a fantastic time! #fortheloveofBLOG
We did and it really is lovely, I highly recommend it! Thank you for stopping by! #fortheloveofBLOG
That photo of Monschau is just gorgeous! And I love that baby change area, I’ve never seen one come close to that. 🙂 #candidcuddles
Neither have I, it’s amazing isn’t it?! Kept Baby Lighty well and truly entertained during his PJ change!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post 🙂 #CandidCuddles
So true! Love this quote. We sold our house in January last year and before moving into our new home we went travelling with our then one-year-old for three months. We drove down through France for a few weeks and then ended up in a hilltop town in Tuscany for a month before doing more of Italy. It was completely incredible and did us all so much good! Three weeks into being in Italy, Xav was saying ‘Ciao’ to the kids at the playground instead of ‘hi. That blew my mind! I think lots of people thought we were mental. They worried for us that being in so many different places would make him unsettled, but in fact the total opposite was true. He slept reliably through the night for the first time in his life while we were away and adapted brilliantly to every new place we stayed at! he really enriched our time away and seeing things through his eyes gave us a totally new and exquisite perspective. To travel with your child really is to live. Thanks for this awesome post and for reminding me to remember those wonderful days. #candidcuddles xx
That’s amazing, I’d so love to do something like that! Do you have any posts on that time? I’d love to read them. Love that he learnt Ciao, kids are so adaptable, aren’t they? I bet he slept through too from being so in awe of everything he’d seen and all of the mental stimulation. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post! #CandidCuddles
Sadly our kids (who go to a school where they are surrounded by kids who travel constantly) don’t get to see much of the world as most of the money goes into the bloody school fees! I was never happier than with a backpack on my back (but that said that was in my adult life and my parents hardly took us anywhere). I do hope I can correct it for my kids as I do so agree with you; the world is just out there waiting for us. How lovely was that woman in the bakery?! My heart…
PS all baby changing rooms should be like that #candidcuddles
Sadly our kids (who go to a school where they are surrounded by kids who travel constantly) don’t get to see much of the world as most of the money goes into the bloody school fees! I was never happier than with a backpack on my back (but that said that was in my adult life and my parents hardly took us anywhere). I do hope I can correct it for my kids as I do so agree with you; the world is just out there waiting for us. How lovely was that woman in the bakery?! My heart…
PS all baby changing rooms should be like that #candidcuddles
The lady in the bakery was sooo lovely – it was such an unexpectedly kind gesture. We did of course have to buy cake to make up for it!! ;P Thanks so much for having me on #CandidCuddles xxx