We’re on the first stages of planning our upcoming trip. We’re still waiting for the confirmation, but we’ll probably spend a month (March?) on the island.

It’s the first big trip we’re making with tinyMovieStar, and the destination can be challenging for a (close to) two-year-old toddler.

This is a trip we’ve made many times before, but travelling with her adds countless new variables. That has been true when moving in the country, it will get a lot harder with this trip. Long gone are the days of pack&go!

She’ll be flying for the first time, and not a short flight at that. That is our first concern. Then she’ll land in a place that is entirely different from what she’s used to. None of the things we rely upon to feed her and entertain her are available. We’ll have to pack tons of food, medicines, toys, books, and so on. Vegetables are hard to find there, and everything else has regular shortages as well.

We’re probably getting a house in the city, and that comes with advantages, as well as disadvantages. We can cook, but we have to find supplies to do that, not as easy as asking the kitchen staff to help out. There’s only one “supermarket”, and regular things can be in very short supply. There’s also no pool or beach in the city, and the number of things to do in town in general is very, VERY, limited. The town is tiny.

The nicest hotel, the one where it would be easier to keep her happy, fed, and entertained, is closed for renovation. That’s the one with the nicest beach too. Bummer.

We’ll also have to find someone to help out with babysitting. We have someone on our minds, but aren’t even sure if she’s on the island at the moment.

Transportation is another issue. There are no taxis (they do have motorcycle taxis, but those are obviously not suitable), no buses, and renting a car for a month would be crazy expensive. There’s a bus that takes the hotel’s employees around the island, and that’s probably what we’ll use.

It will be crazy hot! We can handle it, sometimes barely, but she’s never been in a place as hot as the island. It’s another reason to worry.

She’ll miss her kindergarten too, as she’s really into it at the moment. movieStar will ask the teacher to send a video now and then, but the first days will surely be hard for her. She doesn’t have a babysitter here, she spends all her time at kindergarten, and with us, I’m sure it will be something difficult to overcome. I will probably not work while there, but something might come up. I’ll keep her company for as long as I can, while movieStar goes off to work but, if I have to work also, things will get messy.

We’re thrilled that she’s going there, and happy that we’re back as well, but I know things will be very different this time around, the whole dynamic has changed too much. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity, and I can’t wait to see her there, having fun and discovering a TON of new things. I hope she has as much fun as we do. She’s meeting the place where mom&dad met and married!