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Q & A with a Traveling Mama - Kayt Sukel
By MountainMama | May 4, 2008
Kayt Sukel’s son, Chet, has traveled to nearly 20 countries — and he’s only three years old! Kayt, a freelance writer, lives in Bedesbach, Germany, where her husband has been stationed with the U.S. Army since 2003.
While her main beat is information technology, Kayt also covers parenting and travel (natch!) for such publications as American Baby, the Christian Science Monitor, Parenting and the Washington Post.
Here’s what Kayt had to say about recent trips — mostly throughout Europe, but also to Africa and back to the States to visit family — and the importance of never forgetting beloved stuffed Grover:
1. What’s is your favorite destination you’ve traveled to with Chet?
I think my favorite would have to be Malta. It’s got everything. History, gorgeous landscapes and these fabulous little pastries called pastizzi that are filled with ricotta cheese. And those pastries are exactly what you need after running after a toddler all day.
2. What’s his favorite destination?
Chet really enjoyed a recent trip to Luxembourg. He had a blast running around the old fortress ramparts. But honestly, he seems to really enjoy just walking around and seeing new things.
3. Most memorable moment traveling together?
We call Chet our little ambassador because he really does open up people’s hearts and minds to us wherever we go. Our most memorable moment still has to be him being swarmed by school children in the Ayasofya in Istanbul. We didn’t even see them approach, but it was a class from a rural part of Turkey in the city to visit the museum there. They saw that we brought a baby and just came over and started kissing him. And though we worried it was too much, Chet just loved it. It was just so sweet to see him and these kids just connecting in this strange and beautiful way.
4. What’s one piece of travel gear you absolutely can’t live without when you travel with your preschooler?
We have very little in the way of gear these days. Chet won’t sit in a stroller or a backpack anymore. So really, as long as we have his Grover and a few toy cars to play with (and of course, a sturdy backpack to keep us in diapers and juice), we’re all pretty happy.
But when he was younger, the Baby Bjorn and then the Kelty stroller/backpack combo saved us. Until Chet turned about 10 months old, we carried him all around in the Bjorn. After that, the convertible stroller/backpack was a must have — especially for Europe. You never know where you’ll find nothing but stone steps or be asked to take your child “off” in a museum. They worry that you”ll turn and knock something or trip an alarm. Who knew?
5. Any tips for flying with a preschooler?
Don’t underestimate the allure of the mundane! We’ve kept Chet happy on flights with a few extra plastic cups from the beverage cart, coloring on the barf bag and counting the number of baseball hats in the rows. And if all else fails, nothing is more fun than wandering the aisles (again and again) once the captain turns off the “fasten seatbelt” sign.
6. What’s next on your family travel agenda?
My husband just deployed to Iraq a few weeks ago so Chet and I will be traveling on our own. We just got back from a whirlwind trip to the states complete with long road trips and we plan to go to Bruges next month and then Israel once the prices go down at the end of the summer. When my husband was here, we did about one trip a month. We’re hoping to keep that up even in his absence.
Topics: Family Travel, Mama Interviews, The Cookie Jar |
May 5th, 2008 at
Nice post and really interesting view through the eyes of service family..we can relate to this with a very close friend who is also posted to Germany with two little ones, while Dad is serving.
Cheers
James
May 6th, 2008 at
re:Don’t underestimate the allure of the mundane!
This advice is spot-on.