Travel with a toddler

So...  Every kid is different.  I know this.  Wren is a very agreeable little person.  This is some things that worked for us with our toddler.  This list might not be applicable for every one and is based on my experiences and opinions.

• KNOW YOUR KID - I think the number one thing that helped us be successful when traveling is knowing our kid and reacting appropriately.  We know the signs of an impending major meltdown versus a little complaining for the first 2 minutes.  We catered to her needs and gave her breaks and downtime when she needed it.
• Choose your destination wisely.  With toddlers you really need to go someplace that they can drink the water.  You can't tell a toddler not to open their mouth in the shower or put their hands in their mouths and expect them to listen.  A clean country makes things so much easier.  Save the developing countries for when they are older.
• Have a flexible itinerary.  There were a couple of things we planned on doing that got skipped because we didn't think Wren was up for it and we added additional cycling in because she really liked it.  We stopped at a lot of playgrounds in Portugal.  We spent more time playing in the sand because she liked it. 
• Plan for some down time.  Most afternoons we got back to the hotel for nap time or Wren took a nap in the car.  That helped things go smoother.  Sleep is important and worth planning for.
• For food, we did bring a couple of things as "just in case" food.  We used very little of it and mostly what we used was because it was easy, not necessary.  Most meals Jeff and I would just order what we wanted and eat family style.  Wren would usually decide that one meal tasted better than the other and would eat it.  There was probably 2 lunch and one dinner that she wasn't to fond of so she ate bread and that was about it.  So what.  Its 2 meals over a two week vacation.  No big deal.  Our just in case food was a jar of peanut butter and a bag of cereal.  The PB was used once, we just thought it would be an easy meal in a pinch as bread and jelly are easy to find in Europe (PB, not so much).  She did eat most of the cereal.  It was mostly consumed on the airplane when she was hungry but they were not serving food yet or on that flight.  We have a no spill container for it that she can self feed out of.  There are a ton of different ones, hers came from the grocery store.
• We brought some entertainment.  Wren really likes books so we brought a large pile of them, some waterwows (if you don't know what they are, look it up, they are awesome), her favorite stuffed animal (puppy), a couple Fisher Price people (great for pretend play), stacking cups (doubled as beach toys), we have a toy phone that we let her play with in the car and bought a very simple toddler tablet (Its a Vtech one that is for learning numbers and letters for the 2-5 year olds - cost $14 but since she hadn't played with it until the airplane it was a very fun toy.  It did not have a headphone jack but it had volume control so we set the volume very low and we could barely hear it so it wasn't bugging anyone on the flight.).  Many "found" objects became toys.  When we went to a restaurant we always had a couple of toys in the diaper bag.  While waiting for the main course, Wren had fun pretending to feed her farmer or horse her bread or have them drink her juice. 
• For the long leg going to Portugal, it was a redeye which was awesome and Wren slept almost the entire flight.  Coming back was a day time flight and required more entertaining.  We lucked out and had an empty seat next to us both long flights.  It was a combination of luck, flying before peak tourist season and being nice to the people on the plane so that they helped us get a row to ourselves.  Having a seat for Wren was much easier for the longer flights.  Lapping her for a 3 hour flight was no big deal but I think if we would have had to for the longer flights it would have been tough.  If we hadn't lucked out I think I would have regretted not getting Wren her own seat.
• We got Wren moving as much as possible at the airports.  She loved the moving sidewalks and the Minneapolis Airport had a kid area (it was really lame and disappointing, honestly, but it was an enclosed area for her to run amuck and not get lost or stepped on).  We bought a super cheap umbrella stroller (the cheapest one Target had - $20) which was really handy for checking in to the flights, customs and anyplace where there were lines.  Wren gets grumpy when we are standing still and holding her hand, the stroller was really helpful, took up very little space in the car and it if got lost or damaged, it was cheap enough I didn't care.
• We decided to bring our own car seat.  You can rent them but they are not cheap and I figured it might be disgusting since so many people let their kids eat in the car.  Some people buy them at their destination but we didn't want to have to mess with it.  We did buy a car seat cover which protected it from going though airport luggage.  It is also free to take a car seat on most airlines.
• The rental car was necessary.  We could have stayed in one location but we had too much luggage to be mobile.  Kids take a lot of stuff.  Accepting that made life much easier.
• We didn't take enough diapers for the whole trip so we bought some there.  No big deal.  The sizing is pretty much the same.  A 4 in the US is a 4 in Europe.
• We had an 8 hour time change.  The first night in Portugal Wren woke up in the middle of the night and started singing and talking the way she normally does after a nap or in the morning.  Once we realized she was not going back to sleep on her own we got up and repeated the bedtime ritual so that she knew it was time to go back to sleep.  We snuggled a little extra long until she settled down a little bit and then put her back in the crib and she went back to sleep until morning.  Coming home, we only let her take naps up to 2 hours until it was her normal bed time and then put her to bed and she slept through the night and has had no issues.
• We mostly stayed at B&Bs or apartment style rooms.  This gave us more space.  Things were much nicer when we had a little separation between Wren's sleeping area and Jeff and I so that we felt we could talk or do things while she was napping or down for the night.  It was nice to be able to discuss what I was blogging or verify names of where we went with Jeff without having to whisper, for example.  We had larger spaces about 3/4 of the time.  They were worth splurging for.

I think that is pretty much everything.  Honestly, it was fun to travel with a little person and not as hard as we thought it would be.  We did a lot of prep-work to make sure things went smoothly but I also think that when we are at home and things are easy, we don't ask that much of our kids.  Jeff and I hadn't eaten out with Wren that much prior to the trip because it seemed difficult, but it really wasn't.  I think I was catering to her food preferences more than necessary as well.  Anyhow, good luck to anyone out there thinking about taking a little on a trip.  :-)