Making Yourself At Home: Vacation Rentals Are a Plus With Kids in Japan

Finding “Home”

Accommodation in Japanese cities is ridiculously expensive.  No matter how far out you stay or how low-budget you try to go, prices are high and space is minimal. If you’re not careful you’ll find yourself in a hotel room where you can’t even turn around, let alone squeeze your kids on the floor to sleep. Finding spaces that work for families is easier outside Tokyo, and even more so in smaller cities and town, but our most recent trip was only to big cities. We had no choice but to dig deep for good options for our family with two kids under 4.

After much investigating we opted to rent an apartment for our time in Tokyo.

The tiny but functional kitchen in our Tokyo rental apartment. The front entrance is visible just beyond the kitchen.

We did find several hotel options that could have worked, such as the Citadines Aparthotel. However for a similar price to the hotels, with an apartment rental we could get a little more space plus a kitchen and washing machine.

We rented a tiny, 7th floor apartment labeled a “1-bedroom” by the rental company, Live in Asia. It would would barely pass for a studio apartment in New York City. The “1-bedroom” moniker only worked because of a sliding door through the middle of the space. Nice for privacy, did nothing for sound.

The tiny double (twin plus?) bed in our 1-bedroom Tokyo apartment.

We paid about $260/ night and this was after negotiating down the price as visitors to Japan were very few due to the tsunami earlier in the year. No, Tokyo is not cheap.

One pro of renting an apartment vs. a hotel is that we found ourselves in a residential neighborhood rather than a tourist district. This meant we were close to a large grocery store and pharmacy, as well as many restaurants and a train station. Two other big plusses for us in an apartment were having a kitchen, albeit a tiny kitchen

Anna (1) slept in her Peapod bed in the closet while Grace (4) slept on the floor in the kitchen.

(think RV trailer kitchen), and a washing machine. We still ate most meals out but had breakfast at home each morning. As for washing clothes, we have never seen a public laundromat in Japan so when traveling with kids it was essential to us to have easy access to a washing machine and avoid hotel laundry expenses.

In Kyoto we also rented but a private house called Koto Inn through VRBO. The home was located in a residential neighborhood but very close to the subway, busses, restaurants and a number of tourist attractions including the Heian Shrine. We loved feeling part of a neighborhood yet being able to quickly access public transportation, food and activities.

Steve and Anna out front of the lovely machiya, The Koto Inn, near the Heian Shrine.

The rental house was very small, although significantly larger than our Tokyo digs and for a slightly lower cost. The Kyoto house, a traditional machiya, consisted of two small bedrooms with a small sitting/ eating area between them, plus a small but well-stocked kitchen and a good-sized bathroom/ laundry area.  The English-speaking owners provided an excellent orientation to the home and neighborhood, as well as written instructions in English for how to work everything in the home.  We found the home suitable for our needs and we loved the traditional old machiya style, which is a small old-fashioned wooden house.

Grace and Anna hanging out in one of the machiya's bedrooms. Note the fragile paper screens in the background. Fragile but beautiful.

However “traditional” in Japan equals “fragile.” Think paper walls and delicate glass doors. Combine that with two small children and a few rainy days, which we had, and we discovered that renting such a home can be a little stressful with little ones. Our kids loved sleeping on the tatami floors and sitting on the floor to eat but given the delicate nature of old Japanese homes we would rent something more modern if we did it again, at least with such small children.  VRBO offers many good options in Kyoto, both modern and traditional. A machiya is a great option with older kids or non-mobile babies, a more modern/ less breakable home could be more restful for worried parents.

Note: For our full review of the Koto Inn in Kyoto visit the home’s site at VRBO and scroll down to the review entitled “A Lovely Place to Stay in Kyoto, A Little Difficult With Children.”

Japan With Kids: Finding Calm in Chaotic Tokyo

The lake and trees at Inokashira Park are a green oasis in bustling Tokyo

Big cities are not what a lot of parents think of when planning a “kid-friendly” vacation. And Tokyo, the biggest city in the world by some counts, might not fall high on your list of places to explore with small children.

There are good reasons for this. Tokyo is HUGE. It dwarfs New York City.  Its subway system is efficient but not always simple for foreigners to navigate. Tourist destinations are far apart and if you don’t think ahead you can find yourself spending hours on public transportation, changing trains multiple times, no fun with little ones. When we discovered Tokyo Disneyland was actually several hours by train from the part of the city where we’d be staying, we opted not to the Japanese version of the Magical Kingdom.

Yes, the city is vast, saying it’s crowded is an understatement, and it’s expensive. But it’s also historic, cutting edge, and incredibly exciting. So last summer during our Japanese adventures we decided to devote a few days of our two weeks in this mad metropolis.  Our favorite Japan guidebook, Frommer’s Japan , gives great overall Tokyo information including coverage of the top historical and tourist sites. There are two spots with kids we especially enjoyed which we want to highlight for families with kids taking on Tokyo.

Renting a swan boat is a great family activity at Inokashira

Inokashira Park

Green, open play areas for kids are few and far between in Japan. In fact many playgrounds we saw were akin to those we’ve seen in developing nations: rusty, unmaintained, and completely unappealing. Therefore we were thrilled to find a green oasis at Inokashira Park just south of Kichijoji station.  Its lush forest canopy made the park several degrees cooler than the rest of the hot city on a sweltering summer afternoon plus the local ice cream vendor helped cool us off even more. There’s a lovely quiet lake with swan boats for hire and a small but decent playground for little ones. The park is full of walking paths, several small zoos and of course the ubiquitous vending machines, always good for a cold drink. Before heading to the park we picked up an amazing bento lunch in the food hall at Kichijoji Station. (Side note: There’s an incredible shopping center and food hall in the station, where you could easily pass several happy hours with or without kids. Bonus on a hot day is the air-conditioning). We enjoyed our bento on park benches, then Grace and Beth took a turn around the lake in a swan boat while Steve and Anna looked on. All in all we give the park two thumbs up.

Inokashira boasts a small but satisfying playground

National Children’s Castle (Kodomo-no-Shiro)

Ready for underwater adventures at Tokyo's National Children's Castle

Contrary to our expectations the National Children’s Castle is not housed in a large, ancient Japanese castle nor a recent reconstruction but rather in a typical Tokyo high-rise building. Nevertheless this destination is a delight with small kids and we easily passed the better part of a day here. We visited with some good Japanese friends and their two small boys, but like most places in Tokyo there is enough English (or plenty of people to try to speak it) that you could get by and enjoy it without Japanese friends accompanying you.

The top level of the “castle” has a large outdoor wading pool full of splashing kids and their parents. There is an indoor swimming pool option too but we were told it was for “swimming” only, i.e. lap swimming. It seemed older kids would be welcome there but only if they were interested in swimming laps.  Our kids had a blast in the outside pool, easily passing several fun hours. There were even a handful of baby pools set up complete with water toys where Anna (12 months at the time) was able to happily splash away from the thrashing bodies of the older kids.

If it’s not a swimming sort of day or if that’s just not your kids’ thing, also on the outdoor top level there is a big track set up with lots of tricycles and small bikes. We saw lots of kids having a great time on those as well, although with the 90 degree weather our kids chose to spend as much time as possible in the water.

After lunch at a fabulous self-service udon restaurant, Marugame Seimen, we returned to the Children’s Castle to explore their indoor offerings.   A live band was playing and instruments were provided for kids to play along. There was a craft room where kids could make their own creations. The indoor air-conditioning was a welcome reprieve from the outdoor heat and the kids had a blast with so many hands’ on activities.

The National Children’s Castle is a short walk from the Shibuya train station.

Shibuya station's famous Hachiko statue

While you’re at the Shibuya train station make sure you find the Hachiko dog statue. There’s a great children’s book of the same name telling the story about a loyal dog, Hachiko, who waited at the station faithfully for years night after night for his master. We read the book to Grace before our trip so it was fun for her to discover a landmark in Japan she already knew something about.

Note: Besides Frommer’s Japan we also found Kids’ Trips in Tokyo: A Family Guide to One-Day Outings to be full of helpful information. Although a bit outdated (published in 1998), it still had a lot of helpful tips and would be especially useful for anyone staying for a longer period in Tokyo with kids.

For more on Tokyo watch for our upcoming posts on finding kid-friendly accommodation in Japan and navigating Narita with kids.

Japanese Summer – Culturally Rich. Physically Exhausting. Delightful.

Stroller saves the (hot) day in Ashiya

Traveling with our two small children (Grace, 4 and Anna, 1) in Japan this summer was a mixed success.  There are lots of sights and sounds, free food, transport and accommodations for kids under 6, and always friendly people to stop to say hello and “kawaii!”. Overall our Japan experience was fabulous but we do have some cautions for others as well.

Getting around in train stations is becoming easier than we found on past (pre-kids) trips, as the country does a better job of making accommodations for the disabled with ramps and elevators. Almost every station, even the smallest, has at least one elevator.  Taking the Mia Moda Cielo Evolution Stroller was essential – we used it to let kids rest, pile on the bags and stuff little things in the basket.  A few smaller stations however had only stairs and this is likely even more frequently the case in rural areas. Lugging a stroller and kids up and down long staircases is exhausting but those stations were infrequent enough that the stroller was definitely worth it.  Anna, our 1-year old, spent a lot of time in the Ergo, joining just about every Japanese kid her age we saw. Even Grace at 4 enjoyed a few rides on daddy’s back in the Ergo when her little feet were especially tired of pounding the pavement.

Traveling in Japan in the summer is HOT, and it’s a humid kind of hot.  Our primary reason to travel there in July was for a good friend’s wedding. If we had a choice as to time of year we would definitely avoid the summer and go in spring or fall. We were sticky sweaty most of the time, and needed showers twice a day.  There is no central air conditioning in any apartment or home, and some of the individual room a/c machines are not up to the job.  In addition, after the earthquake and nuclear plant shutdowns, all businesses are required to cut their energy consumption, so many stores and restaurants are weakly cooled, so you may find yourself sweating through your meal of udon or ramen.  The trains on the other hand will rescue you with a blast of icy air.  In the context of all the Japanese have had to face since the disasters hit, this sounds trite, but it might be part of your calculation in choosing when to visit with family.

The other aspect of Japanese culture that affects traveling with kids is space.  We remember Japan having small rooms and tight quarters, but cramped living takes on a new dimension when you have a 4 year old and a 13 month old with you.  Kids have amazing wells of energy and a need to let it out by jumping and bouncing and singing.  When there’s no yard nearby, the park looks like a nice place to contract tetanus, and any other outdoor space is pushing 100 degrees, it makes for difficult indoor behavior issues.  Some Japanese homes also have beautifully decorated tatami rooms with doors made of thin paper.  (Note to parents: a four year old’s foot goes quite easily through said door, as we unfortunately discovered).

Not to say that traveling in Japan is impossible with kids, and the positives outweigh the downsides.  We discovered delightful places for kids, like the Osaka aquarium with a massive tank full of sharks and hundreds of fish.

Osaka Aquarium: Grace watches a ray

Spa World

We also discovered Spa World, an indoor swimming – sliding – onsen – super-fun -waterpark.

We swam on the rooftop of Tokyo’s National Children’s Castle and let Grace run free in the huge indoor play structure, followed by participating in the drawing and music rooms.  We found out that while Kyoto is known for its temples and shrines, it also has a decent zoo with a small amusement park. Kyoto also boasts an interesting Handicraft Center where Grace was able to design and paint her own fan.

And lest you think that Japanese food means a bunch of sushi that kids won’t eat… our kids discovered the wonders of Japanese noodles and many variations on rice.

Grace and Anna enjoy bento

Grace at 175 miles per hour

And what kid wouldn’t be thrilled by zipping around at 175 miles an hour on the bullet train?

So, in addition to the wonderful experiences of reconnecting with old friends, we discovered many ways in which Japan is wonderful for kids, if you’re prepared for some unique speedbumps along the way.  We plan to share details from some of these experiences over the next few posts.

Are All-Inclusive Resorts a Sellout?

We like to think of ourselves, perhaps somewhat haughtily, as travelers rather than tourists. Travelers immerse themselves in the local culture, living, eating, speaking and getting around as much as possible as locals do. Tourism is isolating, making a trip as comfortable as possible at the expense of authentic interactions with local people and their ways of everyday life. So we say with our noses in the air.

We love all-inclusives when we need hassle-free travel

All-inclusive resorts seem to fit easily into my cynical definition of tourism. You can stay at one without ever speaking a word of the local language, or eating regional food, or bumping shoulders on a crowded bus with someone who actually lives in that locale. You and your children can be entertained all day long by activities staff without ever knowing what people in that country do for fun.  You can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch and pizza for dinner.  You never have to make decisions about where to stay, how to get to a destination, or where to eat. The decision-making thrill (or burden, depending on your perspective) of travel is removed for you as you’re plunked down in a microcosm full of staff who cater to your every desire.

So what was this traveling family doing spending our last two family vacations at an all inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya, Mexico? We were having wonderfully relaxing, culturally-rich vacations, that’s what. Oh yeah, and revising our misconceptions of all-inclusives as well.

The original motivating factor for an all-inclusive vacation was our desire to travel soon after the birth of our second child, Anna. We knew roughing it was out with a 3-month old but we still wanted some sun and a bit of an escape so we booked ourselves and the grandparents into Marina El Cid in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, just south of Cancun. We thought it would be a one-time thing we could justify because hey, we had a small baby and hey, weren’t we brave to go ANYWHERE with a baby?

Upon arrival at Marina El Cid we found ourselves in a little piece of heaven. Powdery soft sand beach, warm turquoise blue ocean water, a gigantic swimming pool complex, spacious suites, attentive pool-side waiters, 3 delicious meals every day, it was all around amazing. Our first trip was September 2010 which is the start of the low-season so the resort was also fairly empty, meaning we had plenty of attention from staff for our every need and never ran into lines or crowds. Never. We all relaxed, slept, swam, dozed, ate, rested  and had a marvelous time. We enjoyed a meal in the sleepy town center of Puerto Morelos and visited a small local zoo, but other than that reveled in the quiet isolation of this beautiful resort. For that phase of life with a newborn and an energetic 3 1/2 year old it was exactly what our family needed.

Fast forward to March 2011, 6 months after our first trip, when we returned to Marina El Cid, this time

Enjoying homemade paletas (popsicles) in the local little town near the resort

with grandparents from the other side plus Steve’s brother and his family.  Yet again we found ourselves in paradise. With Anna now 9 months old we had more freedom to leave the resort so we enjoyed a fabulous combination of relaxing beach and pooltime with excursions out of the complex (more on recommendations in an upcoming post).

As for tourism vs. traveling, while much of our vacation was spent in “cultural isolation,” our particular resort served authentic regional Mexican food which we enjoyed at every meal.  The resort staff appreciated our attempts to converse with them in Spanish. Plus we left the resort multiple times, exploring the region as well as the local small town. Another plus for us was we chose a resort off the beaten tourism path so we did not encounter large touristy crowds, which can dilute any sort of authentic experience.

Playing on the playground in town with local kids

We won’t always stay at all-inclusive resorts. We thrive on eating local, talking local, staying local and love the thrill (and yes, the stress!) of travel logistics. But for our family we’ve discovered there are (at least) two specific times in life that make all-inclusives perfect. The first is when we want to travel with very little children. The predictability and comfort of an all-inclusive makes travel a possibility at a time when we otherwise would probably stay close to home. The other is traveling with extended family. Our extended family enjoys each other the most when there are minimum decisions to be made or schedules to keep.

To those of you who already knew how great all-inclusive resorts are, we apologize for our past snobbery.  We’ve been won over and we are already planning next year’s stress-free getaway!

Welcome Baby Anna and plans for Mexico

We welcomed Anna Clara Sethi into our family on June 22nd. She’s a beautiful baby girl and we’re loving getting to know her. Now at almost 3 months we’re getting lots of smiles, longer stretches of sleep (hallelujah!) and are about to embark on our first international adventure with 2 kids.

We’ve chosen a low-key vacation at an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Morelos, on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula. It’s near Cancun but quieter and less touristy than Cancun, so we’ve heard. My parents are joining us, making the prospect of traveling with two little ones far less daunting.

In the meantime, our three-year old, Grace, is getting excited about our Mexican adventure. This is the first trip she’s actually asked questions about beforehand. Tonight as I laid in bed with her she wanted to know every detail about our travel: what time she’ll be woken up, what we’ll do when we get to the airport, where Daddy will park the car, how he will find us in the terminal, etc. etc. It dawned on me – she’s actually old enough to care!  This little girl has six stamps in her passport but she has never really known that she was in some of the most incredible places in the world, let alone asked questions about how travel logistics work. How exciting that she now anticipates travel, perhaps even more than I do any more!

After she was tucked in bed I got in a bit of a tizzy about making this trip “culturally meaningful” for Grace. She’s going to Mexico, a place she knows a little about from Mexican friends. She knows a few token Spanish words (gato and adios, in particular).  In my quest to make this trip more than a week playing in the sand for my little preschooler, I went on amazon.com and discovered this great booklist of bilingual Spanish-English books. Of course I reserved them ALL at our library (where oh where will they fit in our luggage?).

In my zeal I may find myself overloaded with library books. Still what a discovery to realize we are now a family of travelers, no longer a traveling couple with a child or two in tow. While Anna may just be along for the ride this year, Grace will be able to absorb new people, new words, new foods, new sights, new smells. Our job as parents is to find creative ways to enhance those discoveries.  Way #1: a trip to the library to pick up that pile of books I reserved.

True Turkish Delight of Turgutreis

We’ve written about most of our spring trip to Turkey but have barely mentioned the fabulous week we spent at the beach on Turkey’s Bodrum Peninsula. Perhaps that part of our brains has still been on vacation, fully relaxed in the heat of the Turkish sun.  Ah, if only….

British, German or Dutch tourists know full well what Americans are ignorant of – Turkey has fabulous beaches!  We didn’t run into a single other American tourist (fine with us!) the whole week we stayed in the town of Turgutreis. Locals were surprised to hear us speak English with American accents, something they don’t hear much of there. In fact, we didn’t run into very many other tourists at all as we were there in early May, a few weeks before European schools got out, meaning just before the high tourist season hit. We often had the beach, restaurants and shops to ourselves. Delightful!

We chose the town of Turgutries for its proximity to the Bodrum airport (about an hour’s drive) but still far enough from the party town of Bodrum to enjoy peace and quiet. Per our usual mode of accomodation, we rented a comfortable three story home, Swan Villa, owned by a lovely British couple. The villa shares a pool with another villa next door, owned by the same British couple and also for rent. No one else was staying in the second home while we were there but it would be a lovely spot for two families or an extended family to rent both homes for a shared vacation.  For our small family of 3, one villa was more than enough space with its 4-bedrooms, large living area, fully stocked kitchen and three lovely balconies.  While not beachside (nothing really is in Turgutreis except a few very small, expensive hotels), we were about a 12 minute walk to the beach and the main shopping/ eating area of town.  One quick plug for our friend Akin who owns the Corner Pub and runs a reliable transportation service, as well as manages the Swan Villa with great attention.

What to do in Turgutreis? Not much really, which was exactly what we were looking for. The beach is a thin strip of gravely sand lined with beach lounge chairs and umbrellas. I imagine it gets very crowded during high season and the chairs are premium real estate, but for us we had our pick of spots to relax. The lounge chairs are owned by the restaurants that line the beach but the beach itself is public. By law  (and the restaurant waiters will confirm) you are free to sit in their chairs with no obligation to buy anything, although we generally at least ordered drinks. Sadly for us it was a bit too chilly to swim in the crystal clear waters. A few weeks later it was probably just perfect. Still it was warm enough to read thick novels while Grace played happily in the sand.

There’s a small shopping area with the typical tourist trinkets. We came home with bars of luxurious handmade olive oil soap and several cotton tablecloths, all reasonably priced.  There are dozens of restaurants, all of which will invite you in anytime you walk by. The restaurants right on the beach are the more expensive but also have the best food. We enjoyed dishes like clay pot kebabs, grilled meats cooked in sauce inside a clay pot. The pot is smashed open at your table and the delectable bits poured out for you. Yum! Locally caught seafood abounds as well as beautiful fresh salads. Be sure to ask about pricing on seafood though, as we found it could range from $10 to well over $75.

The rest of the peninsula is worth exploring too. The dolmus mini-busses leave from the a small parking area a few blocks from the main beach and they go everywhere for just a $1 or 2 per person.  We spent a day in Bodrum town. It’s incredibly touristy and the town itself was not for us, but the Underwater Archeological Museum in the old castle is one of the best museums we’ve ever been to. The medieval castle itself is incredible but the museum it houses showcases the science of underwater archeology and the many ancient shipwrecks off the Turkish coast that have been dug up excavated. Most fascinating to us was the reconstruction of a shipwreck from 1500 BC. Archeologists found claypots, coins, and even parts of the ship still intact 3500 years later!  We also took a day trip from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos, a short 1 hour hop by ferry to the home of Hippocrates.  Be aware, though, most of the interesting historical sites are closed on Mondays.

Another evening trip we took from Turgutreis was to Gumusluk, a small fishing village a short 20 minute dolmus ride from Turgutreis. There we dined at Yakamoz restaurant on freshly caught monkfish cooked in a lovely sauce of garlic, olive oil, sundried tomatoes and delicious Turkish chilis. We savored every bite of that meal, our last before returning to Istanbul.

If your time in Turkey allows, we do recommend a side trip to Bodrum if you want some time to relax. We had played tourist full force in Istanbul for a week and wanted some time to decompress before returning home. We found the peace and tranquility we were looking for in Turgutreis.

Istanbul Apartment Renting: Not Quite the Pits

We always try to find apartments to rent when we travel, for the value, space, and convenience compared to a hotel. Istanbul has a unfortunate dearth of apartments for rent for tourists, so our choices were limited.  We found an agency called Manzara Holiday Aparments, and despite our early legwork we only found one reasonably priced apartment open for the week we were there.

Kitchen sans microwave or toaster

The St George apartment is downhill about 2 blocks from the Galata Tower, and is across the street from a hospital.  The building is very old with a lot of character including well worn and slick marble stairs and a faintly sewerish smell in the stairwell. The apartment is on the second floor (a treacherous proposition with luggage) and is simply furnished in a very small space. There are no bedside tables and only one wardrobe in one of the bedrooms. The curtains do not block out the streetlight just outside the window. There was no toaster or iron but the staff kindly brought these to us. The bathroom is nicely redecorated but the shower leaks and does not drain like anything resembling normal, there is no soap shelf in the shower, no countertop for bathroom items, and no hooks or towel racks.

To top it off, the apartment directly above us was being remodeled. No, that’s too kind. They were using jackhammers to rip out the drywall and concrete to the posts, for 10 hours a day. With a 2 year old child who needed naps, the construction workers were kind enough to stop for a mid day break, but would you rent this apartment at all in these circumstances?

Upstairs apartment gutting

The rental fee was reasonable relative to hotels, but other associated costs were quite high. The transport from the airport was twice the cost of a taxi. The staff kindly had arranged for a meal to be prepared for our arrival, but 3 little eggplants for 50 euros? The staff was generally helpful and attentive, but overall this experience was not ideal or a relaxing place of respite. With some more specific questions upfront, a different apartment and different plans for food and transportation, Manzara might be able to redeem itself in another experience. In retrospect, the advantages of having an apartment while traveling with a toddler far outweighs the risks of getting a dud like this.  There’s probably nothing we could have done to prevent the downsides, but we did our best to make the most of it and would still recommend renting rather than paying more and getting less in a hotel.

Thrive, Don’t Just Survive, Sightseeing With Your Toddler

Whether it’s the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Majal or the Hagia Sophia, these majestic landmarks are to a toddler what acapella hymns are to a rock star – Bo-Ring.  This doesn’t mean you have to put sightseeing on hold though. Sightseeing can be fun for both you and your toddler but you, not the Hagia Sophia, have to create the fun for your child.

Our latest trip to Turkey put our toddler Grace, and our creativity, to the test.  Here we were in a country rich in ancient culture and all she wanted to do, understandably, was play in the park.  While we never found the golden key to hours of leisurely exploration, we did come up with a few tricks that helped Grace enjoy each experience and, in turn, gave us the chance to absorb the wonders of Turkish antiquity.  The specifics here are related to Turkey but the tips apply anywhere we’ve traveled with Grace.

Tip #1: Have a place for your toddler to rest and relax when little legs get weary.

Most of the time in Turkey this “place” was the Ergo Baby Carrier. There were too many steps throughout Istanbul and other parts of Turkey to make the stroller very practical.  The vast (and mostly flat) Topkapi Palace was an exception, though the side rooms and narrow hallways make it a tossup as well.  Many historical sites with crowded spaces have no-stroller signs in any case.

Tip #2: Relax your family rules about candy and other treats.

A big bag of Yummy Earth organic lollipops went with us to Turkey and helped us grab a few extra minutes in the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and many a restaurant meal. They were our trick of last resort and, since Grace rarely gets candy otherwise, they were a huge treat.

Tip #3: Take lots of outside, freedom breaks.

As much as we can we keep stretches of sight-seeing, especially indoors, limited to 1-2 hours at a time. In between sights we intersperse meal and snack breaks as well as lots of time to run and play freely. Contrary to what the Lonely Planet guidebook says, there are playgrounds and parks all over Istanbul. There’s a great one located within Gulhane Park (next to Topkapi Palace).  There are walking trails and playgrounds every quarter mile or so along the Sea of Marmara.  In Beyoglu there are nice playgrounds at the Metro stops at Tophane and Fendikli. The Sultanahmet Park, between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, was also a favorite. Although it doesn’t have a playground, it has a huge fountain and lots of grass plus its central location made it a place we stopped several times to let Grace run free.

If the weather is bad or a park isn’t to be found, just about everywhere you go you can find a shopping mall. Shopping malls throughout the world seem to always have a food court, open areas where kids can run or walk (find a quieter corridor), and often times they have kids play areas with kiddie rides, bouncy houses, or even ice-skating rinks. When all else fails, ice cream breaks will always perk everyone up too.

Tip #4: Keep your toddler on her regular nap schedule.

As nice as it would be to stay out and about all day like we did in our childless days, hanging out with a cranky toddler just isn’t worth it. We kept a 2-3 hour window open every afternoon to go back to our apartment, have lunch, read books and play and then let Grace nap. She’d be well-rested enough for us to get out for a few more hours before dinner and even to push her bedtime back an hour or so.

Tip #5: Find something in each site that is special and interesting for your toddler.

In the Hagia Sophia an ancient step became a dancing stage and a long ramped tunnel was incredibly exciting. In the Grand Bazaar free apple tea from a shop owner was a special treat. In the Istanbul Archeological Museum a Trojan Horse kids could climb into was a fun discovery for Grace.  In the Spice Bazaar samples of Turkish Delight, dried figs and apricots made her day. We always have a small bag of special toys on hand as well. It’s stocked with finger puppets, stickers, small books, crayons and paper.

Tip #6: Accept the reality that you may not see everything you want, or for as long as you want, but in exchange you get to experience someplace incredible in the company of your child.

These are some ways we’ve found to keep Grace content so we can all enjoy ourselves, wherever we are. Do you have a tip that’s made sightseeing more toddler-friendly?

Diapers and Laundry and Diapers, Oh My!

Question from my best friend, Lisa: What do you do about laundry and diapers when traveling overseas?

Answer: Always make sure we have easy access to both!

It’s actually somewhat amusing that Lisa asked me this question. Twelve years ago she and I spent a college summer in Germany where, for two months, our clothes did not once see a washing machine. We were too poor and cheap so, for the entire summer, we washed our clothes in the bathroom sink using dishsoap. I think the dishsoap was Lisa’s idea. We smelled lemony fresh and, for the most part, looked pretty clean.

Don’t think Steve and I are laboring over hotel sinks washing out Grace’s grubby t-shirts, at least not most days. Now that we can actually afford to do laundry the modern way, we do. We always first price out the cost of having someone else do our wash for us. In developing countries like Honduras laundry is a non-issue because it is so cheap to have someone local do the wash (a few dollars/ load).  In Buenos Aires this was the case as well, even though our apartment did have a washer. We preferred to spend our time sight-seeing than waiting for a load to finish so frequently utilized the low-cost lavanderia (wash-and-fold) around the corner where the price even included ironing Steve’s shirts!

In more developed countries like Turkey the cost to have someone else do the wash was outrageous. Istanbul surprisingly also didn’t seem to have a single public laundromat. Luckily for us we had rented an apartment from Manzara Apartments and they had a washing machine in their offices they let us use (one of the few good things about this company – more on them in a later post). The washer was tiny though (held about half of what our washer at home holds) and there was no dryer. We just washed the absolute necessities since we then had to trudge a quarter mile home with the wet laundry to line-dry it.

For the most part though, when we travel we are able to do our own laundry because we rent apartments/houses equipped with washers. On our recent escapades in Turkey we rented a house at the coast during our second week. It was equipped with a washing machine and a huge sunny deck for line-drying the clothes. We returned home with suitcases full of clean clothes rather than the usual post-vacation piles of dirty laundry.

One thing we never, ever use are hotel laundry services. Almost always these services are outrageously expensive no matter the country, up to $5/ item. If we’re that desperate we’d rather resort to me and Lisa’s “dishsoap laundry method” than shell out such exorbitant amounts.

As for diapers, we usually try to take enough with us for an entire trip because diapers overseas are almost always imported from the US and therefore very expensive. Diapers aren’t heavy so they don’t add a lot of extra weight to our luggage, and as we use them up they make room for whatever souvenirs we’re collecting along the way.

On our most recent trip to Turkey we found ourselves short on diapers the last day at the WOW Istanbul Airport Hotel. I called down to the front desk to find out where we could buy diapers in the area. I was pleasantly surprised when the kind man on the other end, in very broken English, said they’d send some up.  An hour later no diapers had arrived so I called again. This time no one on their staff knew anything about the phantom concierge’s promise to send up diapers nor did anyone even know what “diapers” were. I tried the British word “nappies.” I tried explaining “you know, the thing babies poop and pee in.” I was transferred to six staff members before the last guy asked me to spell “diapers.” I did and he said he’d call me back. Five minutes later, after what I imagine was a lot of frantic googling and then titters when the staff figured out what I wanted, he called me back triumphant: “We do not have any in the hotel.” OK, that would have been nice to know an hour ago when someone else was promising diaper room service. Sadly we found a local grocery store and bought an entire pack of 36 diapers of which we used one. We left the rest of the package behind in our room so if you happen to go to this hotel and need diapers, just tell them you know some crazy Americans left some behind and they’re probably languishing in the hotel’s lost-and-found.

We have yet to find a country that doesn’t have very easy access to diapers and wipes, despite any language barriers. Though often expensive, every corner pharmacy or drugstore around the world seems to carry Huggies and disposable wipes. Too bad for the landfills but good for traveling parents.

Children Are Everybody’s Business With The Turks

Turkey has the “it takes a village” mentality when it comes to children, even in the metropolis of Istanbul. Turks trust each other with their children and they expect us, as visitors to their country, to trust them with our children as well. Everybody notices children and jumps to help with them, cuddle them or soothe them during a tough moment.

Turks simply love children and have created a culture where it’s fine to express that.  The most common form of attention is the cheek-pinching. I’m surprised Grace doesn’t have bruised cheeks from the number of pinches but she has endured it with surprising, well, grace. A maitre’d standing outside his restaurant as we passed noticed her face was dirty and summoned a waiter to bring him a cloth to scrub it clean. As we boarded a public bus heavy-laden with bags and a stroller a kind young woman scooped up Grace, held her on her lap and sang songs to her as if she were her own. On a scenic boat trip up the Bosphorus where Grace quickly became bored, a young man who spoke no English picked her up and read her one of her picture books. She’s been given many pieces of candy from strangers, led away by a security guard museum to show her off to his friends, had shopkeepers adjust her clothing and received all kinds of free food in restaurants from thoughtful waitstaff.

Such lavish attention from strangers is disarming for us Americans, so accustomed to adults in keeping their distance from children unless they are 1) related to them 2) know them well or 3) have some kind of malintent.   At first we (Grace included) were a bit taken aback by the attention total strangers would shower on our tiny two-year old. Once we realized the approach was universal and well-meaning though, we relaxed and, as long as Grace still felt comfortable, we tried to be as well.   As we head home after two weeks in Turkey we’ll have to readjust to strangers remaining just that, while trying to maintain that caring attitude towards other children ourselves.