cross-continental travel with a 6 month old, part 1

We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow. I'm excited about our destinations but the transit part is intimidating. Packing is the most complex, brain teasing puzzle ever. What do we need? What do we need in the carryon? What do we want to take with us if it will fit? What can we pick up when we get there? Once we get all that figured out, all that's left is enduring the flights.

Trip 1: Nate and I travel from Houston to London. It's 2 flights (a long one and a short one), a layover in between, and a total flight time of 10:22; about 11:22 from departure to arrival. We leave in the afternoon and arrive at 10 am. Nate's a good nighttime sleeper, so he should sleep from DC to London. If he doesn't, Lord, help me.

Trip 2: Nate and I travel from London to Mombasa. Two flights again. The long flight is longer than the first trip, but the short flight should be less than an hour. It's a daytime trip, so there will be much eating, playing, and diaper changing, and hopefully much napping as well. Our total flight time is 9:30, less than 10:30 from departure to arrival.

Trip 3: Rodgers, Nate and I travel from Mombasa to Houston. It's four flights, but bonus: I will have been through it all with Nate by myself, and now Rodgers will be with me to help. Our total flight time is almost 22 hours, with a total of 13 hours of layovers. That's an hour short of a day and a half between departure and arrival at our final destination. I want to puke just thinking about it. I love flying. I really do. But that is a long trip!

I think the biggest struggle will be that Nate loves to lay on the floor, roll around, attempt to crawl, and basically spend some time on his own. I see him being held or sitting in my lap for the majority of the flight times. I am afraid he will get frustrated from being so confined. We'll worry about that when we get to it. We will endure it. For now, I need to focus on packing. I have lists, many lists.

to be continued...