Redesigning a backpack

We have a backpack that we took everywhere with us while we were courting and exploring Scottish coastal villages and English border towns. It has been on many transatlantic trips over the years. Our babies climbed on it when their learned to pull themselves up, dragged it along airport floors when they learned to walk and expected endless amounts of treats to appear from its depths. It certainly has depths.

The backpack is sturdy and useful. Nothing is wrong with it except for cosmetic flaws. Even after going through the washing machine, it is yucky looking.

It is nostalgic and I cannot bear to let it go because of a few stains.

The grubby backpack front

I decided to re-cover it. I thought it would be fun to have a star and stripe theme. Very American.

The stars were a bit fiddly - applique is not my thing I decided - but the stripes were extremely satisfying

I cannibalized an old backpack to get the nappy wipe dispenser on the bottom. The other backpack was only good for the dispenser - the rest was falling apart and cheapo.

I also created a place for a clip in case I need to clip on separate bags of groceries/rubbish/etc.

I cannot wait to wear it!

Packed and ready to go!

Using Edinburgh Waverley Train Station

I had a friend who visited Edinburgh and overheard my sister in law describing traveling from London to Edinburgh by train as being like 'riding the Hogwarts Express!' My friend's eyes went huge and she said, 'Have you actually been on the Hogwarts Express?'

J.K. Rowling came up with the idea for Harry Potter on a train, probably the one that runs between London and Edinburgh. Of course there is no real Hogwarts Express - or maybe I'm just an old muggle.

Traveling by train can be lovely. Those who get motion sickness might find it slightly easier than riding a bus or even a car along winding Scottish roads. Train travel is great when traveling with active toddlers as they can wander the aisles and not be strapped in. Our boys love watching the trains go by.

Here are questions I have been asked by visitors over the years regarding using the trains.
How do I book train tickets?

Check out this site for booking train tickets: http://www.thetrainline.com

There are other sites as well but the one above promises to be the same price or cheaper.

Buses tend to take forever, but be cheaper than the train. If you want to be on a 10 hour bus ride from London to Edinburgh, that is. The train for the same journey takes 4 hours. We have Megabus here, believe it or not!

How will I know when to get off the train in Edinburgh?

You will know when to get off because the train usually terminates at Edinburgh Waverley. Also every train station has signage and an automatic voice usually plays 'We are approaching Edinburgh Waverley.' If you do accidentally stay on a train which say terminates in Glasgow or elsewhere, explain to the driver or ticket master what happened and he may be able to help you.

back entrance to Edinburgh Waverley

Will there be elevators/ramps at the station?

Europe is terrible about having elevators and ramps but the UK is better than France!

There are lifts at Edinburgh Waverley and Edinburgh airport but you have to look for them.

What do I do at the train station?

Edinburgh Waverley station sides on Prince's Street. You may be able to walk to your destination but Edinburgh Waverley also has a taxi queue. There are signs but if you don't spot them, ask some nice lady. There are also more taxis on Prince's Street, so if the taxi queue seems to be taking ages, you could try out there.

taxi queue on Waverley Bridge outside the station towards the Prince's St exit

Medieval Dress

Golden Gown

I found the fabric in a charity shop - it used to be curtains. Edinburgh ceilings are high, with windows and curtains to match, so I think there must have been 6+ yards in between the two curtains. Unfortunately I realized when I got home that they were dry clean only. I threw the curtains in the washing machine anyway and it did fine on the gentle cycle.

Someone told me once that medieval dresses were usually only two pieces of fabric, cinched at the sides with lacings. I found a record of a dress with multiple pieces - separate for bodice and skirt - which belonged to Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

I eventually put leather cord in to hold it together as the fabric is HEAVY!

I took a photo of the lady I made it for but the photos were lost!

Family Packing for Transatlantic Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Kids

I have seen many a temper and a marriage unravel in Baggage Reclaim. 

Our goal has always been to bypass Baggage Reclaim. We do not to check bags but instead to take only carry-on luggage. This saves an hour or hours at the far end. We want to be able to breeze through without waiting 60+ minutes to see if our bag came through.

Any baggage that is checked has the chance of getting lost. 7.3 bags per 1000 passengers is mishandles or lost, according to the Telegraph. That's over 24 million bags in 2014 alone going missing. Most 'lost baggage' is returned within 36 hours but it can be a stressful experience.

Checking baggage can also be expensive now that airlines are charging for extra bags. In fact some airlines charge for any checked bags now.

We have perfected the art of pairing down to almost nothing. Generally if you have your passports and your sanity, you'll be fine.

Check out my article on what not to pack. Also see the Super Dad Pack. For special items to take at various ages see here.

This article labors under the idea that all trips are back to a home where family members are happy to keep a permanent box of clothing and other essentials year round, or you have an identical twin that loans you clothes on the other end, and when you pack you are only packing for The Journey. 

You are going to read travel websites which tell you to pack sun shades, travel systems, playpens and portable highchairs for baby.

I am going to tell you: your baby only needs you. You can shade baby's face in the car, you can carry baby in your arms, you can feed baby on your lap, you can snuggle baby in bed. You do not need endless stuff.

You need to be free!

Once we were delayed on our first leg and got stuck 24 hours in Amsterdam. The airline gave us overnight kits including

• a big t-shirt to wear as pajamas
• a spare set of socks
• a folding hairbrush
• tiny shampoos
• small conditioners
• thimble-sized containers of hand cream
• eye masks
• ear plugs

What they didn't give us was extra nappies so we were glad we had brought twice as many as we needed - on the advice of some friends. 

One thing I wished I had brought was adequate layers for the boys. My younger child threw up all over his two outer layers on the car trip to the airport so I asked my wonderful mother in law, who was driving us, to take the soiled clothes away. I assumed we wouldn't need the sweater and coat because we would only be in warm airport lounges and maybe sprinting between buildings briefly. As it turned out we waited shivering for hotel buses for half an hour or 45 minutes in December gales two days in a row.

There have been a few trips where we were caught out without something - for example the time I forgot to bring diaper wipes. Certain essentials should never be forgotten! 

Here is a list of essentials for the trip:

• Wipes - even if the child is toilet trained, they are good for wiping hands, mouths and untidy surfaces (so don't forget to bring antibacterial wipes as well!)
• Diapers - at least twice as many as you think you need and of the highest quality. Now is  not the time to skimp on generic brands without elasticated edges - now is the time to spend three months before the trip searching for deals on Huggies, Pampers or better generic brands than usual! You need maximum protection. We once flew on a transatlantic flight which was supposed to be 9 hours but turned into 11 and a half hours on the plane, most of which was turbulent and so the seatbelt sign was on for 6 and a half straight hours - basically from dinner until we started the descent to land. I was seated next to a portly middle aged man who was clearly single and had never had kids and I didn't feel comfortable changing the baby in the row next to him. Our connecting flight was tight and we didn't have boarding passes so we had to sprint through the airport carrying a soaking baby. So yes you never know so go for '12 hour dry' promises.
• Lots of disposable plastic bags or nappy sacks
  
• Tissue - everyone seems to get colds while traveling 
  
• Backup clothes for the kids - for small babies, each outfit in a big zip lock bag so you don't have to root around for tiny socks, etc. And remember - layers!
  
• Backup socks and underwear for kids - I was the kid who was so travel sick on a flight to New Mexico that I threw up on my socks and had to wear them for the rest of the day because I hadn't packed any outside of checked baggage.

  

  Enough socks and undies for two kids

• Nappy ointment 
• Baby Paracetamol and any other travel medicine
  

  

  I spend my life searching for small containers for flight essentials

• Phone - you may need it if you get delayed
• Phone chargers - both the wall kind and also the usb ended cord to use on computers on other end (some hotels and airport lounges have charging points) 
  
• A pen - essential for immigration documents on the airplane - and a backup pen! 
  
• Water bottle / kid cup - can help with kids' ears popping and hydration. We tried collapsible water bottles one year but they leaked so we have gone back to the normal kind. 
  
• Visa documents and Passports for you and baby - it is illegal for an American citizen to travel in or out without an American passport - see my post on getting your baby an American passport here
• Documentation for everything
• frequent flyer numbers
• ticket numbers
• all paperwork and boarding passes from the outward flight
• On both ends of one of our trips, they lost one of our lap babies' boarding passes in the system. If we had had the boarding pass from our outward trip on the return trip, we could have saved ourselves buying the baby a new ticket. Mom found the boarding pass in the trash can and emailed it to us so we eventually got a refund but it was a stressful experience.
• Children's immunizations and other medical documentation

Extras to pack which we have found helpful but are not essential:

• Ziplock bags - for when they offer food and you/the kids don't want it now but will need it later 
  
• Chapstick 
  
• Hand cream - airport soap really chaps your hands! 

  

  find 100ml or less - this one wouldn't make it through security!

• Folding bag 
  
• Hand sanitizer - the soap sometimes runs out in the bathrooms on airplanes. You can sometimes find a hand cream and hand sanitizer combo which saves on space.

  

  make sure it has enough in it for your trip!

• Earbuds/earphones - often your own are better quality than the ones they give out on airplanes, and sometimes they even charge for their substandard ones! The poor quality ones might also damage your children's ears so we always either pack our own or don't let our kids watch movies with sound. 
  
• Travel sickness bracelets - we have found these really helpful, if for playing with regardless of whether they help with motion sickness. It is now part of our Plane Ritual. 
  
• Comb 
  
• Toothbrush and toothpaste 
  
• Face towel 
  
• Brush 
  
  
   
• Soap. My mom takes a tiny scrap of soap in a zip lock or a bit of cling film, as do we on transatlantic flights, but for longer trips around Europe we do soap in a case like this: 
  
• Mints - helps upset tummies, ears popping if they're the chewy kind, and passing the time 
  

Places to see in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a world-class city with centuries of history and probably more listed buildings than anywhere else in the UK. It is walkable, with museums, castles, monuments and hills.

Check out sites within a couple of hours' travel as well. See here for a short 2-day spree of Edinburgh.

I have lived in Edinburgh for six years and it never fails to blossom with interesting places to explore.

The majority of our visitors are students so I have included the prices for each place. My brother, when an undergrad, made a point of visiting all the free places first. Here is what my guests and I have agreed are the highlights.

• Edinburgh Castle - tickets are 16.50 per adult but you can purchase a Historic Scotland pass or Explorer pass to bring the price per castle down.
  
• Arthur's Seat or Calton Hill if you like a hike and great views

  

  
  

• St Giles - our Presbyterian cathedral, home to the Thistle Chapel, free to view

  

  the crowd outside St. Giles on 7/7/16 to see the queen and the Order of the Thistle
• John Knox's grave in the car park behind St. Giles
  
• Holyrood palace and abbey - 12 pounds per adult but if you get your ticket signed on your way out, it can function as an annual pass. See my blog post about it here.
  
• Museum of Childhood - free
  
• Scottish Parliament - free but you go through security so leave sharps at home
  
• National Museum of Scotland - this is definitely the best museum in town, where you may see the first cloned animal, the Queen Mary harp, the Lewis chessmen, and the silver picnic set belonging to Bonny Prince Charlie - free
  
• Writers' Museum - this focuses mainly on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott - free
  
• Museum of Edinburgh - this has been revamped and now has a short film to show how Edinburgh grew over the years, and many interesting artifacts from the past, as well as great rooms for kids - free
  
• Museum on the Mound - aka 'the money museum' where you can learn about the invention of insurance, different currencies from around the world, the evolution of the British pounds and much more - free
  
• Celtic Tour, Medieval Tour, Christian Heritage Tour or Mystery Tour by the Christian Heritage Centre or download the ipod tour for free

• see http://www.soulofscotlandtours.com/index.html or http://www.christianheritageedinburgh.org.uk/
• or call Paul to book on  07985070899
• The Christian Heritage Centre - usually open in the summer out of St. Columba's Free Church on the Royal Mile at 1 Johnston Terrace but this year doing an on street version due to delays with St. Columba's maintenance works
  
• Greyfriar's Kirkyard - free
  
• Greyfriar's Bobby - free 
  
• Sir Walter Scott monument - £5 to climb
  
• Art museum - free
  
• The Royal Botanics - free
  
• The Elephant House where parts of Harry Potter were written
  
• John Knox's House is also fun to visit though they have a rather warped view of him so it can be a bit demoralizing.
• 

Particularly of interest for the young:

• Edinburgh Zoo - the penguins promenade at midday 
  
• Gorgie City Farm 
  
• the soft play at Dynamic Earth 
  

You may want to schedule your trip around annual events such as

• The Military Tattoo
• The Festival/Fringe
• The Traquair Medieval Fayre
• The New Years firework display
• Firework Day/November 5th/Guy Fawkes Night
• International Film Festival

the crossing to Inchcolm Island for a performance of Macbeth as part of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012

Edinburgh is a great place to visit. There are loads of places to see and lots of fun events throughout the year. Let me know what your favorite parts of Edinburgh are!