Traveling Solo With a Baby/Toddler: You CAN Do it All By Yourself, I have 24 times (with 9 bags)!

Jack and I logged 24 flights the first 3 years of his life. We flew alone every.single.time. AND without any luggage carts!! How? Read on for my single parent hacks for traveling with kids alone :)

Jack and I began flying back and forth to Sun Valley, Idaho when he was just 3 months old. I am a full time professional wedding/portrait photographer and in addition to carrying all the things I need, he needed, I also dragged through the airport at 40 pound bag of camera gear to be put in the overhead. Every time. Every flight. I want to share how you can travel with an enormous amount of stuff alone with a baby without anyone's help (because, you should expect that no one will help, because a helping hand in the airport is rare).

9 BAGS, 1 Baby and 1 Person to Manage it all.

I have numbered all the bags in the photo, let's go through them:

1. The 70 pound bag of stuff. It is a large suitcase that holds all of my clothes, Jack's clothes, shoes, toys, toiletries, books, diapers, wipes, you know...all the things.

2. The car seat: I use this bag to keep the car seat in. It has back straps built in, so it is easy to sling over a shoulder or carry on your back (if there's space).

3. The diaper bag: Blankie, bottle, food, snacks, change of clothes, diapers.

4. The food bag: Yes, I carry my own food. Another post will detail why that is and what's in there, but it's literally a bag of cold food in a packit freezer bag inside another packit freezer bag inside an insulated bag.

5. The stroller. The bag was already removed when this photo was taken, but it is the best stroller money can buy. It is super lightweight and as you can see folds up super small. It also fits nicely in a bag with shoulder straps.

6. Jack's Dinosaur backpack: Jack has yet to carry this bag on his own, however it holds all of his toys to survive a 14 hour travel day. That may seem like a lot of stuff...but we DO NOT USE ELECTRONIC DEVICES...more on that later...

7. Ogio Backpack: This bag is dedicated to me and me only. It has my macbook pro, 2 external hard drives, a mouse, a keyboard, books to read on the plane, my planner and my food for the airplanes/layovers

8. The 40 pound carry-on camera equipment bag: 2 camera bodies, 6 lithium ion batteries, 2 flashes, 5 lenses, flash modifiers, the list goes on...

9. The camera equipment bag that is checked.

HOW:

So, you are probably wondering how I transport all this stuff without the use of a luggage cart...here's how:

• I strap #4 on #1, and balance #5 on both - this is pulled by the left arm

• I strap #9 on #8, and balance #6 on both - this is pulled by the right arm

• I carry #3 cross-body

• I carry #7 on my back and loosen the straps on #2 to fit on top of #7 on my back

What about the kid? I make him hold onto my pants as we are making our way through the parking lot. If you have a runner...I would suggest some sort of tether strap attached to you and the child.

I Make it to the Check-In...Now What?

I check #1, #2, #4, #9

I take #5 out of the bag and put Jack in.

I weave #3 onto the handles of #5

I balance #6 on one of the handles of #5

I roll #8 with my right (stronger) hand.

I roll #5 with my left hand.

I Have Done this Multiple Times...You Can Too :). You've GOT THIS!

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