Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Baby abroad
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Lessons learned from
traveling to Puerto Rico
with an infant in tow
By AMBER HUNT
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
— We were in paradise,
surrounded by lush trees
and waterfalls in El Yunque
rainforest.
But the pint-sized traveler
on my husband’s back was
more concerned about our
dwindlinJ *old¿ sh supply
than the marvels around us.
“Look, Hunt, a waterfall!”
I pointed. He responded by
touchinJ his pinched ¿ nJer-
tips together and saying,
“More, more, more.”
I slipped him another
cracker and repeated our
mantra that this trip would
be good for him.
Seventeen months after
my ¿ rst son was born, my
husband and I were itching
to go abroad. We love
travel and experiencing new
cultures. And because we
hope to instill that love in
our offspring, we decided to
bring him along.
Some friends and family
were perplexed. “You know
he won’t remember it,
right?” they asked.
Sure, we knew. But we
also knew that what kids
experience shapes their
brains and futures, whether
they remember those experi-
ences or not.
And we knew we’d miss
the bugger like crazy if we
left him behind.
So we set some parame-
ters. We wanted a spot that
was affordable, wouldn’t be
a nightmare to À y to with
a toddler, had plenty of
kid-friendly attractions and
would expose him to another
language.
Puerto Rico ¿ t the bill.
Our passports are colored
with trips abroad, but
although we didn’t need
passports for Puerto Rico
(it’s a U.S. territory), we
did have to toss out all we
thought we knew about
traveling.
We were no longer a
(somewhat)
low-mainte-
nance duo, sharing two
carry-ons and one checked
bag. No, this was a four
carry-on,
two-checked
bag endeavor, plus a gate-
checked kid carrier.
Necessities from previous
Elijah Van Benschoten carries his 17-month-old son Hunt Van Benschoten while visiting Castillo de San Cristobal
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No matter how experienced a traveler you are, an overseas trip taken with a baby or
toddler requires changes in planning, expectations and itineraries.
Hunt Van Benschoten drinks from a bottle as he stands
in the water at a beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Elijah Van Benschoten carries his son while hiking
through El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico.
trips — like laptops and pro
photo gear — were nixed to
make room for baby supplies
like swim diapers. For
photos and sur¿ ng the Web,
we used our iPhones.
As with parenting in
general, we prepared well
on some fronts, but À ubbed
others altogether.
Things we did right:
• We brought things to
This made our jaunt through
the rainforest easy and it was
a great conversation-starter
with locals. One woman
literally stopped traf¿ c to tell
us how cool she thought it
was.
• We got a two-room
suite. It cost $50 more a
night and felt strange for
me — my ¿ rst trips abroad
were hostel-hopping budget
keep the tyke busy on the
plane and beyond: books,
crayons, paper and even
annoying noisemakers we’d
cursed relatives for giving us
but which ultimately proved
invaluable.
• We researched San Juan
well enough to know that
a stroller would be a pain.
We opted instead to bring
a hiking-style child carrier.
fests. But having two rooms
let us keep Hunt on his
normal sleep schedule, while
letting us talk, read and more
between his bedtime and
ours.
• We stuck with his nap
schedule, too, by tackling
one outing in the morning,
then returning to the hotel
for a noon break before
going back out.
That
limited our itinerary, but we
knew skipped naps would
be a hell we preferred not to
endure.
• We did things that
weren’t kid-friendly like San
Juan’s historic forts and the
Arecibo Observatory, just
as we would have without
him. We walked miles a day
to see how people on the
island live, and we shopped
at a farmers market. When
Hunt got impatient, one of
us broke away with him
and let the other ¿ nish the
experience.
Things we did wrong:
• We broke our don’t-
disrupt-the-baby’s-routine
rule by booking a late À ight
on the way home, and, oh,
did we pay for it. While we
managed to mostly shield
fellow travelers from our
anguish, my husband ended
up with a shiner from a tiny,
À ailing ¿ st during one partic-
ularly potent tantrum.
• We didn’t ask the hotel
about noisy scheduled
events. Big mistake. We
loved our hotel, but didn’t
love the bar-style thumping
on our second night.
•
We
occasionally
expected our toddler not to be
a toddler. We never overtly
lost our cool when, say, Hunt
threw himself on the ground
for no apparent reason as we
went to show him his ¿ rst
view of the ocean, but we
did catch ourselves snapping
at each other from the stress.
What it taught us: Time-outs
are good for adults, too.
But once he reached that
beach, his eyes widened,
his jaw dropped and he was
more ecstatic than I’d ever
seen him. He rushed to the
water’s edge and stopped to
let the waves lap his little
feet, then reached willingly
— for the ¿ rst time ever —
for my hand to guide him.
I’d been studying Spanish
for the trip, so when another
little boy approached with
toys, I was able to ask in
Spanish if my son could play
with him. The two played in
the sand with no language
barrier — toddlers don’t
need words to understand
meaning.
I don’t know if the trip
was as good for Hunt as
I’d hoped. But one thing is
Quesadillas make quick meal
of heap of veggies, or leftovers
Weeknight cooks love the
versatility and ease of quesadillas.
&onstruction is simple — two À our
tortillas sandwiched around a bunch
of ¿ llings, then skillet toasted — and
they can be made with just about any
ingredients you have on hand.
In fact, quesadillas are a great way
to use up an abundance of produce
or any leftovers you have kicking
around. The trick is just to make
sure that none of the ingredients are
watery. Leftover roasted vegetables,
for example, should be drained in a
mesh strainer before being added to
a quesadilla. Watery raw vegetables,
such as tomatoes or the zucchini used
in this recipe, should be lightly salted
and brieÀ y drained.
We’ll even throw the occasional
leftover cooked grain into a quesa-
dilla. Cooked quinoa or rice go great
with canned beans and some chopped
drained tomatoes. But whatever you
do, don’t forget the cheese. It is the
glue that holds this delicious dish
together. We like cheddar, but Jack or
Gouda are nice, too.
QUESADILLAS
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(AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
VEGGIE BURRITOS
AP Photo/Matthew Mead
Chickpea, zucchini and chicken quesadillas, a recipe by Allison Ladman.
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