International Adoption Travel Tips, Trip One

Adoption travel can be extremely nerve racking. This is something I know first hand. My husband and I were so nervous about our first trip to Russia that we almost poisoned the dog (literally…he ate poison that we left out for the rats in the backyard creek) before we left. We were both a bundle of nerves.

We were traveling to a country we had never been before, we did not know the language, and we were going to be meeting our son for the first time. Our stomach’s were in knots. Lucky for us, our agency planned a three day stop-over in St. Petersburg to sight-see. It broke up the trip a little and really allowed us to relax and get to know the country.

Before you board that plane headed to the international country of your choice, prepare yourself.

1. Be prepared to travel on short notice and be prepared for unexpected travel arrangements. We did not have to travel on short notice but when our flight was canceled out of Detroit (and we told the airline of our pending court appearance) they were happy to switch us to another airline, first class. Our trip to Guatemala was very short notice but because we had traveled to Russia two years before we knew many of the items to take. We did not know, however, the area we were traveling to or the language. Big mistake on our part.

2. Have a communication plan in place. We learned what we like to call “Toddler Russian”. It was very simple Russian but it allowed us to speak with our son. Everyone else that we needed to speak with spoke English or had a translator for us. Not all countries will have this though so be prepared.

3. Prepare Medically. Check up on your vaccines and be prepared for medical mishaps. We got all of our vaccines before traveling to Russia and made sure to take antibiotics as well as stomach ailments to both Russia and Guatemala. Because of the language barrier you can not always find what you need when you need it. However, hotels are usually pretty good at getting you medication, especially in Guatemala. Russia has a difficult time translating.

4. Some adoption resources say to pack light and buy necessities there. However, my suggestion is to make sure you HAVE the necessities because you never know if you will find them, especially on your first trip. Purchase space saver bags that can be blown out without a vacuum and use them wisely (they work great!). Buying a 2 oz. tube of diaper creme for $8 is not fun.

5. Document everything. I am so glad that I sent daily emails home because it created a journal for me to share with AJ later in life. I took so many pictures I was afraid he would hate the camera but he loves it now.

6. Sight-see if you can. You probably won’t be able to do it with baby or toddler in tow on trip two so do it now. We traveled to St. Petersburg and loved being able to see part of the country. Enjoy. Our trip to Guatemala did not allow sight-seeing because Gus was staying with us in the hotel and he was not legally ours (and therefore we could not leave the hotel). I feel we missed out on a lot of the culture. I plan on going back sometime.

7. Know where you are going. When we traveled to Russia I knew so much about Russia and Arkhangelsk that I was practically a walking encyclopedia. When we traveled to Guatemala on our first trip it was a last minute trip because we had originally been told there would not be a referral. I didn’t know a thing about the area.

8. Buy souvenirs on your first trip if you can. Don’t try to purchase things with a baby or toddler in tow.

9. Don’t bring siblings. This is a time for bonding with your new child and a sibling will only get in the way and demand attention. You will want to focus your attention on your little on, get to know them, deal with medical issues, and find time to relax (if you can).

10. Photo copy all of your documents. Photocopy your passports, visa card, ID, drivers license, dossier, health insurance card, airline tickets, etc. and keep them in a safe place. We carried one copy of everything each in case we were separated. I know this may have been overkill but we felt better knowing that if one of us was injured or lost we both had all of the information we needed. In retrosepct it was smart because we were in a car accident and may have needed them.

11. Bring enough entertainment for yourselves in case the televisions don’t work or you can’t leave the hotel for some reason. On our trip to Russia we brought a DVD player and several movies, books, playing cards, crosswords, etc. We did the same for our trip to Guatemala. You never know when you will be stuck someplace and have absolutely nothing to do or have to entertain a cranky toddler. Baby Einstein and Winnie the Pooh came in handy on our second trip to Russia.

12. Call your bank and Credit Card company to let them know you will be traveling internationally.

13. Pack clothing for dual purposes and pack detergent. You can wash clothing in sinks so pack light on the clothing.

14. Pack convenience items. Use pre-soap dishwash rags, Huggies pre-soap baby wash towels, breakfast bars and prepackaged goods, take and toss items, ziplocs, etc. They are your BEST Friends.