Anyone who has known J. and I for awhile knows that we don’t do anything without a ridiculous amount of consideration. When I was pregnant with Charlotte, it took months of research, debate, and test-drives before we finally bought our stroller (a Mutsy, in case you’re interested).
When Charlotte was 5 months old and we were preparing for our first major trip (a 3-week odyssey to Vienna, Bratislava, and St Petersburg), we realized that while our heavy duty stroller was awesome at home, there was no way we were going to lug that huge clunker around Europe.
Strollers come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and functions, but generally fall into two categories: the heavy duties, and the lightweights (also known to some as umbrella strollers). Lightweight strollers vary in price and quality, from the cheap $30 Toys R Us versions to the elite brands that can cost nearly as much as a used car. But you pay for what you get, and in the end we settled for the Maclaren Triumph model, partly because of Maclaren’s stellar reputation, partly because it had all the features we were looking for (very light, reclinable seat, decent-sized storage basket), and partly because it just happened to be on sale.
Our lightweight stroller has travelled around the world with us, and has truly proven to be one of the most important and essential items that we travel with. Charlotte is happy to sit in it for extended periods of time while J. and I romp around a new city, she has great naps in it, it folds up in a snap, and fits easily into taxis and through airport screening machines.
Speaking of airports, when we check in, we’re usually given the option of checking the stroller with our luggage, or taking it with us and checking it at the gate as we board. We always go for the latter option. Not for Charlotte’s comfort- once we pull her out at security she refuses to go back in- but for us to use as a baggage cart. Because since we’ve started travelling with Charlotte, our amount of carry-on luggage has increased by ridiculous proportions!
Investing in a good quality lightweight stroller was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made!
