From New York to Many Cities, Italy With a Dolly, Tach, and a Citroen

After planning for over 8 months, July 3 has finally arrived. I'm as anxious as that feeling you get when you're a teenager in line with your boyfriend for the big, new, exciting roller coaster. Will you make it alive? How will you he do? Will you impress him with your courage? No backing out now. Despite our lack of thorough planning of the itinerary (very unlike us, seriously), we did well with our timeline for the day. The huge car service taxi arrived promptly at 3:30pm and all of our baggage was ready for them. I couldn't believe it! Suitcases carefully organized, we said our goodbyes and were luxuriously transported to JFK airport.

Moving it all around.

We decided on the car service for a few reasons. First, we know we couldn't drive because parking your car for 7.5 weeks at JFK is a little silly and a lot expensive. Second, we didn't want to be driven by the family because then we'd have to be driven in our own car (to fit us all) and the drive back would've been right in the rush hour traffic - testing every good driver's skills. We put the stress behind and coughed up the $200. My husband installed the two car seats we were bringing in less than 15 minutes and off we went.

Leather tags (thank you mom in law!) and rainbow duct tape to help quickly identify the suitcases.

Oh and those suitcases! These things are awesome (so far, I'll be sure to report how they did at the end of the trip). They velcro altogether and just wheel it around. Yay! Timesaver!! We had to... with 3 kids: 13, 3, and 1.5, 6 suitcases, and 2 car seats, no time to wheel everything around individually. Speaking of wheeling around, we used these to transport the car seats - they doubled as a stroller and felt super sturdy. We originally were going to use the belt loop trick many rave about (using a belt to tie the car seat and suitcase together), but after ordering two (will I remember to return them? likely not), and testing them out on our suitcases and car seats, we felt they were flimsy and uncomfortable to maneuver. You had to really lift one side to push a bundle and then add a 3 year old, and you can forget it.

And the airplane. Did they sleep?

The part that probably stresses most parents out about traveling with kids is the flight. Although our flight took off around 9pm (usual bedtime for the two small ones is 7:30), the kids DID NOT SLEEP. It was awful. The youngest was in her car seat and sitting by the window with daddy - separated from her bff, the 3 year old; we were sure this would work. She hated it. She cried, she fussed, she was absolutely miserable. The 3 year sat between myself and my teenager. She behaved the same. Couldn't get comfortable, fussed, whined. Whenever the kids did fall asleep, they'd awake minutes later. You take a risk with red eye flights. They either go really well or horrific. We survived, so maybe we found the in-between? 

I do go through pretty rough anxiety about flying. I cry, my hands sweat. Every bump freaks me out and puts me on the verge of a panic attic. Perhaps the small children not sleeping did me a favor: it kept me distracted and hoping for sleep more than survival, an unusual request.

Citroen Space Tourer 

We arrived in Milan around 9am local time. After our LONG walk to baggage check and finally discovering the shuttle the Citroen car rental service station, we found a happy moment. 

We didn't rent a car. In Europe, non-European residents, are provided an option for a short term lease on brand new cars. Not all car manufacturers offer it. And if you have a big family, you'll find that renting (or leasing) a minivan that isn't a manual shift stick is nearly impossible. Earlier this year, in March, I came across the Citroen Space Tourer. A souped up minivan directly leased from Citroen. Priced super affordably, considering its size and duration. Well, back to that happy moment. We stepped off a bus to find our Space Tourer parked and ready for us right next to the bus stop. After checking in (easiest car "rental" check-in ever), installing our two car seats (which Corey, my husband, is a master in and has it nailed down to 5 minutes or less for both seats), we had our stuff in there and drove off. Impressive. 

For the future, I don't recommend a 4 hour car ride following a red eye flight. It took us about 7 hours with espresso stops hourly or more!! And yes, Italian gas stations ALL offer espresso. Really tasty espresso. Best you've ever had. 

Our journey vehicle will bring us to a lot of places this summer, most unplanned, and gone on a whim. Here it goes!