I’m a Trini Travelling Daddy blogger now!

Hello friends, Trini Travellers and casual travel stumblers
I have been off for a while … in fact, this is the first post I’ve made since September. It’s been the longest gap between posts in the last 7 years. I’ve had a couple very good reasons!

1. Adventures in “cottaging”
   Over the summer of 2014, I spent most of my time in PEI. It’s safe to say that I kinda love it there … it’s not a super exotic location, but it’s definitely exotic for Canada. We also spent a lot of time on this pet project – about a year and a whack of money!!
2. Work has been super busy!
   Living the life of a consultant can be as exciting as you want to make it. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering consulting type questions like “What’s the difference between a consultant and prostitute?” or “How to start a new IT project?” or “How to Hotel Status Match?“. That being said … we all grow up a little bit and consequently your responsibilities and priorities change.
3. I’ve not been travelling!
   2014 will be the first year in 13 years that I have not gone to a new country. Antarctica doesn’t count as a country … new continent but not a new country. It’s been a change to slow things down … it’s a challenge to gear up, and it’s also a challenge to gear down.
4. I’ve been pondering a bit of life … so I wrote about the things I wish I knew in my 20’s, then I wrote about my search for balance in my 30’s. So the final reason that I’ve not been writing is because I’m a dad … a Trini Travelling Daddy
   

No huge insights or writing required. When you’re a parent, everything changes. For hardcore travellers like me, becoming a parent is a HUGE decision because you’re choosing to alter the identity you’ve spent years creating. I can’t speak for other single or non parent travellers, but I know that while I’ll not be travelling as much in the short term, I am going to try to create a family lifestyle that still involves learning through travel. My son and his maybe future siblings will have an opportunity to learn through the world university of culture, food, dance and people that travelling always was.

It’s been 21 days since he’s been born. Through the combination of working almost 24/7, multiple nightly feedings and trying to support a healing wife, it’s been tough. That being said, any woman who delivers a baby without an epidural deserves a medal and no matter how tired I feel, I know I didn’t have to deliver without drugs!

So this blog is going to change over time. It’s going to be a lot more daddy and family pictures as I transition the blog to a Trini Travelling Daddy. So pardon the change over the next year … it’s going to be a new adventure, just like him.

As a consultant, I’ve had to think about how I’m going to modify a travelling lifestyle that includes my son

1. No more exotic 4 day weekend trips … I’ll have to ensure a 2-3 week block of holidays.
   As I look at other consultants, I think it is doubly important that as a family we have a guaranteed block of time when family dynamics can shift and update where necessary. My job is flexible enough to allow non standard holiday blocks and my wife isn’t going back to work until 2016 … and if she can keep her business going … maybe not for a long time.
2. Bring the family along with me, when they can come.
   This sounds like a great idea for adults, but children require stability and familiar environments. I’m sure that the novelty of D* being in a different place with Mitchell will wear off … especially if I’m working long hours during the week. The positive thing is that if I am somewhere nice, then we get to spend a lot more time together – if I manage to have an exotic work location i.e. not Moncton, NB or Halifax, NS or Edmonton, AB … then this could be a huge plus.
3. #RealTalk with Mitchell and his future siblings
   If I continue this consulting lifestyle, D* and I will have explain that in this family Dad earns more than Mum and because of the good wage he earns we can buy books, go on holidays etc. I’ll just have to be much better at the frequent flyer points, promotions and flexible hotel accomodations.
4. Mommy vacation time
   I’ll have to figure out a way to also give mommy a little time away from the kids. I have no idea how I’m going to do that, but I’ll have to figure the situation out 🙂
5. Mandatory video and story calls to say goodnight
   Over the years, I know that I’ve neglected to call home and say goodnight. This I know will have to change and Daddy can ring every night to say goodnight. I’m also aiming to read a book or tell a story over Skype/Facetime/Video Chat to put them to bed. I think there will be two iPad, so that I can read and Mitchell can read along with me.
6. Figure out a nanny or helper for the wife.
   Self explanatory!

For those of you, who are consultants or travelling bloggers with kids, I’d love to hear back some suggestions from you.