I was 15 years old when my father came home one November evening and announced that we were moving to England.

I took a moment to savor the dramatic possibilities of this event—how fetching would I look, weeping prettily against my locker, telling the best-looking boy in the sophomore class that I would never see him again because I would henceforth be living on an English moor—before TOTALLY FREAKING OUT.

Travel was, and sometimes still is, difficult for me. I don’t transport well—I would prefer to be teleported to the exotic destinations I yearn to see.

Whenever I got that sour teenage look on my face during family vacations in Europe (for example, when I refused to visit the Eiffel Tower, my parents banded together and told me in ferocious unison that our life in the U.K. and the subsequent European travel it afforded us would be The Greatest Experience Of My Life.

It pains me to admit it, but they were absolutely right.

My last trip to London was in 2003, 16 years after that fateful day in 1987 when a family of five local yokels landed at Heathrow.

Mix Familiar With Foreign

As much as I want my girl to see the world, I can’t fathom bringing her on an overseas flight only to land in bustling international city where nothing would be familiar.

That’s why I asked Bonnie Stewart what in the world possessed her to take her then 1-year-old son, Oscar, on a trip to London and Prague last year.

Stewart’s husband, Dave Cormier, was invited to speak in London. Given that his hotel would be comped and Stewart’s one-year maternity leave was about to expire (those lucky Canadians), the couple decided it was an opportunity they could not pass up, and even added a jaunt to Prague to their itinerary.

Stewart, who lives on Prince Edward Island, says that although she was in the process of looking for work at the time, the family decided to take the trip despite the iffy timing.

“We had one chance to do it,” she adds. “It just really seemed like a worthwhile thing.”

The flight leg of their trip—a quick hop to Montreal, where they departed for London—was a disaster, Stewart recalls. Oscar, who is “not a lap kid,” according to his mom, squirmed and fussed and cried the whole way.

“He didn’t want to be held, he wouldn’t nurse, it was a nightmare,” Stewart says.

Thankfully, the couple was allowed to bring their car seat on the flight from Montreal to London.

“I highly recommend bringing your car seat if you can. He was a dream the rest of the way. I think he just felt more secure,” she adds.

My personal fears about traveling abroad with Emmeline are focused mostly on her sleep patterns. Jet lag turns me into a monster of epic proportions, and just the idea of dealing with a 2-year-old in the same condition makes me feel like taking a nap right this minute.

Stewart shared that fear, but says that Oscar did “amazingly well.”

“He switched over pretty quickly,” she says. The couple stayed in a “lovely, fancy hotel” in London that included a separate room for the baby. Being able to put Oscar down in a quiet space gave him the chance to catch up on his rest.