Here's the plan: we are taking a military hop to Oahu with just ourselves, the little monster, and a backpack. Yep, that's it. And, did I mention, we plan to stay for an entire month? That's right, one whole month of sand and salt water and SUN.
Okay, so you're probably wondering about logistics here. How exactly do you go on a tropical vacation with a baby without all the "gear"? First, let me just say, I despise baby gear. Everything we have for the Little Monster fits into one dresser. EVERYTHING. Clothes, diapers, toys… all of it. Even then, we find that we have too much.
According to this website, to travel to Hawaii with a baby I'd need the following: sunscreen, day clothes, outerwear, pajamas, blankets, bibs, toiletries… okay, I'm with them so far, but here's where they start to lose me… dish soap… huh?… safety items such as outlet plugs and doorknob covers… WTF??? Are you serious???… The list goes on to include toys, bath toys, a stroller, a carrier, a booster seat, a car seat, a pack'n'play, a monitor, a nightlight…. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Has everyone lost their damned minds??? We don't even have half of this stuff at home.
Here is what we plan to bring for the Little Monster: diapers, wipes, diaper ointment, clothes, sunblock, and a wrap carrier. That is all.
Diapers: We are planning on using cloth diapers and wipes the entire trip. We will bring a couple dozen cloth wipes with us (the ones we already use at home). They are just thin washcloths that get washed right along with our cloth diapers. For diapers, we bought eighteen Osocozy flats to take with us. Flats are great because they are just a single layer of cotton which makes them very easy to wash and very quick to dry. We have been pretty good about catching most of the Little Monster's poops since we began EC-ing, so hopefully we won't have to deal with many poopy messes. I plan to hand wash the diapers in the campground's showers and/or sinks and then hang them to dry. Along with the flats, I plan to bring a couple of wool covers and maybe one PUL cover. Wool is amazing. It is bullet proof against leaks, keeps you warm in the cold, keeps you cool in the heat, and you hardly ever have to wash it. Somewhere on the inter-web, I found a post about an experiment done by a high school kid with his baby brother. He put his brother in various types of diapers over the course of four days in 90-plus degree weather in Texas. The heat inside a disposable was well over 100 degrees, while the heat inside a wool diaper was a much more tolerable 96. The coolest option of the bunch was a flat diaper with no cover. (Sorry, I don't have a source for this little tidbit, you'll just have to take my word for it. Or, you can recreate the experiment for yourself and send me the results; I don't have the time or the energy for such things). In addition to flats and wool, we will be bringing our GroVia Magic Stick. This stuff really is magic.
Clothes: For the Little Monster, we have a long sleeved rash guard and a short sleeved rash guard that are both UPF 50. We will be bringing those, along with a couple long sleeved white cotton tees, a floppy hat, and a bathing suit bottom. That's it.
Sunblock: For the most part, I am against sunblock, however, I know how miserable a sunburn is. I imagine that level of misery times fifty is how we would all feel if the Little Monster got burned. I would like to avoid that at all cost. In addition to the sun protective clothing, we have a stick of California Baby Sunblock. Notice it is sunBLOCK, not sunSCREEN. Sunscreen uses chemicals that alter your skin’s reaction to ultraviolet radiation, while sunblock creates a physical barrier that reflects/scatters the sun's rays. So, why would anyone use sunscreen instead of sunblock? Sunblock is made of Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide; both leave a white coloration on your skin (think old-timey lifeguard with a white nose). In other words, aesthetics. Well, sunblock has come a long way. The California Baby leaves a whitish-purplish tint, but it's nowhere near lifeguard-nose white.
Wrap Carrier: We are bringing the short woven wrap carrier that I made before the Little Monster was born. The beauty of a wrap carrier is that it is super comfortable, can be worn in an almost unlimited number of configurations, and since it's basically just a giant piece of fabric, it doubles as a blanket. Win!
That's it for baby stuff. As for our stuff, we will bring clothes (2-3 pairs of shorts, 2-3 shirts, and a bathing suit), camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, etc.), and personal care stuff (razor, soap for shaving which will do double duty as diaper detergent, hair comb, etc.). We plan to be barefoot most of the time but we will both have a pair of flip flops for when being barefoot isn't feasible and/or is inappropriate. Oh, and we'll bring the jet boil for delicious coffee in the mornings. Also, we are contemplating bringing an additional smaller backpack to use as a day pack while we're out and about.
I'm super excited about this trip. It's my very favorite kind of adventure; low key, zero plans/pressure, and WARM. (My summer in North Carolina taught me that I absolutely love the heat.) A lot of what I've read so far says that traveling to Hawaii with a baby is a mistake. Some go so far as to suggest that it is somehow irresponsible or dangerous to even consider it. I have a lot to say to that, but I'll save it for another day and instead say, A-LO-HA!
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