Tip #4 for working mommies

Take your family with you when you can!

I'll be the first to admit that this is seldom possible for me. We took Padraic with us when he was 7mos old and I had a conference in Minneapolis, but only because my SIL and BIL live out there. We stayed at the conference hotel, and Ken and Padraic hung out with my SIL at her house as much as possible while I was working. It turned out to be a nice trip. My MIL got the plane tickets for Ken and Padraic (yes, I always got him a seat of his own, even when he was young enough to be a lap infant), and my flight and the hotel were completely covered by my employer. So our only expenses were food and the rental car. Not too shabby.

We're once again combining family fun and a business trip of mine this upcoming weekend. I have to go to DC, which is only a 2hr drive from our home, and as luck would have it, our hotel is insanely closes to the National Zoo. As in "You're an idiot if you don't take advantage of how close this hotel is to the zoo." Which is what I said to mysellf when booking the travel and accomodations for the trip.

If everyone stays healthy (Henry had a fever yesterday and is not quite himself today), we're driving down tomorrow midmorning so we arrive around lunchtime. We'll grab a bite to eat (I already know there is a McD's between our hotel and the zoo--Padraic loves McD's and gets to eat there about 3 times/year when we're doing something special like this) and then hit the zoo after ditching the truck and our belongings at the hotel. We'll stay there for as long as the kids hold out. And us, too, since the National Zoo is, well, shall we politely say, hilly?

We'll bring our own drinks and a few snacks, but we'll willingly splurge on something like ice cream or another treat while we're hoofing it around. After all, that's what family fun time is about. A bit of a splurge. This trip is pretty low-cost, too, what with the hotel room being again taken care of by my employer, our gas for getting down there being reimbursed since, hey, I had to get down there somehow, and the zoo being free admission.

After (or maybe at?) the zoo we'll have some dinner--possibly with some relatives of mine who live in nearby Fairfax--and then we'll start the interesting task of getting two kids with different bedtimes to fall asleep in the same hotel room. Ha. My MIL recommended taking the kids to the pool before bed to wear them out, but the hotel has an outdoor pool that is closed for the season. So scrap that. Maybe we can put the kids on the treadmills in the fitness center? Ha, just kidding.

I'm glad we'll be able to work some time into my busy travel schedule to expose the boys to something they might not otherwise get to see for a little while because, while DC is not far from our home in the grand scheme of things, life hurtles by so quickly that we don't always take advantage of the great attractions that are within a day's drive of us. And I'm racking up some decent hotel points at a couple national chains by doing all this traveling for work. Trust me when I say that I am squirreling both them and my frequent flyer miles away for a nice family vacation. I'm aiming for probably the summer before Padraic starts kindergarten, at which point we should be able to do a nice 4-night (or so) stay at a hotel in the city of our choosing, without dropping a dime on accomodations or travel. The biggest problem will be deciding where to go! And what to eat when we get there. Yum!

So the next time work sends you off to God-knows-where, take a minute to consider whether some or all of your family members could join you for part or all of your trip. It can make traveling more enjoyable for you, and it can give your loved ones an opportunity to experience a new town on the (relatively) cheap. Happy travels!