Ever since we found out we are heading to Australia I’ve been thinking a lot about the very, very long plane ride we will have to take to get there.  I’m wondering how on earth a 3 year old will handle sitting on an airplane for 15-20 hours when I cannot figure out how I (a 33 year old) am going to manage sitting on an airplane for 15-20 hours.  How on earth do you pack enough snacks and activities in a small carry-on to cover you for that length of time?

Maya has been on an airplane a few times in her 3 years of life and has done really well each time.  However, those trips were only a couple of hours long, a mere drop in the bucket compared with the epic trip in our future.  Packing a carry-on for a 2 hour plane trip I can handle, I’ve got that down pat.  But how do I take that 2 hour plane ride carry-on and make it into something that lasts 10 times as long.  I’m afraid to think about how large my carry on will need to be.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading/research online about what you need to bring along when embarking on an airline travel of epic proportions.  Here’s what I’ve come up with so far that needs to be in my carry-on bag.

• A change of clothes in case of any potty or food/beverage related accidents.
• A warm layer to add to her comfy airplane outfit in case the plane is chilly.
• A large array of snacks including granola bars, dried fruit, fruit snacks (Maya’s fav), crackers, cereal, etc.
• A sippy cup or a cup with a straw so we don’t have to worry about her drinks ending up all over her, us or the aircraft.
• A large array of activities including books, coloring books/crayons, movies/dvd player, her polly pocket sized princess toys, a hand-held game device of some kind.
• And of course, her blankie and a favorite stuffed toy.

The trick, I think, will be making sure the things we choose for the plane are new enough and exciting enough to really grab her attention and hold it for a while. My plan is to pick up a few new books, a couple of new movies and a new hand-held game device/games (like a leapster or something) for her and not let her have the stuff until we are on the plane so everything is still new and interesting.  If I keep the snacks to finger food type snacks I should be able to pack enough variety and quantity to last (I hope).

Since we will be on the plane for such I long time sleep will be necessary for all of us.  This will be the trickiest part.  Maya is not a good travel sleeper. She doesn’t sleep much in the car and the last time she slept when on an airplane was when she was only 10 months old and I breastfed her to sleep.  I’m hoping that sheer exhaustion will get the better of her and she’ll eventually just crash.  My concern is that over-tiredness and boredom will be fuel enough for some epic meltdowns before the sleep takes over.

Really only time will tell how this trip will go and I’m sure we’ll learn somethings on the way there that will hopefully make the trip home that much easier.

So, for those of you who have traveled long distances with your youngsters what wisdom do you have to share with me?  What am I not thinking about as far as the carry-on luggage goes? What have you learned in your experiences that you hadn’t thought of before you traveled?  Any tips, tricks, words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.