Our firstborn rocked our world in ways we never could have imagined. If you’re a parent, I probably don’t even need to mention that things like sleep, hot food (and coffee — oh, hot coffee!), and quiet moments became relics of a past life. Our once-familiar routines disappeared into the fog of newborn life, leaving us wondering how we had ever taken simple pleasures — like finishing a meal without interruption — for granted.
But for everything we “lost,” we gained something more. That first gummy smile. The way their tiny arms finally wrapped around us in a tight hug. The sheer, mind-blowing joy they felt over the simplest things — like when we made funny sounds with our lips or played peek-a-boo. Those moments? They were everything.
And yet… as much as I adored those sweet baby milestones, I can’t lie and say they were enough to sustain me — to feed my soul. A quiet guilt crept in — wasn’t I supposed to be satisfied with motherhood? I did love it. Shouldn’t my baby’s happiness be the only thing I needed? I did feel that I would do anything for my child. And yet, something was missing. Then, somewhere in the haze of sleep deprivation, a stubborn little thought took root: What if I didn’t have to give up all the parts of me that existed before motherhood? Maybe I couldn’t be exactly the same, but surely I could be some version of that adventurous woman I used to be.
To be honest, this was something my husband and I had thought about before having kids. We had felt committed to folding a baby into our existing life instead of reshaping our entire world around them. But in the storm of those first few months, I kind of… forgot about our plans. Funny how that happens. Then, one night — somewhere between a midnight feeding and an early morning wake-up — it hit me. We just needed to go somewhere… have a grand adventure, baby and all.
So, I started looking at one-way flights from our closest airport. (Pro tip: FlightConnections.com is great for this). Some destinations felt too ambitious for a first time adventure with baby in tow (e.g., ~12 hour flight to Japan). Others lacked that spark of excitement I was craving (e.g., anything domestic). Eventually, we settled on a beach trip — somewhere not too touristy, but with good medical care nearby (because, let’s be real, the anxiety of your baby getting hurt abroad is real). Long story short, we settled on Costa Rica. We found a charming little AirBnB off the beaten path, but near restaurants, booked our flights, and then came the real challenge: figuring out what and how to pack.
Even before kids, I was always a person who would rather unpack 20x than pack once. All those tiny little decisions are not my forte to begin with and now, they all seemed to matter that much more. A million questions were running through my head. How do we keep a baby from overheating? Should we bring diapers or buy them there? How do we keep sand out of everything?! Do we even need to keep the sand out, or will he just be a resilient little dude?
I spent hours scouring the internet, only to find that practical advise was surprisingly hard to come by. Plenty of parents had figured out how to do a resort trip with a baby, but that wasn’t quite our style. Others were comfortable winging it — something my inner planner could not embrace. But what I really struggled to find was advice on handling a completely different climate. Going from snowy winter to tropical heat with a three-month-old felt like a huge leap, and I had no idea what we actually needed. After what felt like a full workweek of research, I finally made a packing list, ordered key items, and hoped for the best.
And you know what? It was awesome. So awesome that when we had our daughter, we did it all over again. Two babies, two trips, and a whole lot of lessons later, I can confidently say that while you can totally travel without a bunch of extra gear, a few well-chosen items can make a huge difference. Could you still have a great trip without them? Yeah, sure. Will you end up spending more time inside your air-conditioned rental rather than actually enjoying the beach? Also, yeah.
So, if you’re on the fence about traveling with a baby, my advice? Do it. It’s so worth it. And if you want to make your life way easier, grab these few key items — because trust me, you don’t want to learn the hard way like we did.
1. Portable Rechargeable Fan
My husband quite actually laughed when this arrived in the mail. A portable fan? He thought it was completely unnecessary — just another over-the-top baby gadget we’d never use. Turns out, he could not have been more wrong (sorry, not sorry, babe). We used this fan constantly. It was essential for keeping baby cool. We clipped it onto the stroller, bassinet, car seat, hammock, mama’s shirt, a lounge chair — basically, if baby was there, so was the fan. By the end of the trip, my husband fully admitted he had seriously underestimated this little lifesaver. If you bring only one thing on this trip, make it this. We got this one, and it was perfect.
2. Sun Protection Scarf
This one might sound a little silly, but trust me – it works. For extra cooling power, we’d wet this UPF 50+ lightweight scarf and let the fan blow over it. Evaporative cooling for the win! I recommend a light color (ours is white) to reflect hear. It also doubles as the perfect sun cover — light enough to keep baby cool while still offering protection from UV rays. Since sunscreen is supposedly a no-no at this age and UP clothing felt too heavy in the heat, this was the perfect solution.
3. Bug Net
A cheap little bug net for the bassinet and stroller is a must, especially at night. Mosquitos seem to have a special radar for baby skin, and those tiny, itchy bites? They lead to everyone losing sleep while baby scratches away. Spare yourself (and your baby!) the misery — just get the bug net!
4. Sand-Free Beach Blanket
This one is a bit of a splurge and not a total must-have, but it definitely made our beach days more comfortable. It helped keep the sand off baby most of the time — unless it was windy, because, well, sand does what it wants then. We loved this one.
5. Neso Sunshade
Those little beach umbrellas have always driven me crazy — there’s never enough shade to actually fit under them. And they’re not exactly portable. So we finally invested in a Neso Sunshade and honestly, it was a great decision. It’s so easy to set up, not just at the beach but for camping trips, picnics, and any outdoors-y venture. We use it all the time. We went with one of their larger sizes and I was grateful for that many times. But fair warning: wind is not your friend with this thing. If it’s breezy, don’t even bother — we stubbornly tried to make it work — until one of the poles bonked our baby on the head. Lesson learned. It’s just not worth the headache (pun intended).
6. Other Knick-Knacks
We also grabbed a good sun hat and some baby sunnies. Both were nice-to-haves for keeping baby protected from the sun. The first time around, we packed two weeks’ worth of diapers, wipes, and butt paste. The second time, we brought none of those things. Both times, we were wrong. Bring the wipes and butt paste, but skip the diapers. For some reason, decent wipes are crazy expensive, but diapers? Easy to find and often cheaper than in the U.S.
Ok, you’re all set now. Safe travels!
P.S. Just a heads up – I’m an Amazon affiliate, which means I earn a tiny commission if you buy through my links — at no extra cost to you. Trust me, I’m not getting rich off this, but hey, maybe someday it’ll cover a coffee (a hot one, for once!).