I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share this, but it’s official, we are going to Japan! With our toddler. On a plane. For the first time. Woohoo!!!

I am all at once beyond excited and nervous! But you know, I figure, if you’re going to make a decision to travel for the very first time on a plane with your baby, why not just go all in and book that international 10 hour + flight, right? It’s all or nothing!

In all seriousness though, I am nervous, but I’m also very, very much excited. I absolutely can not wait to visit Japan for the very first time with my husband (who has also never been there either) and what better way to do it than share this experience with our little one in tow.

We originally wanted to make this trip back in March of 2011 and even had our package set and purchased with Expedia. Then the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and I found out I was pregnant. I was worried about going to Japan given my pregnant state and the events that had transpired, and so was most of our family, with the exception of my brother who jokingly pumped his fist in the air while chanting “go, go, go, maybe your baby will have super powers”. Despite that tempting possibility (kidding), we ended up changing our travel plans and visited Paris instead. It turned out to be a lovely trip, filled with tons of walking miles added to my feet, and afternoons filled with me napping at nearly every park we visited while in Paris.

Then our daughter came along as did all the exhaustion, beauty, adventures and adjustments of being first time parents, coupled with me working on finishing school and then deciding to switch careers. 2013 was a year filled with huge accomplishments for us. My husband, who had passed the Captains test at work, finished his probation period and I earned myself my college degree. We definitely deserve a reward, and so when my husband told me he wanted us to book our trip to Japan this year, and made that our top item on our 2014 goals list, I knew that any hesitation on my part was mostly fear/unknown driven and that we needed to just dive in and enjoy whatever came because quite honestly, we could keep putting this off for the “right time” and that right time may just never come.

I am pretty much filled with the typical questions (concerns haha) of how our daughter will react to the flight, the duration of the flight, and that dreaded thought that she may have a complete and total melt down while we are trapped 30,000 feet in the air…but then I stop myself and realize, I have absolutely no control over what the outcome will be. I can go prepared and take the proper supply of entertainment and distractions for her, but mostly what I need to do is accept that I have no control of what my or may not go down and I just need to breath and let each moment and experience come in its due time and manner.

So for you experienced parents travelers with young children, I would love to hear any input/thoughts/ideas that you may have! In the meantime, stay tuned for updates as we get closer to our departure date of 3/24/14.