Eleuthera with Kids- HOW COULD YOU?!?

Since having my first kid back in 2016, I have always said to myself "How do you vacation with kids?", any parents traveling with kids I wondered how they did it? I have cringed thinking about taking my kids on vacation prior to ever traveling somewhere with them. Traveling with kids is stressful, add on going to the secluded island of Eleuthera, and my stress level just sky rocketed !

The flights, the delays, the schedules, the missed naps...the S T R E S S!!!

Prior to having kids, I would cringe for the parents who have their kids in tow, the kids million items that they just had to bring with them on the plane. I always think about how those poor parents with their kids, 500 items including random items their kids packed in tow walking onto the plane, just all of it was overwhelming to me! That poor parent on the plane dealing with a screaming exhausted baby after a long travel day. I have always (pre kids and now) felt for them, as I was on my way solo on a trip without kids. The thought of taking tiny human beings on a plane made me so nervous, well years later with 3 kids and I am still stressed but it is SO WORTH IT!

One of my all time fears is that on the flight my kids would freak out, and bother everyone around them...Let's admit it, going to Eleuthera is not a hop skip and a jump away from Jersey...But I have always dreamed on going on vacation to the impeccable Eleuthera with my husband and kids...Let's face it, Eleuthera is where MY heart is....But this was the trip we had to take!

After years of dealing with the fear of traveling, I finally did it, almost 4 years ago!!! I took my kids to Eleuthera, and from that point on we have traveled a lot and never looked back. I admit I have looked back and regretted not going sooner!

Our first trip to Eleuthera was in August of 2022. I had an infant, 4 year old and 5 year old and I was STRESSING!!! The first flight we took super early out of Newark which meant waking my little babies up at the crack of dawn, and shoving them into my car with our-what seemed like 8 suitcases in tow- it was like 5 maybe!, and we were ready to T R A V E L ! ... But of course with traveling comes chaos! We had a 6 hour delay in Newark, and missed our Pineapple Air flight into Eleuthera! We had to spend the night in Nassau and rent a hotel! But we made the absolute best of it, and my kids had a blast!

The next morning we were up again at a crazy early hour, but we hopped right on our puddle jumper, that was older then all of us combined and we were O F F ! I was nervous about the old plane because it is scary and small but low and beyond my infant was basically lulled to sleep from the sound, and my girls were infatuated with the deep blue waters. Their tiny little hands pointing at the fish, coral, and beautiful earth they were SEAing, below them as we were flying over the ocean water.

Once we landed into GHB Airport, it felt like such a relief, and the quick 15 minutes' drive to the cottages just felt right! Again those tiny little baby hands pointing in excitement at such a beautiful island, that their late Grandpa had found and where he developed Bird of Paradise. This was the trip we were supposed to take!

From this point forward this is what made me realize, the stress of packing and hoping on a plane is just a few hours compared to the days of memories you make. My kids still talk about their first time on the beautiful island of Eleuthera, and every trip there since then. Book the vacation, take the trip, the memories are SO WORTH IT! Flash back to now, and my kids love to travel, they know what to do and enjoy it! It of course is stressful at times, but the end result is so worth it!

What was your first vacation with your kids? How did it go?