Today is a very special day for the Michael W Travels family.
Our little man Lucas Miles turns 2 years old today and I want to wish him an extra special Happy Birthday! (Check out my post about Lucas’ 1st birthday here.)
Lucas is an amazingly friendly and happy little boy. He brings a smile to the face of most that meet him. He’s brought an unmeasurable amount of happiness to Kim and I over the last 2 years!
While we all love to brag about our kids, this is a blog about travel so today I want to reflect on Lucas’ 2 years of travel (and as a lap baby). Since he is now 2, Lucas has taken his last flight without needing his own ticket/ seat.
Many people thought that Kim and I would have to stop traveling once Lucas was born but this certainly has not been the case.
While our travels have changed a little, we don’t feel that he’s really held us back. I actually think that its even more fun and amazing getting to see the world having Lucas by our side.
Our travel style has more or less stayed the same.
- We still stay in budget places like hostels, guest houses and local hotels/ motels. However, we try to also mix in stays at nicer places using our points.
- We travel with public transportation when possible (trains all over Japan, buses around the Balkans etc.) but will sometimes splurge on a cab from the airport when arriving in a new place at an inconvenient hour for Lucas.
- I don’t feel that we’ve missed out on much when visiting new places. Some activities are not doable with an infant or toddler. There won’t be any quad bike tours or volcano hikes on upcoming trips but we still get in full days of sight-seeing and exploring.
Where has Lucas been? Lucas has been to 12 countries (including the U.S. and Kosovo which is a disputed territory) and 13 U.S. states.
(Don’t forget to check out the photos at the end of the post which include one from each of our international trips. There is also one from our trip to South Dakota included.)
Countries: (listed in the order/ age visited)
- United States (obvious)
- Barbados- First flight at 11 weeks old
- Singapore- 7 months old
- Indonesia (Bali)- 7 months old
- Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)- 7 months old
- Russia- 14/15 months old
- Japan- 18 months old
- Serbia- 20 months old
- Macedonia- 20 months old
- Kosovo (disputed territory)- 20 months old
- Albania- 20 months old
- Germany- 21 months old
U.S. States: States are listed in order visited (* = did not fly)
- New York* (obvious)
- New Jersey*
- Pennsylvania*
- South Dakota
- Wyoming
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Florida
- Texas
Here are Lucas’ flight stats. Lucas has flown on every flight as a lap baby but did have his own seat during our recent flight home from Dallas. He sat in a seat for the first time ever during a take-off but then went on to be held for the duration of the flight.
Lucas has flown 53 segments for 91,144 miles which took 8 days 16:23.
Breaking down the segments:
By Class:
- Economy: 41 flights- 77.4%
- Business Class: 11 flights- 20.8%
- First Class- 1 flight- 1.9%
Class by distance:
- Economy: 46,146- 50.6%
- Business: 38,245- 42%
- First: 6,753- 7.4%
Happy Birthday again to Lucas!
At the rate Lucas is traveling he might even make a run at challenging Lee Abbamonte to become the youngest American to visit every country in the world! (Yea not likely…)
Here are some photos of Lucas’ first 2 years of travel. Enjoy!
We’re looking forward to a great year of travel in 2014 and already have a bunch of trips planned. We leave later in the week on our first of the new year (and Lucas’ 1st in his own seat!
Jason- You can’t exactly expect a little kid to want to sit still, they are definitely curious! Lucas is pretty well behaved but not without his moments. The thing is that he’s flown so much so he knows what to expect on the plane. We also come prepared- iPad mini, toys, stickers, snacks etc… When Lucas was a bit younger and when he’d want to get up, as long as they weren’t busy, the flight attendants didn’t mind a visitor at the back of the plane…
If you want to chat/ send me some questions, you can e-mail me at michaelwtravels@gmail.com
Our son turns two in two months and we have only made it to Hawaii (from CA) so far. I would love to hear how you were able to accomplish so many trips. I SO want to take him to see the world, but he just doesn’t have any interest in sitting still for extended periods of time. I know all children are different, is your son especially calm and not wanting to move all over the plane, etc? Any advise would be much appreciated.
We are kindred spirits and I never realized it (casual follower on BoardingArea, but I didn’t spot that you had a kid). I track my kid’s travels every year too (https://tripswithtykes.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/track-your-tykes-travels-the-five-year-update/). I’m impressed you’ve done so much internationally. I’m just heading on my first international trip with the 5 year old next week (HKG). Looking forward to following your blog more closely.
Amazing! Great pictures and I am sure Lucas will appreciate reading all he accomplished by 2. My hats off to the 2 of you for traveling with a little one. Happy birthday lucas!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Natalia!
Denise L.- Thanks for the kind words and birthday wishes! I loved hearing about what your daughter has learned from traveling so far!
Steven- Thanks for the correction. I know about the naming issues with Greece when Macedonia became a member of the U.N.
Maybe I should’ve also written Russian Federation not Russia? How come that didn’t bother you too? I think I know why…
The country’s official name is not Macedonia but the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It pays off to learn some history before blogging.
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/detailed-country-information/former-yugoslav-republic-of-macedonia/index_en.htm
Happy Birthday Lucas. Although he may not remember the trips, he is already learning about flexibility and adaptability. At 4 years old, my daughter knew exactly what to expect from an international flight (it’s long and you will sleep)and a foreign restaurant (chicken nuggets are not an option). It has influenced her life in many ways. And you are not bragging – he is down right adorable!
Yay lets all brag about how many miles our kids have travelled. Too bad none of these kids will remember any of it!
Jared- Sorry that you look at it as bragging, I look at it as showing what you can do with miles & points. All but one of our flights was paid for with miles/ points. I don’t need Lucas to remember the trips. Its the experiences that he’s had that make it all worthwhile. He’ll also have lots of amazing photos to look at when he is older.
My daughter is 23 months and she has 88144 miles as of today. She will have around 90K when she turns 2 in Feb.
Happy Birthday Lucas!
Hey Ken- Thanks! Happy Bday in advance to your daughter!