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We decided to take our toddlers to Virginia’s Luray Caverns for a day trip. Several thoughts crossed our minds: “They’ll love it! (Right?)” “Are we crazy?” “We’ve been planning to go for so long — it’s time!”

We’re big proponents of traveling with our kids, and ensuring they have diverse experiences. We are planning several upcoming trips that require flights with our kids, but for some reason this one was intimidating. We couldn’t accept that. So we went. And it was worth it.

We learned a valuable lesson: Bring. The. Tulas. (Plural.) While we own one for each child, they have always been very independent—we didn’t think our son would be caught dead riding in one.  So when we were grabbing what we wanted from the car, we made the last minute decision to bring only our daughter’s carrier.  Rookie mistake.

About halfway through the line to get in, it became apparent that our son, who hadn’t napped, was going to have to be reigned in.  Our daughter, who is typically a fearless little social butterfly, was also in rare form...it turns out that she does not love the crowded, dank, subterranean ambiance of the Caverns.  With one child screaming hysterically and the other pinballing around the Luray Caverns passageways, we were starting to feel like “that family.”  

Enter the Tula.  Being wrapped snugly against our back quickly made our daughter feel more at ease.  By the time she had calmed, our son had decided that riding on Mommy’s back looked like a pretty sweet gig, and insisted that Victoria “share.”  We went from feeling like “that” family without Tula usage, to enjoying our adventure.

And guess what? We weren’t alone. We had so many allies in this situation that literally (no for real) every family we passed with a toddler or baby asked us what kind of carrier we had. Every. Single. One.

We realized that we weren’t actually “that” family, even though our ears were still ringing, and that everyone else had the same struggles. It was an empowering moment, one that very much encouraged us to get back on the road and continue travelling with our kids. Why? Because we had a great time. The kids experienced something new. If we had stayed home out of uncertainty, we would have missed out on this family adventure.

That is one of the key reasons we started this blog: To show other working families that they could travel with young kids, by leading by example. So, if that’s you, and you’re considering a trip to the Luray Caverns with your toddler, do it.

But, seriously ... bring the Tula.