WoW 11: Bambino Takes on Italy
WoW: 11 Bambino Takes on Italy!
Reminiscing on our memories in Italy and hoping to capture our highlights (and lowlights) in this time capsule.
Backing up the story, we decided before we ever got pregnant that we would love to spend our future theoretical child’s Birthday in a new place every year. We have always found such value in experiences and thought it would be a way to keep a piece of “us” alive and spend some uninterrupted true quality time with our child to be making memories together.
Fast forward to May 2021 - Anderson was born! In true Starback fashion, even after sleepless nights and wild parenting whoa’s the first few months we decided to go ahead and start planning his first Birthday trip somewhere overseas. We landed on Italy. Tara had been to Italy, though only the Northern part. Mitch had never been. For the first time ever, Tara relinquished some of her superpower and love for planning all things travel… and we booked through the Costco Travel Site. We decided on a trip that spent half the time in Rome and half the time in Sorrento to get a taste for both city and coastal life. The process through Costco was great, super easy, and when I priced out what we booked if we would have done it on our own, we were saving THOUSANDS of dollars so I would highly recommend.
Fast forward to May, 2022 we left on our first whirlwind international adventure with a baby. We of course flew Delta. We tried to prepare as best we could for the flights but really didn’t know what to expect being in the air that long with a baby for the first time. We had one layover on the way there and ended up flying overnight for our long stretch. In theory, I thought Anderson would sleep all night but I forgot the boy LOVES sleeping on his belly and he couldn’t do that easily in my arms or in his car seat so he never quite got comfortable and as a result… never quite slept.
Roma
When we landed in Rome we were TIRED but overall the flights there weren’t too bad. We stayed at the Inn at the Roman Forum. It was a beautiful, old, centrally located Inn that boasted endless ancient Roman character. It was on top of an old Crypt which was super interesting to walk through. The one bad thing? Tara is convinced it was haunted and didn’t sleep well at all. Other than that, 10/10 we would recommend. The breakfast was made fresh each day, and over time they knew exactly what our bambino wanted and brought it out as we sat for breakfast.
Our days traveling with a baby in tow are much less jam packed with activities than they used to be. We have one focal point of the day that we hope isn’t tied to a specific timeframe so we can go with the flow. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In Rome we were able to see the Colosseum, The Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Trevi Fountain (twice). The day we ventured through the Colosseum was toasty warm but we managed through. Tara wore Anderson as we walked through lots of ancient grounds and Anders may be one of the only babies who ever got his diaper changed inside of the Colosseum. Parents of the year or the worst parents ever? Not sure.
We also did a Roman Pasta cooking class at a Roman Man’s house named Massimo. We found it on the site “With Locals”, read lots of reviews, and sent our location to close friends and family before we ventured into Massimo’s house to see if we were going to learn to make epic food or get murdered. Luckily for us, we learned to make epic food. Massimo had learned to cook from the generations before him and graciously opened up his kitchen to us and a destructive baby as we cooked and sampled pasta all afternoon. We have been working hard to perfect our recipes since we’ve been home. Taste testers welcome!
Rome was a city where you could just spend days wandering the streets and not get bored. Everything was old and everything was beautiful. There were endless amazing restaurants and ancient churches on every corner. The streets were made of old cobblestones which made for interesting stroller rides but Anderson loved the added turbulence and started humming everytime we were walking around and cracked himself up at the sound of his own voice. The Italians lived up to their baby loving reputation and absolutely adored Anderson. He was the star of the show everywhere we went.
Sorrento
On Anderson’s Birthday we made the drive from Rome to Sorrento. Car’s and Anderson don’t really mix, but we survived. Tablets for the win (we try and only bust out the tablet in cars or on airplanes) We made it to our little boutique hotel right in the heart of Sorrento called the Maison Il Conservatorio. It is covered in painted blue ceramics and has a distant view of the Gulf of Naples. We spent a few days seaside at a few different beach clubs in Sorrento. The beaches are beautifully blue with clean waters but they aren’t sandy and for the most part, aren’t free. The ones that are, are more crowded and do not include umbrellas, which with a baby are a must! You take the steps down to the beach and there are a few different beach clubs where you can rent a spot for the day. We tried out both Leonelli’s Beach and Peter’s Beach. The rocky seaside wasn’t the most baby friendly spot to hangout, but we made the most of it. Anderson loves being outside and he also loves water - so that made up for it. The water was absolutely breathtaking.
There was the cutest little children’s park just a few minutes walk from where we were staying in Sorrento. We took Anders to play every day we were there. Though the kids didn’t speak the same language as him, they were all infatuated with the little Bambino. He had multiple little boys come up to entertain him and make him laugh. His hair was pet by at least 3 little Italian girls and one even planted a kiss on his cheek. It was pretty sweet. At times when Anderson would start to get cranky out and about, all he had to do was spot a Pigeon to entertain himself again. He became the Pigeon whisperer… they were following us everywhere we went.
We also spent a day in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. We walked up and down the painted streets and along the seaside. We drank Lemoncello and ate good Italian food. The views felt like we were in a dream, and I sure didn’t want to wake up.
Food.. the FOOD!
I think it goes without saying Italian food is one of the highlights of a trip to Italy. We were a bit bummed when we confirmed a few months before our trip that Anders serious allergies to Milk and Egg because those are some staples of Italian cooking. To top it all off we don’t speak Italian and had to explain his allergies everywhere we went. Nevertheless, we prevailed. Anderson found his passion for Pizza Marinara, which sounds incredibly lame, but in Italy they just do it right. All of their pizza dough was without milk or egg so it was a safe staple everywhere we went. Most fresh pasta has egg in it, so he didn’t get to eat pasta in most places. But we made due and he was happy nonetheless. Mom and Dad ate endless pasta. Our Favorite place of all was called AZZ! Italian Tavern in Sorrento. It was owned by the cutest family and we ate there twice because we just couldn’t stop drooling about how perfect our first meal was. We had a bottle of red wine every night and were in heaven. Our complimentary breakfast at our place in Sorrento was incredible too. It was a full array of homemade pastries, fresh fruit, Italian staples and all the Cappuccinos you could ever want.
Anderson adjusted really well to the time change in Italy. I think being so tired our first day and getting tons of sunshine helped him adjust quickly. We also always try to keep our pre-bedtime routine as close to how we do nights at home as well. Some baby gear staples we brought that we bring on pretty much every trip are; his travel Yogasleep Rohm sound machine, Guava Lotus travel crib (super light weight and comfy), Babyzen YOYO 2 Stroller (super compact - can fit in an overhead bin on a plane and took on the cobblestone streets well) and his Cosco Car Seat (not the comfiest, but definitely the lightest and super budget friendly).
Our flights home were a little more eventful, not in the way you hope. We ended up with 3 different legs and a few longer layovers. We also ended up sprinting(We literally ran for about 5 minutes straight) from one end of the France airport to the other to hit our flight back home, Anderson enjoyed this part, but not the flight. By the time we were home it had felt like we were traveling for 3 days (it was only 22 hours) but Tara’s arms were fully numb from holding Anderson and most of her body's skin had been pinched off. At that point and we were all delusionally sleepy. The trip we would do 10 times over, the flight home we would like to black out and never think of again.
All in all, it was a successful first trip abroad. It definitely had some tough moments with a teething baby and plans that needed to adjust to realistic expectations but we made some amazing memories together as a family that we will never forget.
Starworthy spots
Azz! Italian Tavern - Amazing food, get there early!
Parco di Villa Fiorentino, Corso Italia, 53, 80067 Sorrento NA, Ital - Childrens park and garden
Gadgets
Baby Zen YoYo
Happy Travels!
The Starback’s
WoW 5: Don’t just dream it, Do it!
What better time to take a step back and put some travel goals in play than when you’re trapped in your house for too many days to even count. We have been putting some intentional thought around our next 3 years and what our TRAVEL goals are in that time frame. While winging it can be a great way to go about your next adventure.. When you have a tight budget, limited vacation days, or a bucket list that never ends that you are continually trying to re-prioritize, a plan can really help make your dreams go the furthest within the means you have. So why not take some time in quarantine to set your travel goals and see if you can make some dreams come true?
We wanted to share with all of you some tips and tricks we have found helpful to bring our travel visions to life; making the most of our time and money as it relates to travel -
1. Make a list and prioritize destinations. Your list and your partners list of dream destinations may not all look one in the same. If you find you have lots of differences, you may have think a little harder about how you will prioritize picking your next destination. See if you can find a few places that overlap and those may be re-prioritized to the top. Or, you can decide if you want to rotate one of your dream destinations with theirs for an every other trip cycle.
2. If you are planning a trip with a destination already in mind, be flexible on the time frame. If you are working with spring break as your only option for a time frame in which to travel, some destinations are not ideal at that time. You want to do your research to see not only when the weather plays nice, which could mean ensuring for abundant snow your your ski vacation or if you are trying to plan a beach vacation ensuring the variables are right for optimal sunshine - sometimes you have to adjust the time you go to make sure it is in alignment with your goal for that particular destination. Sometimes weather patterns alone aren’t the only variable in planning the time of year to travel to a destination, you may also want to take into account other variables such as tourism highs and lows. If you are trying to go on the off season to save money and hide from crowds, off seasons can look very different depending on the destination. Planning earlier, can usually lend you a better chance to be able to go when it’s ideal for your goals.
3. Don’t be afraid to play with Holidays. We often look at our work holiday calendar and try to back up trips to when we have “freebie” days. When you have a limited number of vacation days, and a long bucket list they don’t always play nice together. By planning trips around some free days, it allows you to better safeguard your vacation days and make them go much further. Do you have a destination that you could do over a long weekend? It’s always a good idea to back it up to something like Memorial Day or Labor Day!
4. Sometimes it pays to be exclusive. If you travel often, think about what companies are widely available to satisfy your needs. Think of airlines and hotels specifically (if you’re a hotel person). If you can stick to the same airline and continually build up “miles” or “points”, eventually your flights start paying for themselves. With the points we currently have, we are looking at not paying for a single flight in 2021 with 3 destinations in mind. If you are hotel exclusive, you will start to reap the benefits of free nights and it really does add up if you are regularly on the go.
Just a quick peak at some of our most recent Airbnb stays - Many more came before, and many more yet to come!
5. On the flip side of that, don’t be afraid to explore Airbnb. We are big fan’s of Airbnb and have been using the platform for years. We often hear misunderstandings around the quality and safety of the platform. If you’ve never given it a try, I would urge you to do so. It can truly be a game changer for making your budget go further in a new destination while NOT compromising on quality. You read that right, we have stayed in many Airbnb’s that were nicer than a hotel has ever been. Another way it can help stretch your budget further? They are often equipped with a kitchen. Eating out is fun on vacation and absolutely brings value in understanding a new place through their food. However, if you’re on a longer trip, eating out for breakfast, lunch and dinner can become a daunting task. Having a kitchen to prep coffee and a quick breakfast in the morning can not only save you time but also money before you head out for a day of adventures.
6. Get extra travel money for the spending you are already doing. Once you’ve identified your preferred airline… look into getting their credit card. We are not ones to often say open a new credit card, because generally that’s not a good move in our opinion. However, in this instance it has really paid for itself time and time again. For us, we identified Delta as our ideal airline partner. When signing up for their credit card, as with most airlines, you get a pretty large lump sum of “miles” as a sign on bonus. In addition, depending on the level of card you get, you get other travel perks. For us, our card came with a free domestic travel companion ticket every year. That means we can fly anywhere within the US each year and for one of us that flight will be free. Then as we use it on our purchases, we are continuously earning more ‘miles’ for buying things we would be buying anyway. It’s a travel fund we are continually contributing to that takes barely any effort at all!
7. Lucky number seven coming in with the final tip of the day! If you are able to, set money aside before it ever hits your checking account. Decide on a number you are comfortable with that will go into a separate “travel savings” account. What I mean by that is, when you get paid it would be directly deposited into a separate account that never hits the money you use for day to day bills and activities. Maybe that’s $50 a paycheck, maybe that’s $200. Think about your goals and if you are saving for one domestic trip a year, or traveling to a few new countries. For us, we made an easy transition into travel savings after our wedding. When we were planning our wedding we set aside a sum of money from each of our paychecks that went directly into our “wedding savings” account. Once our wedding was over, we decided to keep this savings going and have it’s purpose be our travel fund. We had already learned to live day to day without it, so we felt it served a greater purpose fueling our travel goals then helping us eat out with friends on the weekend or as money to shop for new clothes. Once you’ve committed those dollars to travel, pretend they aren’t there. Do not touch them, think about them, dip into them when it’s been a bad month. Unless of course you truly have to, don’t think of that account as money you can touch. Having this mentality has continually helped us prioritize travel and have the funds set aside to make our dreams come true!
If you’ve been struggling with visions of grandeur but no plans to execute, think about how maybe just one of these tips may help you get one step closer to your goals. With the world moving a little slower right now, it’s a great time to put some action steps in place to conquer your travel dreams! If you have a tip to share that we didn’t cover that has helped you, leave it in the comments below. As always, we are happy to help in any way we can!
**Our next bucket list destination was Arizona scheduled for the end of May around the Memorial Day Holiday.. at this point that trip is extremely unlikely. Stay tuned for more adventures yet to come!
Happy Travels (someday!),
The Starback’s