Hello Friends! We travel quite a bit and decided to start sharing our adventures and how we travel with our family. We will give you tips and experiences on the airlines, hotels and whatever tourist-y things we do! Hopefully it will help you travel with more ease and fun too.

Check out the Bad Dads Amazon Store for easy links and references of below items we bought! I will also add some of my other travel go to items not listed in this post.

This trip I decided to do a little haul on Amazon to boost our travel ease. This included:

New smaller, travel size carseat- I did tons of research and this was cheapest, lightest, best reviewed and comfy. The Safety 1st Guide 65 Convertible Car Seat. 

Travel bag for carseat- Held up pretty good. The carseat didn't get damaged at all and theres a handle on the side. Super cheap!

Headphones for toddlers- These are soft and a good level of sound for a toddler. She loved the fox, but they have tons of animals to choose.

I am still carrying our 2 year old. So we wanted to buy a new carrier that had more waist support then Ergo. This has been great. Her legs are more supported on the sides and the waist has a harder foam so she doesn't feel as heavy. Also works for awhile-up to 45 pounds. We usually don't travel with a stroller and this is a must have for airports.

Are you flying Southwest with a child soon? Here are some tips:

• Under 2 take a picture of your childs birth certificate-no need to bring it- and save under favorites on Iphone
• Over 2-no identification needed because they have a ticket
• Over 2 needs a ticket-BOO!
• Family Boarding is AFTER A group, so no need to rush when checking in
• Snacks are Fritos,peanuts,cookies and cheese crackers

The Virgin Hotel in Chicago was semi-kid friendly, but the room was awesome! Here are some tips:

• Try to get a suite-extra living room with close off doors!
• The showers are huge and have a cute little sheep toy
• There IS a kids menu (no matter what the front desk says) with grilled cheese, pasta etc
• My daughter loved to pet the "dogs" in the hallway
• I worked out in the gym by keeping her entertained with all the exercise balls and TV..the gym was great
• Location was great for walking to many Chicago tourist attractions and close to the water
• Downside was how close it was to the loud trains, but you get used to it!

Hanging Out in the City-We were walking distance to a lot of great places. This is what I recommend and how to get there:

• Maggie Daley Park is insane! You will fall in love, so much to do you should just check out their website. WALK 
• The Crown Fountain is fun and playful. Its an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. WALK
• The Lincoln Park Zoo is FREE and they have great one-on-ones with the Polar Bear and Seals. The Farm at the zoo is a must with toddlers. Peaceful and easy to navigate and just around the Nature Board Walk. UBER 
• The River City Walk is fun to watch the boats go by. Grab some lunch and just hang out!

• Get snacks at Walgreens around the corner from the hotel