How to prepare for a vacation- lawyer style

View of the ocean in Puerto Rico taken by me in 2008

 

As we get ready to depart for our trip to Puerto Rico this weekend my crazy lawyer brain has me thinking of things like making sure everything is perfectly packed, that our house is taken care of, that we make sure we take the car seat, the stroller, the baby carrier, etc., that we have our insurance cards, that I know what kind of blood type we all are, and of course thinking about the macabre possibility of dying in a terrible accident and leaving our daughter orphaned.  Yes it's a crazy thought but these thoughts run through my mind now that I'm a mother. 

So instead of dwelling on these thoughts I figure the best I can do is make sure we are prepared for our vacation to go as smoothly as possible.

How to prepare for a vacation when you have a baby and are a crazy lawyer:

1. Make sure you have boarding passes printed and have "checked-in" properly with the airlines.
Yes this sounds obvious enough, but I only recently learned that when traveling with a baby on your lap you still have to make sure she has a boarding pass (for some airlines) and you actually have to place a call to each airline you are traveling with to give them the baby's full information before you actually travel.  Not to mention we STILL had to pay $110.00 worth of taxes for our daughter to travel (only when you are going to the U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico of course).

2. Make sure you are properly packed.
I have always been a great packer before but packing with a baby is crazy.  We need to make sure we check in our car seat and stroller and pack a whole slew of other little things "just in case".
For example, since she is now getting her molars in (a whole new level of teething) we are taking the oragel and baby tylenol.  Then since she still takes a bottle once in a while (especially to sleep) we have to take lots of bottles.  We need to pack snacks for the plane for her.  I usually don't take my netbook when we travel because my iPhone is usually enough, but we are afraid that our daughter will act up on the plane so we are taking my netbook with the movie "Rio" for her to watch on the plane if she acts up.

3.  Make sure you have somewhere for the baby to sleep while on vacation.
I actually almost forgot about this.  I wouldn't mind if she slept with us while on vacation, but we are staying with family for a few days and I just remembered that their guest bedroom only has a small full sized bed.  There is no way my toddler can sleep with us in that tiny bed.  She tosses and turns and we would definitely squish her or she would end up on the floor.  So I thought we would just take the pack n' play (yes on top of the stroller and car seat) but we would have to pay for this as a carry-on item, which we don't want to do.  So thankfully a friend of our family is lending us a pack n' play for her to sleep in while we are there.

If you are a staying in a hotel they usually have pack n' plays available but you still have to call to reserve one. That reminds me to call the hotel we will be staying in at the end of the week to make sure to reserve one.

4. Make sure your life insurance policy is paid up.  You know.  Just in case....Or actually first make sure you HAVE LIFE INSURANCE.  

You have no idea how many clients I meet that pay $500.00 each month or MORE for their car payments but don't have at least a simple term life insurance policy to protect their families.  This is UNACCEPTABLE.  Let me just clue you in on something.  You WILL die.  I guarantee it and bet my life on it! Ha ha.  Hopefully you won't die during the life of your term policy, at least that's what the life insurance companies want.  Otherwise if you do die during the term of your life insurance policy then you win of course.  Or lose.  However you want to see it.
5. Make sure you have a will and trust set up in case both you and your partner die.

Seriously, you don't want to both die and have your estate be tied up in probate court forever.  You need to make sure you talk to an attorney to devise a will and set up a trust and trustee to manage your finances if you pass away.  Not to mention your will has to designate a guardian for your child/children in case both parents die.  You do not want your family members fighting over custody of your child.  The trustee can be a  family member who is RESPONSIBLE with money especially if you have big insurance policies, or you can designate an unrelated third party professional trustee.  For more details, see a wills and estates lawyer!

Then you're pretty much ready to go on vacation and enjoy the beach.

From our honeymoon in the Riviera Maya in 2009