As all good researchers know a pilot study is a vital part of any project, and project ‘get bambino to Portugal’ is no different. But how do you complete a pilot study for a holiday I hear you cry! Well it was rather simple really we headed to the Cotswolds! Long depicted as Britain’s rural idyl we decided the Cotswolds would give us a vital insight into planning for Portugal! When I was younger I came across a quote from the great philosopher Roy Keane which I still try to live my life by now ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. In my mind this was our preparation, in terms of what to pack, the journey and the accommodation, and whilst Keane was probably talking about Premier League success surely our plan could only lead to the glory of a wonderful week away in Portugal!
So we started with the bag packing, the part of the trip to the Cotswolds that I thought would be a 10 maybe 15 minute job, I was mistaken … Very mistaken. Now don’t get me wrong I have been out and about with the little man before so I had noticed that getting out the house is a slightly longer process but being pretty organised people and the fact we have a very low maintenance baby we have never really been late, this was a whole new ball game. We packed more backs for this trip to the Cotswolds then we did for our 6 week trip round Asia! Pushchair: check, two separate pushchair attachments: check, my body weight in nappies: check, Tesco’s and ASDA’s whole 0-3 month old clothing selection: check. To give you some idea of the scale the boot would literally not close, and whilst we don’t have the worlds largest boot I easily manage to fit a bag of golf clubs in their every now and then. I ended up with a crib in the seat my wife should be in with my wife squeezed in the back with the little man. You often here about packing a car being like playing the Tetris, now you could apply that analogy here but trying to bring it in line wit he mid 2000’s this was like playing the classic Nokia 3310 game ‘Snake’ when the snake has got so large there is no where left for it to go.
By the time we were in the car I was already in need of pulling over for a nap. However with the chocolate box villages of the Cotswold waiting for us there was no time for naps! So we set off, only an hour behind schedule, ‘baby on board’ sign proudly on display in the back window, sun shades on to protect the little man from the blazing British sunshine, and music blaring (by blaring we are probably talking about volume 8 out of a possible 30). The bambino was in his element by the time we had reached the end of our street his eyes were heavier than bags we had packed in the boot minutes earlier. As we made our way through the countryside passing through beautiful little villages with the most obscure names it was almost possible to forget the bambino was with us (well it would have been if the wife wasn’t squeezed in the back, without the baby present that would have been a very odd situation). Surely this trip implies that Portugal is going to be a breeze!
When we arrived in the Cotswolds it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and we decided to to a stroll into the village centre and have a cup of tea. We met up with Great- Nanny B in the Cotswolds which is always a joy, that woman has more stories than the bambino does nappies and let me tell you, that’s a lot! We took it in turns to push the pushchair down into the village centre and of course as with the car the gentle bouncing motion soon sent the little man to sleep which is by far his favourite pass time at an early age! As we approached the village centre we made a b line for the local coffee shop a delightful little place selling home made good and not a hint of branded good to be seen anywhere, exactly what you would expect in the Cotswolds. Now don’t get me wrong I by no means live in a sprawling city, or even a large town, come to think of it there are only about 10 or so branded shops where I live but the quaint nature of the coffee shop we were in astonished me, in particular we we entered the shop and placed our order for two coffees, a cup of tea and 3 brownies, the guy working there said ‘just to let you know mate we close in about half hour’. In essence there is nothing wrong with this statement, except the fact I thought it was mid afternoon, what had happened? Did my watch stop? Had we been walking for hours without realising, was this shop located in a different time zone? Nope apparently it is completely normal in the Cotswolds to close at 4:00! Any way we sat down and spent the next half hour telling tale and generally staring at the bambino which is any new parents favourite hobby! This was going brilliantly the little man was loving life and equally importantly so were we! Another great success things were looking up for our trip to Portugal!
Whilst this all seems to have been a breeze there were vital lessons to be learnt, because after all this was a pilot study not just a little jolly. Firstly pack early and spend a good week or two streamlining the luggage, the plane isn’t going to wait even if we are delayed because our beautiful little mans 4.6million accessories didn’t fit in the car. More important we are risk of overloading the plane to the extent it won’t be able to take off if we’re not careful! Secondly embrace the journey, someone said to me when we were expecting the baby that often a child will mimic their parents behaviour, and whilst I only managed a C grade in A-level back in the day so can by no means claim to be an expert that sounds reasonable to me! So the basic theory is if the parents are chilled and calm about travelling so will the baby be (probably going to regret that statement). Finally enjoy where you are going try and get out and about, obviously the baby may slightly alter tourist itineraries but what’s the point in travelling if your not going to experience the place you are going! With the horse lessons learnt I am confident that Portugal is going to be the perfect location for the little bambino’s first taste of touring!
However I feel there should be a disclaimer in here, and it probably belongs at the start rather that the end but never mind, better late than never. Whilst what I said about the luggage was 100% true what I didn’t tell you was how long we were going for, a full boot, full passenger seats, maybe a week? Maybe a long weekend? Nope incorrect on both accounts, our pilot study lasted all of about 3 hours in the Cotswolds, now working on basic logic that means that for a week in Portugal we would need to scale up 56 times to get everything in … We could be in trouble. In addition to this what I didn’t point out is that the Cotswolds is about a 15 minute drive, not a hour drive to the air port, 3 hours sat in the air port, 2 hours on a plane, hour waiting for your luggage and then 2 hour drive the other end. So again whilst our scale was off a little I am sure the lessons learnt will be the exact same. The final slight confession is that we were going to great Nanny’s house, not a random rented accommodation that we have only judged based on strangers opinions and professionally taken photos, the sort that could make my shed look like a desirable property! But all in all I am confident that our pilot study was a great success and will only help guarantee success on our trip to Portugal!
Bambino on Tours Blog 