Figuring Out The Best And Worst Strollers To Travel With…
Somewhere out there, there’s this mythical cheapie lightweight $10 stroller that I have yet to find. Which is odd, because I’m a bit of a stroller junkie. Sometimes the word “umbrella” is thrown in there (umberella if you’re Rihanna), but always the words cheap and lightweight.
If you do a bit of a search looking for advice on whether you should bring a stroller with you when traveling (you should) and what kind you should bring, inevitably someone will pipe up and say just to grab a cheapie stroller for ten dollars and it will do the job and you won’t really care if it gets broken or damaged.
The Worst Stroller Ever. Ever. Also, The Worst Backyard Ever.
I found this hideous, most hated stroller at Zellers, a discount store here in Canada along the lines of Wal-Mart. It was not ten dollars, it was $17 – the cheapest I could find and in this case I got what I paid for.
I bought it to keep in the car *justincase*. And when those *justincase* times popped up, I loathed every second of having to use it. Here’s why:
- It is so very, very awkward. Awkward to fold, awkward to unfold, awkward to push. Just awkward
- Bub is very uncomfortable in it. There is now way he’d sit in it for any great length of time.
- It’s heavy. I thought the whole point of this thing was that it was light?
So given that it’s awkward, Bub’s uncomfortable and it’s heavy, would I bring it to travel with? No way, no how.
The whole point of traveling with a stroller is that it’s more than just a stroller… It’s also a highchair, a bed, and a trolley for your scads of stuff. We’ve traveled with myriad of different strollers, and while some have worked out better than others, I’ve NEVER regretted bringing one with me.
And though I am a stroller snob, I am also cheap, so I’m not all about spending lots of dough on *the* pushchair of the mo’ – I’m about spending money on something of quality that you’ll use constantly and it won’t disappoint.
Coming up, I’ll share my travel with stroller stories. The best and worst. But they won’t include a cheapie $10 umbrella lightweight stroller. Because there isn’t one! 😉
I bought one of these hideous $10 specials from Walmart and literally left it at the gate after frustrated attempts at closing it with babe on hip with carry-on and no help.
The flight crew said ‘M’am, you forgot your stroller’
I replied ‘Oh no I didn’t’
Ha! At least you found one for $10!
I have had a ton of strollers but my favourite was the Graco City Smart that we took while backpacking` around Italy with a 2 year old (while I was pregnant). It was light, it folded easily, comfortable, huge storage and relatively cheap… so of course, Air Sicilia lost it on trip back from Sicily to Rome.
Oh no! Did they reimburse you, at least?
I left a cheap umbrella stroller on the tarmac one time when I had to make a connection home with my one year old, and didn’t have time to wait for it. I bought another umbrella stroller and used it on one trip to San Diego, when he was two. It wasn’t bad, it had a carry bag on the back and we could recline it so he could sleep, but he was never as comfortable in it as he was in the Graco. I agree. Buy a good one (not necessarily expensive) and take it everywhere. It is worth it.
May I ask how you were able to fit the Uppa stroller seat in the basket below? I tried on our last trip (maybe too quickly) and wasn’t able to make it work. Also, will the airlines let you check a stroller and car seat?
We’re talking about the Vista, right? Truly it wasn’t an issue – I think I had to angle it a bit, but there was more than enough room for the stroller seat and my daughter’s small booster seat. This was when my son was riding in it in his car seat with the adapter. Are you having trouble?
On recent trips I’ve actually fit his Scenera car seat in the stroller basket when he’s been riding in the stroller.