Cross country road trip with a 2 month old

There were 82,837 reported COVID-19 cases worldwide in April 2020.

We were both sent home from work and told to isolate. Schools shut down and we were told to stock up on groceries. International travel was banned and most countries were locking up their borders.

But we were getting ready to have a baby…

We had our son, Ezra Roy on April 9th after being induced due to lack of hospital staff during the pandemic. We brought him home to a lysoled house and 0 visitors. Our families were both on the other side of the country. It was a confusing, stressful, and isolating 4th trimester. Day in and Day out we planned how we could possibly travel east to isolate with our families and for our parents to meet our baby. We came to the conclusion that we would TENT CAMP across the country with a 2 month old. Figuring that camping would be the safest bet for our family in a world of so much uncertainty.

Call us crazy because we are.

We set off on our adventure on a rainy morning in early June. We did around 7 hours of driving a day. We soon realized Ezzy was a better road tripper in the early mornings and we shifted driving patterns to suit his needs. Lots of meltdowns (both Ez and Mum), side of road dance parties and changing blow out diapers in the backseat we managed to cross 1,318 km to northern Ontario where we met my parents and where my parents met their first grand baby for the first time.

We continued on with my parents. 1,997 more kilometres. We endured torrential downpours. Thunderstorms in a tent with Ez. Pumping on the floor of a soaked tent getting eaten by bugs. Camp ground bathrooms being closed due to COVID. Trying to keep breast milk cold while on the road. Setting up and taking down the campsite every day and night while managing a baby’s needs. Cooking every meal on a Coleman stove.

But we did it! We made it to my parents place in Southern Ontario. We spent a full month with much needed help from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. Ezra started sleeping better and we witnessed many firsts. As soon as we established some sort of “routine” we decided to head east again to spend the month of August with my husbands side of the family. We packed up again, said our goodbyes and off we went.

We quickly realized that road tripping with a 3 month old vs a 2 month old was a whole new ball game. Ez needed to get out of the car more often and the melt downs were more intense. He remembered this whole road tripping thing and was no longer a fan. A drive that would have taken Matt and I a day, took about 3.. but we made it, through the border crossings and into the Atlantic bubble.

We got to Nova Scotia late with an over tired little boy. We had rented a beautiful walk out basement apartment on Porters Lake to stay the duration of our isolation. We swam, cuddled, watched many episodes of puffin rock and story bots late into the early morning because Ez decided to go through his 4 month sleep regression. (I have never felt exhaustion quite like I did at this point)

Isolation ended and we continued our journey by staying with my sister in law. Ez was still not sleeping through the night but our days were filled with beach days and civilization! We quickly realized that the Atlantic bubble was by far the safest space for our family amongst COVID. So we took the leap. We started the release process from our jobs back in Alberta and started looking for a family home here in Nova Scotia.

Fast forward a few crazy months full of admin, and stresssssssss and we’re here to stay. We found a home on the ocean in Lawrencetown. Living the absolute dream. Ezra is sleeping through the night in his crib in the room he’ll grow up in. Matt and I are pursuing new career paths and passions that give us the flexibility we dreamed of and life is more than we could have ever hoped for.

Take the leap.