Travelling Solo With A Toddler: Top Tips For Booking With Airbnb In Bali
Traveling solo with a toddler for the first time can be quite nerve-wracking, but it needn’t be.
When I started planning my first long haul trip with Ruby for just before she turned two I googled hard to see what was the done thing for traveling solo with a toddler. I’ve popped a few affiliate links in the post.
I had to dig deep to find tips and tricks on booking Airbnb’s but managed to find tips as we went along that made our trip a safe and comfortable one.
I booked Airbnb for our stays in London, Sanur, Denpasar, Ubud, and Canggu in Bali, Sydney, and Luton. So, just a few.
I’m going to share with you some of the main points to consider when booking with Airbnb as you travel solo with your toddler to keep you safe and happy.
This was a brilliant little treat for me! When I was looking for recommendations on booking with Airbnb I managed to get a wee saving and you can too if you haven’t booked an Airbnb before using this link here. This was perfect for me trying to book our 5 week trip to Bali and Sydney on a budget essentially meaning I scored a free night.
You Can Save On Your Travel Expenses By Booking Through Airbnb
One of the benefits of booking with Airbnb is the savings compared with booking conventional hotels. I, like many people, was a little skeptical about booking away from my norm of Booking.com but when I saw how affordable some of the stays were (one of my stays in Bali was £9 a night) I was sold.
Of course, there are quite a few things to consider when traveling solo with a toddler, for me I was much more safety-conscious than I would be traveling on my own. I wanted to make sure we’d be comfortable in each of our stays too.
I’ve put together some of the key things I did when traveling solo with 23-month-old Ruby.
You Can Choose Between Budget And Luxury To Fit Your Budget
One of the first things to do when booking a trip with your wee one is to work out how much you can spend on your stays. What I loved about booking lots of different stays was that I could mix it up between going a bit more basic and a few days with a bit more luxury.
I knew that my stays in London and Sydney were going to be more expensive than what I would pay for in Bali. It’s good to practise to get an idea of what you get for your money in each city or country you stay as it can vary considerably.
While I definitely agree that you get what you pay for, I had some gorgeous king-sized bed, villa stays in Bali for £15 a night which would get you a dorm room shared with 6 other people in a place like Sydney. So it’s worth doing your research.
Consider Where You Want To Stay
When traveling with toddlers and infants you’re going to want to stay in areas that are family-friendly. I did a search on a few sites like Tripadvisor to grasp which parts of Bali we would stay in, knowing that it’s a great destination to travel to with children but also has a big party scene too.
I loved Sanur, other areas that are often mentioned are Nusa Dua and Jimbaran which we didn’t stay in. However, the Balinese love children and the Island proved very safe for us and we enjoyed stays in Canggu and Ubud where Ruby had a great time too. Checking the reviews of Airbnb’s will give you a good idea of how quiet or how party-centered the place you’re looking at is.
Look For A Minimum Of 10 Verified Reviews
It’s completely natural to be a bit wary of scams and terrible stays when booking anywhere; especially when traveling solo with a toddler. For me, I had a rule that any place I considered booking would have to have at least 10 reviews from verified guests (profiles that have been verified to prove they are real people) and of course, the host would have to be verified too.
This means skipping new properties that maybe look gorgeous and an amazing price but are newly listed.
I’d much rather know that anywhere I am staying, especially when traveling with my little girl, that I know we are safe and the stay is going to be pleasant and clean.
Read a few of the reviews to get an understanding of what the stay is like, how good the location is, and how helpful and friendly the hosts are. You don’t want to get there to find that you can’t contact the host for example; which from some reviews I’ve read, can happen.
Check What The Area Is Like That You’ll Be Staying In
It’s hard, right? When you’re traveling to somewhere you’ve never been before you will have to do some work to suss out where it is exactly that you’ll be staying.
I found in Bali that unless you were able to use a scooter there it could be quite tough to get around very far unless you had budgeted for a driver. So being close to supermarkets or the beach, or whatever is you’re going for you have to get specific with your booking.
For example, I booked a stay in Kuta, which actually turned out to be deep in Denpasar and though the stay itself was a little oasis in the city, we were pretty restricted in what we could do outside of the tours we booked with Bali Baby Hire, where we would get to explore with our wonderful driver Lembi with the safety of a car seat for Ruby.
Check To See What Is Included In What You’re Paying For
Sounds obvious, I know, I did do this but just assumed WiFi would come as standard in most places, especially in Sydney, but we booked a stay that didn’t have WiFi, meaning even though I had roamed in Sydney I still had a higher bill on return than I would have liked.
If you’re booking so that you’ll be preparing food for yourself you want to check that you have access to kitchen facilities, checking for things like kettles and fridges in rooms, etc.
I was hoping for kettles in rooms but in the majority of stays we had in Bali there wasn’t so I was relying on bottled water and sterilizing tablets to do the job.
Are There Mosquito Nets, Air Con And Are The Doors Fully Closeable
There’s a lot of freak out around mosquitos when looking into Bali, the best thing to do is ask about it when you go to your travel vaccine appointment. I found that the best thing to do was to have a good routine of applying the spray first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
We went in the rainy season, so there were plenty about and I ditched the baby strength mozzie spray and stuck with Autan for both of us, which did the job and was less offensive smelling than some of the others.
Check that where you are staying has air-con so that you don’t have to open the doors and windows at night and try where possible to keep the doors shut.
Quite a lot of the Villa’s do have gaps with the sliding doors, we had this in both Canggu and Ubud, however, we didn’t have any issues with mosquitoes in our room, but out and about at restaurants.
Pack lightweight, light, long-sleeved tops and trousers for both you and the little one to help prevent bites and make sure you’re mozzie sprayed up during the day as the Aedes mosquito that carries Dengue Fever (which has no vaccine) tends to be most active during the day.
Don’t let the idea of mosquitoes put you off though, Bali is too amazing!!! Just take the precautions. Where it only takes one bite to get sick, you can be bitten and not get sick. Just do your best to avoid it.
Check To See What Is Available Near Where You’re Staying
The one thing I really felt bad about while traveling was that I didn’t have much chance to let Ruby socialize when we were away. To keep mum guilt at bay have a little look at what activities and play areas there are to let your wee one have their chance to let their hair down too.
I found that I was often on edge and not wanting to let Ruby run around when we were in Bali because of the busy roads and the fact that a lot of the homestays aren’t open enough for them to run around without you having to follow them so you could see them.
Don’t over plan your time away, but certainly get an idea of what is around you.
If you plan to self-cater in Bali, it’s a really good idea to find out where the nearest big supermarket is because the Indomaret and Mini Marts won’t have everything you need.
You can eat out really cheaply in some amazingly delicious Warungs in Bali. One of my absolute favorites had to be Warung Anna in Sanur (you have to have the Spicy Chicken — It is unreal!) To help in efforts of avoiding Bali Belly, I would use google to search for Warungs with great reviews and in lieu of that, I would gravitate to the ones that were really busy.
Also, pack plenty of nappies because they are tough at times to come by in Bali.
Find Out Whether You Will Be Staying With A Family Or You Will Be Staying Solo
All down to personal preference, but make sure you know if you’ll be staying in your own space, in a cluster of villas or if you’ll be staying in a family home.
You don’t want to arrive and think you’re in your own space only to find you’re staying in someone's home. With the homestays in Bali often you have your own villa which is on the grounds of the home of the family.
I found this really lovely as the families would make such a fuss of Ruby and they really go out of their way to make you feel at home. Travelling Solo With A Toddler can be quite lonely at times too, so having interaction with local families can be a really comforting experience; even though they may not speak much English. Learn some basic Balinese before you go to be polite.
My favorite stay by far was the Suntari Homestay in Ubud, who would give you a menu to choose your breakfast and on arrival gave us fresh fruit smoothies and brownies to welcome us! They were the most wonderful family, Ruby, and I wanted to stay!
Message The Host Ahead Of Your Booking To Check You’re Catered For
When traveling with a toddler, it’s a good idea to message ahead and check if the stay is suitable for you and your toddler. Bear in mind that many of the floors are tiled in Bali and moving the beds in most cases will be near impossible.
If you get the green light, it’s definitely worth popping Bali Baby Hire an email to hire baby equipment like bed rails, cots and car seats to save you hauling extra luggage.
While infinity pools or pools, in general, are an attraction, it’s good to remember that most pools in Bali won’t have pool guards, you can look into hiring those too, but just be aware of it to make sure you can keep a proper eye on your little one for their safety. I bought a Jojo Mama Bebe float swimming costume for Ruby too, just in case.
Pack For All Eventualities
I made sure I packed sterilizing tablets, sterilizing bags, nappy bags and lots of nappies to keep us going for the first couple of weeks. I also packet formula powder despite Ruby not taking it anymore (thankfully) as Ruby didn’t want to eat much in the heat so we reverted almost back to newborn.
I also made sure to pack lots of her favorite snacks and nuts and protein powder for myself. I’ve never traveled abroad to Indonesia before, so it helped me to feel like I had a little more control.
Sometimes I think it’s easy to ignore how much we rely on creature comforts; and while that’s the whole point of travel when traveling solo with a toddler who feels a little confused that they’re not at home, it’s much easier to keep them settled with their favorite things for the first little while.
Make sure you’re insured well too, I’m so glad I got full cover when we were away, including natural disaster; luckily we didn’t need to use it, but as COVID-19 hit the news as we were traveling, it was more than possible we’d of had to. I also spoke to a girl in the airport as we waited nervously for our bags that took a very long time to come round the carousel; who spoke of when she had $3,000 of luggage lost. You just never know.
When traveling solo with my toddler, I was most concerned about being covered for health, as there’s no commercially available cure for Dengue Fever I didn’t want to play roulette; even for potential Bali belly, it’s better to be covered. We used World Nomads.
Don’t Be Scared To Complain If You Aren’t Happy
Traveling solo with a toddler is no mean feat, so it’s absolutely essential that you’re happy with wherever you’re staying.
In one of our stays, the room was steeped in so much noise that I became agitated and upset and wanted to fly home because of noise keeping us both awake until 3 am.
I complained to the manager (politely though, don’t be a dick) and when I said we were going to look for somewhere else to stay (which I didn’t want to, I was tired and jetlagged) he upgraded us to a much nicer villa that was lovely and quiet.
Don’t be afraid to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible or you will ruin your own holiday!
Ask If You Can Check In Early Or Leave Your Luggage When You Have A Later Flight
We had a couple of early morning arrivals after overnight flights and a couple of late-night arrivals after 28-hour trips, we also had flights that left in the evening.
Make sure you type up an itinerary and when you’re planning your trip you know what time you need to be where and when.
It’s worth checking in with your host to see if you can check-in early/late and if there is anywhere you can leave your luggage after checking out to save you forking out for an extra night for the sake of a half-day or having to lug your luggage around.
A lot of hosts are really kind and accomodating and will be happy to help you out, but at the end of the day — if you don’t ask, you don’t get, so be brave and plan like a boss.
Of course, if you do have a late leaving flight and an early check-in when Travelling Solo With A Toddler, it may be worth considering paying for the later check out so that you’re well-rested before flying.
Check If The Host Has Extra Services
Travelling Solo With A Toddler you really want to make sure things go as smoothly as possible to keep stress levels low. Making sure you have everything you need to do what you would normally do at home makes all the difference.
Some homestays have laundry services that are handy particularly for longer stays and if they don’t, they may have places affiliated with them nearby that will give you discounted rates. It’s worth checking in to see what services they provide to save you some leg work.
I didn’t ask when we were staying at our Homestay in Canggu and we almost ran out of clean clothes towards the end of the trip because I couldn’t find a nearby laundrette.
Learn from my mistakes — To make the long haul travel home more comfortable you want to make sure you’ve got enough clean clothes for you and your little one (hint: it’s more clothes than you realize).
Check If You Get Wifi
I know I covered this point a little bit higher up but thought I would reiterate that not every Airbnb stay has free WiFi for you to use, so make sure that you check that it’s included in your stay price. Even if only to re-download episodes of Peppa Pig on Netflix to keep the wee one happy for the flights! When Travelling Solo With A Toddler WiFi really is a must for all the googling that you’ll do!!
Leave A Review
Make sure as a verified guest you leave an honest review so that others can get a clear picture of where they are going to be staying. Just like you, other parents are going to be searching for places to stay with their little ones, so the more honest we are the better.
I’m so glad we had such lovely stays in some of ours that we didn’t want to leave.
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If You Have Your Own Home You Could Use Airbnb To Help Pay For Your Travels
Of course, if you have your own home or spare room you can earn money by becoming an Airbnb Host yourself, which can be a great way to earn money to fund your travels. I have quite a few friends who use this to continue their travels particularly as single parents, unfortunately, I rent so I find other ways and means.
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Travelling Solo With A Toddler To Bali The Strongmamamoves Podcast
Originally published at https://strongmamamoves.com on April 15, 2020.
