If you could spend a year traveling with your family, where would you go and why?
Even though my oldest son is not yet two and a half years old, he is already rather well-traveled. Together, we have crisscrossed the U.S. visiting family and friends, and last year we even went to Paris! While there, we hiked all over the city, climbed up inside dizzying cathedral spires, took a moonlit cruise on the Seine, and spent untold hours in museums -- and everything was as easy and exciting as could be. Traveling with a toddler was made infinitely more enjoyable thanks to babywearing.
Not only do I dream of traveling far and wide with my family for fun (and the ultimate unschooling experience!) I actually have often envisioned taking them on a worldwide babywearing tour.
My idea began with a more locally-inspired concept: I planned to start a street style blog (in the spirit of blogs like The Sartorialist, or Face Hunter) focused exclusively on the colorful, beautiful, stylish babywearing I see around me all the time in New York. However, my vision soon expanded: Why not travel the world seeking such images? One day I hope to meet and document women all over the world going about their lives, wearing their children, and being fabulous.
Over the course of one year, I would love to visit cultures that still predominantly wear their youngsters. As my family and I circle the globe, we would research more about local customs and traditions of babywearing by observing, interviewing, and getting to know people who babywear. I want to learn firsthand about the many forms of baby carriers that are out there and how they are made and worn. I would, of course, document the entire experience on my blog in photos, video, and words, and at the end of the journey I would turn it all into a book celebrating the gorgeous, proud and vibrant art of babywearing.
I love to collect beautiful images of babywearing, and the ones that I have seen from distant places always inspire me and make me determined to act on my idea of an international babywearing tour. Here are some of my favorite photos, along with the places they might one day take me (click on the name of the country to see the photo source)...
Oh. My goodness. LOVE each picture--these are FABULOUS!!
ReplyDeleteMy nana used to tell us stories about marching with Cesar Chavez and how the women on the march just tied their babies up in their rebozos (sometimes front and back!) and shouted and marched with the rest of the group!
ReplyDeleteLoving this set of questions can't WAIT to hear about the slings!
that's such a wonderful idea!!! if you ever do make that journey and that book, come visit me and my babyboy in antwerp, belgium - although my babybjorn is by far as beautiful and exotic as those amazing pictures :-)
ReplyDeletep.s. that's a book i would definitely buy!
I can't wait for the end result of your International Babywearing Tour!
ReplyDeleteLOL, mom! Don't worry, you know we'll make a Mississippi pit stop while we're on the road :) I DO know some pretty fabulous babywearing families there, after all...
ReplyDeletelove ya!
I loved reading your answers, Leigh!!
ReplyDeleteSteph
Love this! Loved reading all your interview answers. Let me know if you need a grandma-helper-babywearing assistant on your international tour!!
ReplyDeleteDitto on the grandma-helper-babywearing person. Who knows, by the time you travel around the globe photographing these awesome women you might just need two grandma-helpers.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful pictures! I was able to see mothers babywearing in El Salvador and now I wish I would have take photos.
ReplyDeleteLoved your answers!
That sounds SO fun. I would buy that book in a heartbeat! :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely *love* these pictures! I am not as experienced a babywearer as you - sadly, it took me 3 babies & this contest to really get the hang of it. Now I am a raving fan! But I've been wondering - how can I wear my baby (2 mos. old today) on my back? Is she too young still? At 5'1" I can't reach to do my dishes while wearing her in front of me & I think getting my older daughters dressed for school & doing laundry would be a lot easier without worrying about bumping my littlest baby in the process! And next time I get down to NYC, I would *love* to meet up. Thanks & best wishes!
ReplyDeleteGORGEOUS!
ReplyDeletecome visit us in oz miss l! This tour will happen, I have no doubt. Just wondering....is the sakura bloom comp judges by judges or do we vote?
ReplyDeleteI think yours is a great idea! Also, as far as I know this book never came out but if you can track it down you may find it of interest: Beloved Burden: Baby Carriers in Different Countries. Love, love love your blog.
ReplyDeleteDGVE law -
ReplyDeleteI loved your Triathlon answers! It's so cool to hear about each person's unique journey to babywearing through their answers :) Anyway, your question is great, about wearing your baby on your back. I think two months is still too young for that, personally, just because it's better for the baby to be old enough to really hold up and control their head. For this age (i have a two-month old, too!) i am loving my Moby wrap. In the Moby, you wear the baby on your front but it's really snug and cuddly and it secures their head against your chest. When I'm wearing the Moby (I am right now, actually!) I can do the laundry, the dishes, straighten up the apartment, and chase after my 2 year old. It's great, and very comfortable.
DGVE-
ReplyDeleteI would love to meet you too! Let me know when you're in NYC!