Kendal + Kevin (+B) Personal Travels | Porto, Portugal

We always said that when we had a family, we would want our life to remain (relatively) normal - and a big part was that we would continue travelling, and we would bring our baby to see the world with us. Simple goals.

Well, fast-forward to early 2017 when our little boy, Brighton James, was born and joined us in our journey of life. We were no longer 2. We were now 3, and holy shit, things got real. Brighton was a pretty wonderful baby but no matter how sweet he was, life with a baby is far from simple (strict nap schedules and relentless diaper changes, and pretty big personalities in tiny bodies). Despite the new found reality, we forged ahead, planning to take November off and booking an Airbnb in Porto, Portugal.... we took a deep breath and crossed our fingers.  

This may not have been the most relaxing trip we've ever been on but it was easily one of the best! Brighton was 9 months old when he took his first international flight. Not gonna lie, no one wants to be the 'couple with a baby' on a 9 hour flight but luckily he was a dream and slept most of the way. In our experience, the flight isn't too bad. What we weren't prepared for were the other sleepless nights (baby jet-lag is serious business), a baby who didn't want to eat Portuguese food and a stroller catastrophe where we lost a wheel on the train tracks outside of London (and left us lugging around a useless stroller the rest of the trip).

But on to the good stuff.. we had a lot of time to connect with each other after a busy season of shooting, lots of wine (Portuguese Wine is crazy good) and so many amazing friends + family come visit us. With our work schedule, we sometimes find it hard to get quality time in because we're always busy on the weekends. But we had a chance to make up for it with visits from some of our favourite people from all over the world. 

Portugal was such a wonderful place to travel with a baby. We couldn't leave our flat without Brighton getting blown kisses from strangers. It almost seems as though it's the community's job to care for babies. We had Portuguese Grandmas following us around with napkins to make sure he didn't get any sun on his head, we had (maybe too many) warnings of 'frio' from passer-bys. Everyone seemed to think Brighton was dressed inappropriately for this 'winter' weather of +15 degrees. (If only they knew how 'frio' this baby was about to get when we returned to Canada in December!)  We even had a neighbour bring over a hand knit cape to keep him warm, followed by some super cute dresses... You see, there was a mixup where she thought Brighton was a sweet little girl. We couldn't bear telling her that he was a baby boy, and so we gladly accepted them. 

Overall, it was a wonderful, slightly chaotic, first big adventure for our family. And although we don't normally share too many personal photos on our blog, we think this set is a worthy addition. Our clients share their most intimate days + moments with us and so here's a peek into our own life adventures. 

K+K (+B)

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