Mum Diary of a travel stroller 

It's always exciting when you book a holiday abroad, especially as your child has grown out of the baby stage, and is becoming more independent. We had planned our first long haul holiday since the birth of our son who was approaching 2 years old. With rose tinted glasses I imagined walking along the beach in the Dominican Republic with my toddler, blue skies, amazing food and of course cocktails. But then reality hit. What would I do for his daytime naps? What about when his legs get tired and he didn't want to walk? What would I do at the airport trying to carry luggage and a toddler? I toyed with the idea of taking our bulky pram, but then the thought of heaving it around the airport and checking it in with the luggage seemed pointless and a lot of hard work. 

With Googles help, I quickly realised I was missing a travel stroller in my life. This could be the answer to all of my worries. 

After some industrial mum style investigations, I ended up at the Indy Best Buy list where I came across the didofy Aster Stroller. I was impressed by the one-handed fold and checked out a couple of some influencers who demonstrated the fold and was convinced I needed this for our holiday travels. 

Fast forward to our holiday. Flight times are always awkward with a toddler, no matter how clever you think you are going to be to work around nap times. My plan failed, he had a long sleep in the car which then left me with the prospect of us both entertaining him for the 7 hour flight ahead. 

As soon as we parked our car, the Aster came into its own. With our toddler all strapped in, the shopping basket loaded with all the paraphernalia associated with a 2 year old entails, we headed into the airport terminal. You can do some serious steps at an airport without even realising it. 

At check in, the staff expected us to check in the stroller, so I demonstrated the fold and showed how it fits into the overhead locker, needless to say they were surprised. I felt quite triumphant in my stroller purchase at that moment, feeling quite smug that I had discovered some kind of mum travel hack. 

Next we headed through security. This is where the one handed fold came in handy. Everyone in the security queue becomes slightly militant before getting to the x ray machines, have we separated liquids, is the ipad out, do we need to take our shoes off? Luckily because it is so quick to fold The Aster Stroller, we didn't need to collapse it until the last minute, meaning our little one was able to stay seated throughout the queuing process. Very important in a crowded environment! Again people admired the fold as we quickly collapsed the stroller to place on the x-ray conveyor belt. Security check felt like a breeze. 

Usually I love to shop duty free, but to be honest, at that moment,  it seemed less stressful to find somewhere to camp with the family and have some refreshments. There were so many people in the terminal, seas of tired faces anxiously looking at the screen to see when their flight was going to board. Again the stroller came into its own, a secure place for our boy to sit and snack. Sweet treats should be avoided at all costs! Our son was covered in goo.  It’s funny how as soon as you enter the world of wipes, you quickly realise that life will never be the same without them. They are a solution to many things! Luckily, we had easy access to the wipes as they were safely stowed in the shopping basket and problem goo was solved. 

Finally our flight was ready to board and of course our gate was the furthest from the terminal! With all bags and stroller at the ready, we quick-footed it to the gate. Once at the gate after a short wait we queued to board. At this point we folded the stroller and used its handy carry strap to carry it through security. The feeling of smugness returned when we were asked if we wanted the stroller to go in the hold. We showed them that this was a travel stroller that fits in the overhead locker. 

The flight was interesting, it's amazing how many things in your bag become an entertainment tool for the kids. However on arriving at The Dominican Republic, he was really tired and grumpy. I was SO grateful to have the stroller onboard and ready to flick open upon disembarking. He fell asleep as soon as he got in the stroller (Just typical!). We were whizzed through security, as having a pram and child seemed to be like a magic pass. 

Throughout our holiday our son took his daytime naps in the stroller, and we used it everyday as a donkey carrying our gear to the beach or to the pool. In the evenings, we were able to stay out that little bit longer when he started getting tired he sat in the stroller. 

I honestly cannot recommend the didofy Aster Stroller enough for family travel, I haven't mentioned all the other features like the cup holder or the protective UPF 50 extended hood, but I guarantee you will love these too. 

Happy holidays!