Travelling with a toddler - yes or no?

Sadly.. I would have to answer.. no. :) Travelling with a toddler is not for us, it seems.

Our trip was great, the experiences and the memories.. we appreciate a lot.  But..

It was hard. Mostly for Adelaide, it seemed. And as a result - for all of us. Maybe the trip was too long? For the first 3-4 days it was kinda nice, but then it got worse. Of course, it didn't help, that we all got some nasty Georgian virus (also all the locals had it), which we still haven't recovered from. But I really don't think the virus is all to blame and without it would have been great..
It was more than that.

Being away from home, in a strange environment, it was too tiring for her. Stressful. Especially, as we moved around a lot, we weren't set in one and only place, that she could get used to. Actually we did, kinda - my friend's place, where we stayed for many days, but we were also driving around a lot, staying at different places and hotels.
And with each trip, with each new place.. She seemed to be more unhappy. More uneasy, more crying, more not her usual happy self.
Until the point, where it caused stress for me and us as well, and I started feeling guilty that we are torturing our poor child with all this travelling and going around..

So then we decided to take a calmer day off, it was exactly raining as well, to concentrate on her more, give more quality time for her (as we felt, that maybe she has been neglected in some way - of course, we were all the time together, but she was either in the stroller or in the car, and maybe she really was missing some calm, quality one-on-one time with us, our undivided attention..).
And it seemed to help a bit. Who knows, as it came together with her getting more sick. She was not feeling well, so that's why we had to cut the trip a bit short, cancel some plans and just be with her (at my friend's place).
She was still stressed there too (there were 3 other children), but it was the best of the options, and the end of our trip, even though we didn't get to do any more sightseeing, was actually a more pleasant time together.

Probably it depends on each different person, and I might be taking this all very emotionally.. But it really wasn't enjoyable. The worrying and guilt.
So that's why, as we were discussing, it's not really worth it.. We can travel on our own, when the children are bigger, peacefully, in our rhythm and without worry. But until then - I really think a calm home environment is best for a small child. Of course, some outings and maybe an occasional weekend away.. But not more than that.
So we will travel, probably, but short trips, around the Baltic countries.. :) And Italy can wait. ;)

Probably the type of travel, when you go to a warm place and stay in one spot, would be better.. But that is not the kind we like.
And sure, for some people, active travel, backpacking with children works (we saw some families like that), but those are not us. We need our peace and comfort more.

The flights?
The flight there was worse, it was around 11 pm, she was awake, having taken a nap before, but exhausted.. So the beginning wasn't so great. She was tired, but couldn't fall asleep, as they didn't turn the bright lights off until like 0:30 at night.. Once they did, she fell asleep and it was fine, all in all, she didn't cry for any longer periods..
The flight back was better, at 4 in the morning, she fell asleep in the Tula baby carrier, and was sleeping in it during all the flight.

We should have used the Tula carrier even more.. Towards the end we did more, and she liked it there better. Somehow in the beginning, in Tbilisi, we used the stroller, thinking she might not want to be in the carrier so long.. But perhaps she would have. So yes, a carrier - definitely the best choice.

It all wasn't so bad.. :) She was happy too.. And who knows, I hope she got some good experience from this.
But home.. home is the best.