Preparing for Mongolia

Our trip is less than a week away. After much indecision, we decided to take our little boy. Now, traveling to Mongolia for a two-week field excursion in the bush is one thing, doing so with an 18-month-old adds a level of anxiety that only a parent can appreciate. Allow me to list a few fears. Tetanus, hepatitis A, gut-bombing bacteria, the bubonic plague, drunk drivers, Russian jeeps, plane crashes, hypothermia, and marmots. Ok, I’m not sure about the marmots. This one here looks harmless enough, but can I ever really get a “sense of its soul”? We decided to take him with us not because it will be a formative experience for him, but for us as parents. We don’t want our fears to fundamentally change our approach to life, with or without children, although we recognize that a certain level of precaution is necessary when traveling with young ones. Since this is a research trip, we have the luxury of being able to ship much of our gear ahead of time. Food is a big concern since most adults we know that have visited to Mongolia have gotten sick at some point; for a toddler, a bad case of diarrhea can be quite dangerous. We’ll be heading out into the field with two jeeps with decent storage space. Here’s what we packed for our beloved Augú:

Food

• 20 thin packs of cooked wild salmon
• cans of fruit, corn, string beans, peas, salmon (he likes salmon)
• almond butter
• raisins
• nutella
• oatmeal
• rice cereal
• lentils
• pasta (barilla plus)
• organic fruit rollups

Gear

• waterproof breathable jacket with hood
• long underwear
• fleece pants
• huge sun hat
• closed-toe shoes
• sandals
• car seat
• baby carrier
• bug net
• About 100 diapers and two packs of wipes
• Probiotics
• Pedialyte (we tried to ship it DHL with the rest of our food, but were told that customs would reject any package that had containers full of liquid, so we’re packing it in with our check-in luggage) I’ve also written down the recipe for d-i-y oral rehydration solution
• sunshirt
• sun overalls
• wool socks
• wellies
• muddy buddy
• firstaid kit
• organic bug spray and afterbite lotion
• sunscreen
• disinfectant for hands
• emergency contact information
• Hep A shot
• vitamins
• wool sweater and pants
• toys
• crayons
• paper

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