Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Taking Small Children on Pilgrimage to Italy

And Probably a Little Bit More

This week’s newsletter is a doozy, so I am putting one quick PSA at the start of the newsletter, rather than at the end. Next week is Amazon Prime Day. I know the deals are awesome, and in previous years I have taken advantage of some myself. But, what’s also awesome is supporting small businesses and buying directly from them. Like, for example, me.

Typically, I let Amazon, my publisher, and other bookstores handle book sales for me. But for the next 10 days, as part of the Shop Small, Not Prime initiative, I am going to be selling my books directly to anyone who wants them. You can shop online here, and once all the orders are in, Chris and I will spend a few days shipping out signed copies of my books to everyone who ordered them.

Thank you in advance to everyone who places an order. I know there are cheaper and faster ways to get my books, but this is the way that helps my family the most significantly, so your willingness to pay a few dollars more and wait a bit longer for the book to arrive means a great deal to me. I really appreciate your business and you.

Now, for the newsletter.

Today, we’re going to talk about the family-friendly pilgrimage that Chris and I just led to Rome, Assisi, and Siena. You all had a ton of questions about the trip, and here, I’m going to try to answer as many as I can.

For all those who just want to know how the pilgrimage went, though, the short answer is that it was amazing. And beautiful. And grace-filled. And exhausting. But way more amazing, beautiful, and grace-filled than exhausting. There were absolutely moments where I thought I was crazy for bringing three small children to Rome. But there were way more moments where I was giving thanks for being the particular kind of crazy I am. It was so, so good to be there. It was so, so good to have my kids there with me. And it was so, so good to have gone in the company of dozens of other wonderful people and their beautiful children who joined us on Select International’s first-ever family friendly pilgrimage.

I have spent the past ten days since we returned thinking about why it was so good to have the children there. Because it certainly wasn’t easy. I never got to sit during Mass. I never got to linger over a meal. My personal prayer time was almost non-existent. But those sacrifices were small compared to what the children brought to the pilgrimage … and to the people we encountered along the way.

I’ll be writing more about this particular aspect of the pilgrimage in the next Subscriber Only newsletter. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to realize what made the pilgrimage with kids so good touches on so much more than travel. It illuminates the problems in how our culture views children and joy and life itself. That is way too much to include here, in a newsletter that is already long enough. So, if you’re curious to read those thoughts next week, I would love for you to upgrade your subscription and become a full subscriber.

In the meantime, in this Free-For-All newsletter, I’m answering your questions (sent to me via Instagram) about the more practical aspects of going to Italy, on pilgrimage, with small children. You had a lot of questions. And I’ve answered as many of them as I could. But if I missed something important and you are in dire need of an answer, just ask below and I’ll do my best to get you an answer. I hope this is helpful. And I hope, if we do this again, you come with us!

Now, for your questions.

Any tips for dealing with toddlers on the long flights? Handling jet lag?

This was one of the aspects of traveling to Europe with littles that I was the most worried about. But as it turns out, it was one of the easiest. In part, because our kids are so used to long car rides back to Illinois. They have spent their whole lives making frequent 10-hour trips in confined spaces with limited entertainment and food options, so the flight didn’t seem that much different to them.

It also helped that I took the advice of a friend who travels overseas frequently and brought two very important things with me: melatonin and FlyAway kids beds. Yes, the beds cost money. But, we plan to do this again, and I was willing to spend some money if it meant I had happy, well rested little ones when we landed in Rome. I knew if the kids were a wreck, I couldn’t be present to the pilgrims, and since it was my job to be present to the pilgrims, I needed to do everything I could to help my kids on the flight over. And it worked. It worked beautifully.

Our first flight was just a commuter flight from Pittsburgh to New York. It lasted about an hour and the kids were just so excited to be up in the air, that the flight was entertainment enough. Our next flight left JFK at 4:45 p.m.. As soon as we were on the plane and settled in our seats, I gave each of my kids 1 gram of melatonin (we used this brand). As soon as we reached cruising altitude, Chris and I blew up the FlyAway Beds (super easy, super fast), and gave the kids their special blankets and stuffed animals. All three were asleep before dinner was served and slept the entire flight, waking up just before the breakfast service. I slept most of the flight, too (Chris and I bought these pillows, and I think it helped me a ton). We landed at 7:30 a.m., dropped our luggage off at the hotel, and then spent the rest of the day walking around Rome. Becket and Ellie both napped for maybe an hour or two in their strollers, but that was it. The rest of us stayed up all day, had a late afternoon meal, headed back to the hotel, and all went to bed around 7. We slept 12-14 hours, and when everyone woke up, we were good to go.

Coming home was harder. It always is. On the first long flight, which left Rome at 12:30 p.m. and landed in Atlanta at 5:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Rome time), everyone watched movies on the airplane screens (we brought our own headphones, which we bought for the kids) and only Becket and Ellie napped. We also let the boys play Angry Birds on the airline screens. We don’t have tablets, and we have never let them play any kind of screen game before, but we made a survival mode exception for the flight, and it worked out well, keeping Toby awake hours past his bed time. On the next flight, which took off from Atlanta at 7:50 p.m. and landed at 9:50 p.m. (3;50 a.m. Rome time), everyone slept. Once we got home, everyone slept well too, and we have stuck to regular sleep schedules since then. Returns are always harder, though and  everyone was definitely more sluggish. It probably took five to seven days for all of us to feel fully ourselves, which was typical for me when I traveled sans kid as well.

I also was super worried about diaper changes, but we ended up just changing them right before flights and double diapering with nighttime pullups, so I never needed to navigate changing them on board.

So, overall, flights went great. All my worst fears were for naught. Per usual.

What stroller do you recommend? Are strollers feasible anywhere, especially if taking trains/buses, dealing with cobblestones?

I would say strollers are not only feasible, but absolutely necessary if you are taking toddlers or preschoolers to Rome in the summer. Carriers are great for babies, but they don’t work well with older little ones when you are walking all day long (especially in the heat), and even the best little walkers just can’t do 20,000 steps every single day at an adult pace.

What is not feasible are big American strollers and double strollers (or flimsy strollers). To navigate the crowds and the restaurants and the tightly packed cars, plus the trains and buses and all the churches without ramps (not to mention cobblestones), you need a small, narrow, super sturdy, super light stroller that collapses quickly and can be carried easily.

I researched the heck out of this a year ago, before we first announced the pilgrimage, and after our beloved Agio Z4 double stroller bit the dust in Montreal last summer, we purchased two Uppa Minu Travel Strollers based on that research. That was truly one of the best purchases of my adult life. Our Minus were the MVP of the trip. Two others moms bought them on my recommendation, and we all were singing their praises. I should probably do a whole post on this stroller. But seriously, it was fantastic. It is as narrow as an umbrella stroller, but with great suspension and big enough wheels to navigate cobblestones with ease. You only need one hand to collapse it and open it, and it has a shoulder strap that makes carrying it up and down steps, while also holding a child’s hand, super easy. It also collapses small enough to fit in the overhead bin of the plane, which is great both for travel and for restaurants. We could always tuck it neatly under our table, and not take up space other diners and waiters needed. Ellie rode in one the whole time, and Toby and Becket traded out as needed in the other, and I am just incredibly grateful some genius invented this stroller. If you are spending the money to take small children to Rome (or anywhere in Europe), do yourself a favor and spend a little more to take this stroller with you.

When changing tables were nowhere to be found, what did you and your group find helpful?

I don’t know if any of us ever saw or used a changing table. We just changed diapers wherever we needed to: sometimes in restrooms, but usually in corners of churches and chapels or parks. Mine are old enough that we do standing changes, but when they were little and we were traveling, I just slipped a changing pad underneath them in their stroller, and changed them there. You could do the same with a baby in Rome.

One big note of warning, however, about random street/seventeenth century chapel diaper changes: Rome has something against garbage cans. I don’t know what. I don’t know why. But finding a garbage can in Rome is dang near impossible. Which means disposing of dirty diapers is also dang near impossible. Knowing this, I brought a large supply of gallon-sized Ziplock bags to Rome with me and always kept a few in the packing cube which I used to hold diapers and wipes when we were out and about. After changing a toddler, I then just dropped dirty diapers in those bags, sealed them up to contain the smell, and carried the bag around in the bottom of the stroller until a trash can presented itself. This worked quite well.

What did the children really enjoy? What souvenirs?

Mostly the children just enjoyed the other children. They had an absolute blast with each other everywhere we went—playing Zombie tag on piazzas and staging battles on the steps of fifth century basilicas, drawing pictures in restaurants together, and toasting glasses at every meal. The kids just loved each other so much, and that was one of the greatest joys of the trip.

Besides that, my kids’ favorite things we saw were the Capuchin Bone Church and the relics of Jesus’ Passion at the Basilica of Santa Croce, as well as seeing Italian army officers all over Rome, and playing in the Italian parks we visited along the way.

As for souvenirs, each of the boys got a small wooden medieval weapon in Assisi (sword for Becker, dagger for Toby), and Ellie got a cute little caterpillar scarf in Siena. Then, in Rome, they all got baseball caps from street vendors.

Any Rome site seeing tips with kids? Ways to avoid lines?

When we were with the group, the opportunity to play with other kids continually kept the children happy and occupied regardless of lines and heat. When we were by ourselves, we did what has worked for us in the past and alternated activities for us (visits to churches) with activities for kids (stopping in parks, getting gelato, the Rome children’s museum, etc.). We also always rest them in the afternoon, after lunch, when we are on our own, and were able to build downtime into the pilgrimage schedule so we and the other parents could do that on this trip. That worked really well, allowing the pilgrims who wanted to rest the chance to do that, but allowing others who wanted to explore more on their own plenty of time to do that as well.

As for lines, most of the museums (and even the Colosseum) have timed tickets now, so that helps a bit with that. The lines for Saint Peter’s can get bad, but not if you go first thing in the morning. As long as you are there before 8, the lines aren’t bad at all. That’s the very best time anyhow, as the crowds get crazy after 9:30 when group tours start. Be prepared though: St. Peter’s does not allow strollers in the Basilica. This made our visit there quite a bit more stressful. (We all may have made some choice comments about the Church being soooo good at putting its own social teaching into practice). If you have a carrier (or a leash!), bring it with you when you go.

The lines for the other three major basilicas aren’t bad. You do have to go through security in those three, but it doesn’t take long.

If you have small children, I recommend avoiding the Vatican Museum (unless you want to spring for after hours tickets). It is incredibly crowded and you get moved through very quickly. It is so tough on littles.

They just started requiring tickets for the Pantheon, which was such a disappointment for us because the tickets made the lines too long to endure. So, if you plan on seeing that, make sure to be there very early in the morning.

A good neighborhood to stay in Rome?

Our favorite neighborhood is the Aventine Hill. It’s close to everything, but much more peaceful and quiet than the streets near the Vatican or Spanish Steps or even Trastevere. That’s where Chris and I used to stay on our trips before kids and where we found an AirB&B for the last four days we were there this time.

Did you rent car seats? How did you handle them?

Unless you are getting a rental car, you technically don’t have to worry about car seats. They aren’t required in buses, trains, or taxis in Europe. They also aren’t required on the airplane unless the child is under 2 and has their own seat. This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t bring them. Just that you don’t have to. Like most of the families on the trip with older toddlers and preschoolers, we chose not to bring car seats with us on the flight, but did rent them from the tour bus company that drove us all week. They were in the bus when it picked everyone up at the airport, the dads installed them, and then the seats stayed in our bus the whole time. The families with infants who brought car seats also just installed their seats on the bus and left them there until the pilgrimage was over. We never had to lug them around, which was great. It worked well and was low hassle for everyone.

Was finding bathrooms for kids ever a problem?

Not at all. Every café and restaurant has them, and all we had to do was point to a child, say “Bagno,” and they would let us take them to the bathroom. If you don’t want to do that, you alternately could just buy a coffee or order and then use the restroom. All of the major basilicas also have bathrooms that you can use, although you do have to pay to use the ones in Assisi at the Basilica of Saint Francis.

How did you handle group dining? Pick restaurants ahead of time? Decide on the fly?

All breakfasts and all but two of the dinners were in the hotel, in rooms reserved for our group, so that took that decision off our plates. One group lunch and one group dinner were in restaurants chosen by Select with a preset menu. That left two dinners and the remaining lunches for pilgrims to do what they wanted to do. We always made a point of breaking for lunch in places with lots of options for people to choose from, and people went off on their own or broke up into small groups for those. Only on the last night, which was a free night, did everyone decide they wanted to eat in the same place. There was a decent Italian chain restaurant with a large back room near the hotel, so we all just showed up there right at 7, when the restaurant opened and took over the back area. It worked well.

Besides pizza and pasta, what did your kids enjoy eating?

They loved the big breakfast buffets with lots of pastries, fruit, and yogurt. Ellie was a big fan of Prosciutto and Melon, and all three of my kids enjoyed carb loading on bread, pasta, and pizza. They also loved getting gelato and drinking “fizzy water” at every meal.

Food options for picky eaters?

Italy is about as picky eater friendly as you get. Between the fruit, bread, pizza, and pasta (which you can ask for with just oil or butter), most kids will find something they like. But most of the moms also brought a ton of snacks from home (our only checked suitcase was mostly snacks), and we handed them out with abandon. My kids alone went through two Costco sized bags of meat sticks on the trip, plus so many protein bars and fruit snacks I lost count. If your child is insanely picky, just make sure to bring lots of snacks and not worry too much about them getting a perfectly balanced diet for a week.

How was it for those with food allergies?

Italy has become insanely good about allergies. A little too good actually. I had to argue with the waitresses at the hotel every night that just because I have a peanut allergy does not mean I can’t eat pinenuts. But truly, we had quite a few people with allergies and we all navigated it fine. Many restaurants have little images for what foods contain allergens, there are lots of gluten free options for those with Celiac disease, and all the hotels we stayed in were very attentive to dietary issues.

How did you manage eating at restaurants regularly with three littles?

This was the toughest part of the whole trip for us. We have intentionally chosen to eat out with the kids 1-2 times a month for years, in order to help them learn how to handle restaurants well, but ever since Ellie turned 3, it’s been a lot more difficult. She and Becket just feed off each other, and the chaos multiplies. In hindsight, I should have brought more activities for restaurants (Water Wow pads, sketchbooks, colored pencils, etc.), but I did not. You live, you learn. Things did improve, though, when I started requesting highchairs for Ellie (every restaurant had them), which at least kept her contained. We also would ask for their food or bread to be brought right away, and we never lingered too long afterwards; we always knew we were on the clock. Occasionally, Chris or I would take the biggest troublemaker out for a walk. The best meals were those with other families. The kids were very good at entertaining each other and somehow we noticed the crazy less when everyone else was dealing with it. We also had some awesome pilgrims (like Erin who let Ellie give her a manicure with an orange marker and Nadia who took Ellie outside to play during the farewell dinner!), who made eating out with them easier.

Tips for the sleeping situation with multiple littles while traveling.

Bring melatonin. Dinners are late and my kids are all extroverts who get energized by others. After a late, fun dinner, which would end with my kids running around with their friends, they would come back to the room simply buzzing with energy. That combined with the time change made it challenging for them to fall sleep right away the first week. The melatonin, combined with letting them watch 20 minutes of Italian cartoons, helped a lot. (Note: We do not give our kids melatonin at home, but it was a doctor-endorsed God send in Europe).

When our kids were little, we used to always travel with our sound machine. That familiar sound can help. We no longer need it, but we did bring their favorite blankets and stuffed animals. Between that and the melatonin, our kids did great. But, my three also all sleep together in the same room at home, and are used to sleeping in hotels, AirB&Bs, and new places because of how frequently we travel to see my family in Illinois. If you don’t travel often or your kids aren’t used to sharing sleeping spaces, maybe do a couple trial run hotel stays or sleepovers in Mom and Dad’s bedroom to get them a bit more used to it.

How did you navigate nap schedules?

Toby and Becket no longer nap and Ellie is in the midst of dropping her nap, so this wasn’t a huge concern for us. As it turned out, Becket and Ellie both ended up napping for 45 minutes to an hour every day—either in the stroller or on the bus, depending on what we were doing. Most of the other babies and toddlers did the same. Someone was always sleeping in a stroller or carrier. If you were traveling solo, you could obviously arrange your day around your child’s nap schedule, but with a group, you just need to be flexible and know that nothing will be quite like it is at home. There will be some tough moments, but it is amazing how much the presence of other children helps energize little ones and moderate the types of breakdowns you might get at home when naps don’t happen like they normally do.

Did your hotel provide beds for children/pack n plays?

The hotels provided cribs on request. Select was good about choosing hotels that could provide that option.

How did you handle Italy’s requirements that limit the number of people in hotel rooms to just three people, including children?

It ended up not being a big issue for us. Select intentionally chose hotels that could accommodate families and the hotels were good about providing our group either with family rooms (rooms that adjoined) or rooms that were next to each other, so each family just did what worked best for them in that context. My family had adjoining rooms in both cities, so the kids just slept in one room and Chris and I slept in the other, with the door open between us, just like at home. I brought a toddler air bed in the checked luggage, just to be on the safe side, but we only ended up needing it at the AirB&B. I will definitely bring it with us next time, though, just in case, as it was very easy to pack, inflate, and travel with.

How did you manage laundry?

I bought this Scrubba Bag and this portable drying rack, along with some travel sized detergent, and washed laundry in the sink. I also brought about 200 Shout Wipes for on the go spot removal. That seemed excessive, but we ran out by the last couple days, and I had to use by back up Tide Pen. You can truly never bring enough Shout Wipes when traveling with small children.

How was the travel backpack/stroller situation? Did you wish you brought more?

It was awesome. For those who missed my Insta stories before we left, Chris and I brought all our clothes in one backpack (5 outfits each), had the kids carry their FlyAway beds and clothes for Assisi in their backpacks (three outfits each), and packed an additional three outfits for each of the kids, plus snacks (and the airbed) in a backpack we checked. Along with the five backpacks that we carried on, we also brought diapers in one bag that counted as a personal item and snacks and books in another bag/personal item. Because we were pushing strollers, we couldn’t bring rolling luggage, so everything had to fit on our backs or in the bottom of the stroller. It all worked really well, and we didn’t need one more thing.  

What luggage did you use?

Several months ago, we bought a Tortuga Travel Lite Backpack, plus one of their compression packing cubes and three regular packing cubes. That was the suitcase we used for my clothes and Chris’ clothes, and I was really impressed with both how much the bag held and how well the compression cube worked. I fit five long dresses in it, which I was not expecting I could do. Our checked backpack was this one from Mountain Warehouse. Chris owned a similar one for over a decade. It was very inexpensive, but held up well on the trip. I have an old Lily Jade diaper bag that I used for my personal item, and we got a cheap roomy bag from TJ Maxx for diapers, which was our other personal item. Each of the kids carried one of these backpacks from Land’s End.

How did you stay within your budget?

One of the nice things about group pilgrimages is that the price is set (and paid for) well in advance, and almost everything is included in that price. Given the big change in moury family’s finances this past May, knowing the bulk of expenses were already covered took a lot of the stress out of the trip. What wasn’t included were tips, most days’ lunches, two dinners, and personal spending (like souveniers or gelato). One way we navigated that on a very tight budget was by keeping lunches simple: Chris and I always just ordered one dish each (salads on most days) and the kids always split one adult meal (the restaurants were great about doing that). We did treat the kids to gelato a few times, though, and we had a small budget for souvenirs for the kids ($30 each). Chris and I didn’t buy anything for ourselves. During the last four days, when we were on our own, we stayed at an AirB&B, which we had paid for in advance (prior to Beautycounter’s shut down). We went grocery shopping on our first afternoon alone, so I could cook what we needed for breakfast and dinner, and then we just ate lunch out for the rest of the time until we returned home. The only area where we went a bit over budget were in the tips we gave at the end of the tour to our guide and bus driver. They were both so fantastic with the kids and so patient with us, so we wanted to give them as much as we could afford. They deserved it!

How to maintain a travel pace with toddlers used to a slow pace at home?

I think you just have to play it by ear and make the best call for your family each day. One of the things we emphasized to all of the pilgrims was that if they wanted to skip some part of the day’s planned activities, head back to the hotel early, or do dinner on their own, they absolutely should (they just needed to let us know). We wanted people to feel free to bow out of something if they or their little one needed a rest. It was important to me to give people that freedom because I know you can’t predict how any child is going to be doing from one day to the next.

I think it’s also important to hold each day’s plans loosely. On the first day, Rachel (who came on the pilgrimage with her husband and four children ages 13 to 1) told me that her attitude was, “We’ll be happy to see whatever we see and trust that if we’re not able to see something, that’s God’s will.” I loved that. You can’t change little ones. Kids are going to be kids. What you can change are your expectations. Approaching travel with children with a spirit of detachment and surrender will help you moderate your expectations for each day and respond to your child’s needs as the day goes on.

Lastly, I would recommend doing some warm up trips before heading off to Italy with small children. Go on a walking pilgrimage around your city or a nearby city, visiting churches along the way. Take some smaller trips and visit museums or historical sites. Just do little things to acclimate your kids to travel and new experiences, so that the big trip doesn’t feel quite so foreign to them. We travel a lot with our kids and walk a lot with our kids and visit churches and museums a lot with our kids, so while Rome was definitely the biggest trip we have done, it wasn’t the first by any stretch. That helped both them and us.

What time did your day start (kids’ wake up time) and end (kids’ bed time)?

It depended on the day. Most days, the kids got up between 7 and 7:30, we went down and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then left the hotel between 8:15 and 8:30. We had a couple of early mornings, though, on Vatican days, and had to be on the bus by 7:15. On those days, we let the kids sleep until 7, threw some clothes on them, and just fed them breakfast bars on the bus. At night, we were in our room most nights by 8:45 or 9 p.m., and the kids were asleep soon after. We had a couple later evenings, though, where the kids didn’t get to sleep until 10. It was definitely a different schedule for us then at home, but the kids napped on the bus or in strollers and rolled with it really well.

Were there families with infants?

The youngest baby on the tour had just turned one. We had four one-year-olds, two two-year-olds, three three-year-olds, one four-year-old, and two five year-olds, plus three teens/pre-teens. (Also a few babies in utero traveled with us!).

Next pilgrimage location?

Right now, we hope to do Rome and Assisi again in 2026, once the Jubilee is over (because no way am I taking a bunch of families to Rome in the middle of the Jubilee; the crowds will be unbearable). This trip was awesome, but it was our first, and I have some changes I want to make to the itinerary that I think will make it even better for the families and more memorable for all the other pilgrims.

I would also love to do family pilgrimages to other cities in Italy, as well as Montreal and Quebec, Ireland, England, and Poland, but we shall see.

Any pickpockets? How was safety?

No pickpockets. Safety was great. We did lose Chris’ wallet on day five (no, never got it back), but that was our fault, not anyone else’s.

How was it bringing a family with you versus going in your single years?

Less peaceful and reflective. More fun. Also, more of a workout (pushing strollers up those hills in Assisi is no joke!). Also, I discovered a whole world of Italian parks that I did not know existed

!

What was an unexpected grace of the pilgrimage?

I wasn’t prepared for how moved I would be to get to pray before Blessed Carlos’ Acutis’ tomb. We had some special prayer requests for which we asked his intercession, and that was a really graced time.

What were you expecting would be the hardest aspect of the trip and was it accurate?

I had so many fears—about the kids not sleeping, about the kids losing it on the plane, about other pilgrims being annoyed with the kids or the slower pace—and none of those fears came to be. The kids were kids, but they really were such troopers. And we could not have asked for a more joyful, more flexible, more peaceful group of pilgrims. The running joke with all the people who didn’t bring kids was that they never want to do a pilgrimage again where there isn’t a built-in nap time every day.

Do you think it’s better to travel with a group or on your own and get an AirB&B

I think both have their advantages and disadvantages. When you travel on your own you can control the pace and schedule more, which can be nice. You have a lot more freedom. When you travel with a group (and by group I mean one that is specifically designed to be family friendly like ours was), a lot of the planning is taken off your plate and you don’t have to worry about figuring out where your family will stay and eat and what you will do each day and how you will get there, which can also be nice. It frees you up to focus on the experience and not worry so much about the details.

The biggest advantage of going with a group that includes other families (and people happy to travel with families) is that you have a lot more help. And for me, that was huge. Being at Mass with little kids, eating out with little kids, standing in line with little kids, moving strollers up and down steps, pushing strollers up hill (the priests and those who came without kids were always offering to give us pushing breaks)— all of that was easier because of the other pilgrims and their kids. Plus, if you ran out of wipes or pullups or snacks, someone else always hand some on hand. That was just great.

I also know my kids enjoyed the trip 10 times more because of the other children. It made the whole trip more fun for them, which in turn made it more fun for us. Walking around Rome and waiting in line and sitting in restaurants became just another opportunity to play with their friends. They complained sooooooo much less because of the presence of other kids. I mean, really, they barely complained at all.

We spent 10 days with the pilgrims and four days without them, and while it was nice to be on our own schedule, it was also kind of boring. We all missed our friends and the joy of experiencing Rome with people who shared our faith and our desire to be saints. The people we traveled with added a richness and joy to the trip that was irreplaceable, and I really hope to see them again someday. Every one of them has a standing invitation to stay at Visitation House, and I hope they take me up on it.

So, yes, in the balance, if you have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage that is designed for families and it’s in your means to do so, I definitely think it’s the way to go, especially with littles.

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