Hello all. I'm getting ready for my first to be born this fall, and also thinking about starting to plan some travel for next year (we had to cancel a planned trip to Switzerland that was supposed to be this week due to pregnancy complications so I really want to put something else on the calendar). DH and I really enjoy travelling and don't want to stop just because we'll have a baby in tow. A few friends have said that the best time to travel with a baby is when they're still relatively non-mobile, so we're trying to plan something for next summer when baby girl will be 6-9 months old. We're generally not resort people, and like to explore a destination independently. That said, we recognize that a 70 mile hiking trip through Glacier NP or getting on a rickety ferry for a 3 hour ride out to an island somewhere is probably not ideal with a baby.
We're based on the east coast of the US (usually fly from Boston or Montreal) so either the West coast of North America or Europe are usually within about 6-8 hours flying, which seems like a reasonable limit with a little. We've thought about Ireland because MIL is first generation Irish, and would LOVE to come and explore/help with the baby. But I'm also not sure I want to have MIL tagging along on our first vacation as a family of three. Vancouver/PNW has also come up since we have friends out that way that we haven't seen in too long, and would offer some of the outdoor recreation that we love without putting us in the middle of nowhere.
Thoughts, tips? I'm open to almost any suggestions at this point. The one exception is that I prefer at least as warm as New England (sorry Iceland/Alaska fans, if I'm stuck here all winter with a tiny babe I don't want to lose part of my summer).