Originally sent to my email list on 4/2/2026.
Subject line: “Stroller, carrier… or both when flying with kids?”
Every time we fly with little kids, we have to decide: stroller, carrier… or both?
For the longest time, we avoided bringing strollers on flights whenever possible.
Road trips?
Different story.
We brought our double stroller.
But dragging a double stroller through airports and across countries?
No thanks.
Too bulky.
Not compact.
Honestly… it just seemed like a hassle 😅
So whenever we flew, we defaulted to carriers instead of strollers (for 2 adults + 2 little kids).
Our travel setup kept evolving
Over the years, our system looked like this:
- baby carrier (when we had one baby)
- toddler carrier
- baby carrier + toddler carrier (after our second baby)
- two toddler carriers
When we went to Vietnam with our 1.5-year-old and almost-4-year-old, we brought two carriers for the entire month.
And honestly?
It worked great.
Carriers are hands-free, which meant we could:
- manage luggage
- handle passports and boarding passes
- check Google Maps
- carry snacks and drinks
Airports, trains, walking around cities… it just made things easier.
And when we didn’t want to walk, taxis and rideshare cars were very affordable in Vietnam.
But Japan was different 🇯🇵
Bryan was running the Tokyo Marathon.
Which meant there were times that he’d be running, and I’d be handling both kids on my own.
That’s when I started thinking: maybe it’s not stroller or carrier… maybe it’s both.
A double stroller would’ve been way too heavy to carry up subway stairs and and too big for crowded trains and small elevators.
But a single stroller + a carrier?
That started to make more sense, especially since Huntington (2) was still light enough to carry.
We had been to Japan 10 years earlier.
Back then, we remembered:
- long train station corridors
- lots of stairs
- tons of walking
Elevators? Didn’t even notice them.
Because we didn’t need them.
But this time… we did.
After reading blog posts and watching way too many YouTube videos 😅, I landed on a lightweight travel stroller from Mamazing.
Choosing your own hard
Here’s what I’ve learned traveling with kids:
There’s no perfect setup.
- Carrying kids for hours is hard
- Pushing a stroller through crowds is hard
- Detouring for elevators is hard
You just choose your own hard.
For us in Japan, the stroller ended up being the easier hard.
Why it actually worked for us
By day 2 in Tokyo, I noticed something:
I wasn’t stressed navigating with kids anymore.
I could:
- fold the stroller quickly when there was no elevator in sight (one-handed fold was huge)
- carry it up the stairs without it feeling like a whole workout (it’s light!)
- fold it down small enough to carry onto crowded trains and in the overhead bin of a budget airline
- push it one-handed while checking directions or translations on my phone
- recline it for naps during long days
- let one kid relax or nap while the other walked or hopped in the carrier
It just made everything easier.
If you’re deciding between stroller, carrier, or both…
It really depends on your trip, your destination, and your kids.
👉 This is the stroller that made getting around Japan way easier for us
(picture at the top)
Adventure Awaits,
Jennifer Pham
Diapers To Destinations
(another mom trying to choose the easier hard… and still second-guessing it)
P.S. Are you team carrier, stroller, or both when you travel with little kids? 👀 Reply and let me know. I’m always curious what actually works for other parents.
If you want to be one of the first to receive email updates like this, join my email list:
