Tyler always says that the first day of a trip is all about getting to the destination. Anything else is a bonus. The REAL first day begins the next day, hence Day Zero.

Our Day Zero involved flying from Vancouver to Frankfurt (nearly a ten hour flight) then driving an hour and a half to get to Wurzburg. A long day to begin with. An even longer day with a six month old. And an even longer day yet when you're travelling with three bikes, a stroller bag, three suitcases and two backpacks.

All in all, it was a pretty smooth day and Smith was a champ. He slept a total of three hours or so on the flight, but when he was awake he was all smiles and giggles.

The real challenge of the day was schlepping around our luggage. We had some comedic moments trying to wheel everything through the check-in snake lines, some small elevators, and narrow doorways, but we made it out, thanks to Ross, Britt, and a couple groups of chivalrous men who helped this tired looking, baby-wearing mama when I needed it and Tyler was sherpaing elsewhere.

Once in Wurzburg we had a few hours to kill before our Airbnb was ready so we explored the city after we did a few loops to find parking for our huge rental van. First impressions were really great - a great mix of old and new architecture, neat restaurants and cafes to explore and some historical sights to check out too. It'll be the perfect launch pad for our big adventure.

It's a long weekend in Germany, so there were lots of people out and about and the city square with the street food stands was bustling. We also navigated our first grocery store which wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it was going to be.

We checked into our Airbnb which is a cute, modern apartment right near all the action. It looks like a bomb went off, but it will be a great home for us for the next week and a half.

We had a quiet first evening which was mostly spent fighting to keep our eyes open. Jet lag with a baby is pretty fierce, but Smith did really well his first night. A few nighttime wakings, but we were all able to get a bit of shut eye.

And just like that, Tour de Smith is underway! We've got a great adventure ahead of us and we're so excited. I'm hoping to jot a little bit down everyday to document our travels, so stay tuned for more!