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Taking a newborn to Tokyo
Kirstie Sequitin is co-founder of 5B, a book publisher based in Glasgow that works with under-known and emerging artists, and has a now 2-year-old, Ruby.
SOUVENIR: I am excited to talk to you because you have been travelling for work with your daughter Ruby since she was a couple of months old, and you make it look so easy! You and your partner Ben run a business together and I’m guessing you have no other choice but to continue to go to book fairs internationally and so Ruby kind of has to fit in. Before she was born how had you prepared for work-travel with a baby?
KIRSTIE: I really had no idea like what was going to change about our lives before we had her. You know that it will change, but I remember feeling determined to keep going the way that I was before, no matter how much of a toll that would take on me because I just wanted to still feel like me.
SOUVENIR: Particularly as a creative, I think your work can define you so much and you feel like you want to continue to be outputting to retain your value somehow.
KIRSTIE: Yes, definitely. You don’t want to say no to things just because you have a baby so you decide to make it work. With regard to travelling we didn’t make a particular plan before she was born, and after she was born I figured she's tiny - how hard can it really be? I knew I didn't want to be sitting at home regretting not saying yes to things so we just figured it out as we went.
SOUVENIR: I think so many people can relate to that especially self-employed people that don't necessarily have the luxury of long maternity leaves. How old was Ruby when you took her on your first international book fair trip?
KIRSTIE: Her first trip was to Berlin to meet a printer when she was two or three months old. We went to Berlin again for a book fair and a couple of other European work trips after that, and then came with us to Tokyo for a book fair just after she turned one.
SOUVENIR: Were you buoyed up by the success of your European trips when you planned your first long-haul trip with her?
KIRSTIE: Every trip has prioritised nap times, so that she would be as calm and comfortable as possible. So doing a long-haul to Tokyo, especially having to transfer from Glasgow to London first, was hard. Thankfully Ruby's a relatively easy traveller and I was breastfeeding so I could easily settle her. Being off-schedule and the jet-lag was difficult but we consciously took the approach that we would try and take things in our stride and remain calm. We found people are always more gracious than you would expect them to be when you've got a baby as well.
SOUVENIR: Japan is a great place to be for a first long-haul trip. People are so helpful and love kids.
KIRSTIE: Definitely. You have travelled to Japan a bit, right? Were you breastfeeding your children?
SOUVENIR: No, not when we went to Japan.
KIRSTIE: The reason I bring that up was because I tried to read up on breastfeeding etiquette in Japan and I'd read that it was generally fine. So one day I was in a Uniqlo and I really needed to feed her and was - very politely - reprimanded for doing so. They didn’t throw us out the shop, but the staff made it clear it would preferable if I didn’t do that here.
SOUVENIR: So, it’s ok to breastfeed in public but you just need to be covered?
KIRSTIE: Exactly, they want you to be covered up and ideally like not in the middle of a store. They asked me to sit in the changing room but they were not like, "You need to leave this store." You just need to be conservative.
SOUVENIR: How many trips have you done in total now that Ruby must be two?
KIRSTIE: A lot. We've travelled throughout Europe quite a bit, been to New York twice, Paris three times, maybe more. Down to London several times. Plus Tokyo.
SOUVENIR: Have you found that it’s helped Ruby be more adaptable?
KIRSTIE: Definitely. Going back to what I was saying earlier, when you're a first-time parent you're quite scared to get out of the routine anyway, scared to inconvenience the baby, right? So because the circumstances of travelling meant that we did have to be more flexible with her routine so early on, she is now a very chill baby when it comes to getting around. She's still not a great sleeper without help, but she doesn't get travel sick and she’s fine with us changing her environment a lot and at short notice.
SOUVENIR: You were traveling so early into your first experience of motherhood. How did it affect your confidence as a parent in terms of meeting her feeding and sleeping needs without a strict routine?
KIRSTIE: At first the hormones meant I got stressed if I could see that she was really needing a nap or a feed so I would drop everything to help her. But at some point you realise that she’ll be ok if she skips a nap or waits a little longer for a feed. She’s a person like everyone else. Sometimes things go right and sometimes things go wrong and we all just have to move along.
SOUVENIR: Absolutely. I didn't have a great start with my my eldest and the routine was my only way to feel in control so I followed it to the minute and spun out if I couldn’t. I clearly remember the very first time where for some reason she missed a nap and nothing “terrible” happened!
KIRSTIE: Once you realise that you're like, "We're free! We can just do things now!"
SOUVENIR: What did you bring back from Japan?
KIRSTIE: We were total dweebs and spent lots of time in places like Daiso and Don Quixote! Or vintage/second hand clothes shopping. My big souvenirs were a Comme des Garçons top I wear all the time and a lovely Pleats Please dress! I think both from Ragtag. We also bought loads of pens and miscellaneous stationery from Loft in Shibuya - naturally.
Thanks Kirstie!
