JOIE PACT PUSHCHAIR - A TRAVEL MUST HAVE

When I found out that we had been selected as Mark Warner Ambassadors this year, I knew that travel was on the cards, but more importantly, travel with a toddler. Patrick has just turned two and whilst he is fiercely independent, there wasn't a cat in hells chance I would be visiting another continent without a suitable pushchair for him to travel in. As much as I'm sure he'd protest that he doesn't need to sit in one. I researched long and hard on which pushchair would be best, we have a fair number of previous flights under our belt so I had pretty specific expectations in mind for what I wanted, after all if we were in Turkey and suddenly realised that the stroller wasn't working for us, there wouldn't be much we could do about it. You could say my standards were set a little too high, so I was wary nothing would match up.


Then arrived the Joie Pact. We'd never used a single product by Joie before so it was a novelty for me and a big step given I tend to stick with what we know and loved. Thankfully I did just that because the Pact couldn't have been more perfect for our trip away. The glowing reviews online really do speak volumes and I found them super helpful, so here's me adding mine to the catalogue.

The Joie Pact is a stylish pushchair, it's sleek and simple which is exactly what you need for travel, no frills but also no expense spared. It comes in a wide range of colourways, however we opted for the navy as we knew it would hide a multitude of sins from our messy pip, which it really did. The design is smart and works really well, we used every function during our holiday, the lie flat mode is a big selling point for me, so many travel pushchairs don't offer this and when you have a baby that you want to nap on the go - it's a complete must. Patrick slept daily in the Pact, for up to two hours at a time and oh boy did he sleep soundly, which can only be a testament to the comfort and security the pushchair offered him. It also offered me lashings of delight, because a napping toddler meant sun time for this mama! Win win.

Of course with our prime interest in the Pact being for travel, it had to fold well. With a simple flick of the handle and simultaneous push of a button, the pram would fold into one neat and compact package. It even had an inbuilt strap so you can whack it on your shoulder and carry it around should you wish. It made life really easy for us as we travelled, I like to take our pushchair to the gate and obviously that means various on and off of conveyor belts, through securities etc so the folding action was truly tested. Each time usually followed by a gasp from the airport worker on just how well and quickly it could be taken down. There wasn't a knack to it, or any practising to make perfect - it was easy and when you'd done it once, it was no trouble to do again.

Not an obvious feature but one that was important to us, was the sun canopy, it was another thing on the list that I found so many other travel pushchairs skimped out on. Given when we travel it's always to a warm climate, it was vital to me that Patrick had sufficient cover. It seems like Joie get this and the Pact offered nothing less in the way of the canopy than you would get on any ordinary pram, in the lie flat mode it covered a good 3/4 of his body from the direct sun, another reason why I think nap times were so successful. The pushchair itself was a breeze to get around with, it's incredibly light, moves and glides effortlessly and had an incredibly generous basket underneath. As you can see we made full use of that by piling it with absolute junk (constant over packer here)

The Joie Pact is now a staple in our lives, I kick myself that we didn't snap it up for previous holidays as I just know how much easier it would have made things for us. Better late than never ey? We already recommended it to other families whilst we were away and it's certainly a travel must have for us, anything that's going to make my child nap during the day, peacefully so we in turn can grab a slice of that peace - is a winner for me.

*We were given the Joie Pact in exchange for our review but all opinions are my honest opinions and I simply wont be leaving the country, without it!