Latest pushchair, pram and buggy news

Two weeks ago the family and I escaped to Norfolk for a couple of nights with some friends and their 2 children.

If you have children, you may have experienced the following moment. My wife packs everything you need for a fortnight away, for a holiday of any duration, so the car was literally bulging at the seams when we finally put in the last bag. It was at this point Jo decided to tell me we also needed to  take the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle. Why tell me after I have crammed everything in? ‘Sorry’ came the answer (probably with winking smilie attached).

As I looked over at the now ‘huge’ off road pushchair all I could think about was trying to squeeze it into the already full car. I could sense the beginnings of an argument.

You know the one….

After 30 minutes of repacking, the pushchair had been re-classified by my subconscious as ‘simply massive’, however it was in the car and nothing was left behind…. Was it actually that big?

Sunday dawned, sunny, warm and perfect for a stroll on the beach so we set off to Wells in search of sun, sand and if the tide was in, sea.

In the back of my mind as I drove through the pretty town of Wells was that I would obviously meet my nemesis on this trip – I would push an off road pushchair. Don’t get me wrong I did not create Pushchair Trader without an understanding of great pushchair design and performance, I am just more of the Ferrari pushchair type – yes, in truth I secretly love the Recaro Babyzen. Off-road Pushchairs always seem to be pushed around by outdoorsy types that have a perfect life (permanently on holiday) with perfect kids (will sit in a restaurant and eat dinner quietly) neither of which I can say applies to me.

We arrived. Then as usual, argued about how many buckets and spades we had to carry (son number 1), how many stones we had to pick up in the car park and transport to the beach (son number 2) and who was pushing the pointless massive off road pushchair (wife). With that sorted, more buckets than people, 3 large pieces of flint and me pushing the Mountain Buggy, we set off.

As Clarkson says – I was about to have an epiphany….

As we got to the sand, something I was not expecting happened – we simply sailed across. The sticky mud alongside the creek was brushed aside and even sand dunes posed no problems. I turned back to look across at other mums and dads pushing ‘regular’ pushchairs or rather ranting at each other while lugging them across the aforementioned muddy creak.  My life was changing. Was I beginning to see the ‘light’?

The Mountain Buggy took everything we could throw at it that day. Sand, mud, salt water, tree stumps, rocks, stones and more. Harry (2 and awkward at the best of times) loved it. Plenty of space to recline and daddy could even whizz him over jumps!! And you know what, when we got back to the car took off the wheels and folded it up, it was not really that big!

I had been converted.

It has to be said, do not buy an off road pushchair if you have a small car, need to collapse it regularly during your journey or hate the outdoors. But if like me you are at that stage in your life when you drive an estate car which is full of your wife’s ‘stuff’ and feel the need to go to the beach more often, then I suggest you seriously consider it. If you like the outdoors, love walking and generally like getting away from the urban sprawl, an off road Pushchair such as the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle is a must have.

That night over dinner in the local, we discussed the merits of the Urban Jungle and my off road pushchair phobia. As the conversation moved on and the kids ate their dinner in silence, we planned an Easter break in Tunbridge Wells ;-).