The SI 2020 Shoot - Travel — Message from a Model

So, now that I made the decision to do the photo shoot for year 7 SI SWIM, I am mentally psyched and ready to travel. Start with packing. Packing when you travel alone is hard enough because I never know what I will need so I tend to overpack. Now I had to anticipate what I needed for a 4-month old infant. Diapers and sun protection products, for sure. Have you ever tried to pack a breast pump into an already full suitcase?

The shoot is in Scrub Island, British Virgin Islands. To get to the tiny island from New York, you take two flights, two boat rides and a car ride. I was super excited, but I was feeling a lot of anxiety about the flight. I think it was because this is my first time traveling alone with George. I was worried about everything. I knew that the travel day was going to be very long day. I was total responsible for his care, so I was anticipating all of this and praying I could handle it. The time came to leave the house, I kissed my man goodbye and left for the airport. Once again, I had the feeling of liberation and empowerment as I did when I made the decision to do the shoot. I could do this. I felt super proud and excited and secretly, very, very nervous.

The flight and subsequent travel turned out to be normal. I felt like all this anxiety and anticipation was wasted energy because nothing out of the ordinary happened. My Mom always said that “if you prepare for everything, things will be ok because you have a plan and are prepared”. I think that was supposed to lessen my anxiety, but it really didn’t. George was perfectly fine. He basically ate and slept. I made sure that he would need to nurse during takeoff and landings because I did not want him to have an issue with his ears ‘popping’. I have heard other babies cry when their ears are in pain. The first boat was a ferry which was going to take about an hour. George was also ok, no motion sickness. Once again, he just slept in his Doona car seat stroller which I highly recommend getting to all new Mom’s! It’s a car seat that doubles as a stroller for traveling. On the boat I just put the car seat in the seat and he was secure over the rough waters and was able to relax. From the boat we traveled in a car to the next ferry and then finally to Scrub Island. We arrived at night one day early to allow the baby to adjust to the warm weather and rest after the long day of travel.

As always, the swimsuit fittings are the night before the day of the shoot. I was excited for everyone to meet George. I hadn’t realized that the SI team was just as excited to meet George. A crazy feeling for me, very different from Year 1 at age 22 when it was just me and I was nervous because modeling was new to me. In Year 7, I was very comfortable with the SI ‘family’ as we had worked together so many other times. Now I am a Mom! It was super emotional for me, being able to share my story to the world and being able to see my son at work with me.

The fitting was my first time publicly in a bikini since birth (not counting the pics in my bathroom), I wasn’t nervous I was proud. The swimsuits fit differently, and my stomach looked different too. It was not flat, and I did not have the same muscle control. The SI team was patient while I breastfeed in between fittings - being a new Mom you must be flexible, and your baby comes first. Whatever comes up you adapt and change plans.

On the set of the shoot there a few interesting developments, like leaking boobs. Let’s save this for the next blog.