Traveling with Kids: The Many Uses of a Ceo Scarf

When Oscha photographer, Leigh, went travelling with her family last year she popped by to choose a Ceo scarf to take with her on their adventure. We never imagined all the ingenious uses she would come up with for our lightweight, jacquard woven scarves!

We are so pleased that she agreed to write a piece for us about her trip, read on to find out more about her family's adventures in Southeast Asia.

Last year we had an adventure. My husband and I and our two kids, Ben and Chloe, filled a couple of rucksacks to the brim and went backpacking through Southeast Asia and Nepal. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not a light packer. Yet I was going to be carrying not only everything I would need for several months at a time but also everything Chloe would need. Packing light was a must. To say that the contents of my bag were honed to perfection would be an understatement. Nothing made the cut that wasn't going to be lightweight and versatile. And that, my friends, is where my Ceo scarf comes in.

Lightweight? For sure. Versatile? You betcha! And it looked great. Call me vain but I'll be honest, the latter wasn't just an added bonus. No matter how perfect an item was on a practicality scale, if it didn't also look good, it wasn't making the cut.

Now I know Ceo scarves are thin, they look delicate like you should be gentle with them. I can't speak for all blends, but I can tell you that my 100% cotton Ceo was not treated gently in the least. It stood up to everything that five months of backpacking could throw at it and it still looks as good as the day I bought it. So what did we get up to together? Let's find out…

We started off in Thailand and the main reason I brought my Ceo along was to have something lightweight to keep in my bag at all times should I need to cover my shoulders while visiting temples. While it did get used for this, I quickly found it way more useful than I had expected. It rained often in Southeast Asia and my scarf was requested more than once by my kids to cover them in a sudden downpour, keeping them from getting chilled.

Speaking of rain, it came in handy to wipe off the seats of our mopeds after heavy downpours. No one wants a wet bum. At the other end of the weather spectrum, those black leather moped seats get pretty darn hot sitting in the midday sun. Scorching leather against bare skin isn't too comfy, so my Ceo was an ideal solution, laying over the seat to protect us.

We travelled a lot on mopeds, or in open-backed trucks and tuk-tuks. While the air was generally hot and humid, work up some speed on a motor and things would start feeling a wee bit chilly. Having a scarf on hand to wrap around myself or one of the kids for a bit of warmth was really handy.

Believe it or not, but a Ceo can be a really great travel towel. Between the four of us the only things we took with us for drying off were a thin linen towel and my Ceo scarf. The linen towel got the most use but my Ceo was a handy second option, especially when we'd stop at hot springs or we all went swimming together and the four of us were all wet at once. It'll absorb a decent amount of water and it dried out really quickly because it's so thin.

Need an impromptu bag? Make one out of a Ceò scarf! We visited the “sticky waterfalls near Chiang Mai one day. At one point while walking up the waterfalls it was clear I was going to need to use both my hands to climb. Because I couldn't hold my camera up away from the water, I needed a way to protect my camera and some other items I was carrying from the spray. I grabbed my Ceò and twisted it into a pouched bag that I stuffed my son's poncho and my camera into. It was perfect!

Some of you may wonder if Ceo scarves can be used as carriers. Now, I can't speak for all blends, and obviously do so at your own risk because they haven't been tested for such use like the slings have, but my Ceo definitely saw some babywearing (or should I say school-child-wearing) with my 5-year-old. There were times it was necessary, like when Ben hadn't slept well the night before and he'd walked up a couple hundred steps in 30C+ degree weather and he just wasn't that interested in seeing another Buddhist temple. He was over it. Times like that were when being able to put him up on my back for twenty minutes gave him a rest and prevented a total meltdown, from both of us.

In Nepal, I also used my Ceo as a traditional sling carry with a slipknot for front carries. Sometimes Ben just needed a bit of extra comfort and cuddling and he enjoyed when I'd carry him. I enjoyed it too. I have to say I was surprised at how comfortable it was to carry his weight. I probably only carried him for 15-20 minutes at a time but it didn't give me any aches or pains at all.

There were many other small uses I found for my scarf folded up and placed behind my lower back to offer support during ten-hour long bus rides on bad roads. A pillow on a hard bench when I was just so tired I had to rest for a bit.

Wrapped around pillows that seemed of questionable cleanliness, wrapped around my camera in my bag because I lost my lens cap a few days into our trip, wrapped around shoulders against the icy blast of Thai air conditioning, wrapped around my daughter so she could carry her toy around with her all day.

So many uses for one little scarf. I love its lightness and versatility. I love how pretty it is and how it is way tougher than it looks. After everything we've been through together, I can confidently say that a Ceo scarf makes a wonderful travel companion – abroad or at home.

Leigh traveled with Raja à Sealladh, shop for your next Ceo scarf here.