I will also be bringing the monkey backpack (leash for lack of better terms) for my 18 month old because he will want to walk around, but boy they are so fast. I don't care if I get strange looks for harnessing my child!
I totally agree with this, and I don't care if people judge me either! When my DS (now 5) was around that age, we had the monkey backpack and harness. I only had to use it twice, but both times it turned what would have been an extremely stressful outing into something that was fun for all of us. He was so little that he could zip around other people's legs while I was still trying to catch up, and with the harness he still felt like a "big boy" that could walk but I had peace of mind. Loved it (and ashamed to say, I actuall questioned myself for about two seconds whether I could get away with using it on him this trip - then did decide that was a bit of overkill!
