Great advice Peanutter!

I went back to work when DS2 was 5 months old and managed to pump / nurse him until 13 months (with a bit of supplemental formula towards the end).

I also travelled for work, interstate on planes. I bought myself a soft pack esky and numerous small icepacks. I called hotels in advance and made sure I had access to a fridge (and possibly a freezer) in my room. The places where I worked while travelling almost always had a fridge and freezer and I notified them in advance that I was pumping. I almost always went to hospitals for work (as is the nature of my job) so I could visit the post-natal ward lactation room and pump there but most of the time the people I was visiting were most accommodating.

Transporting milk home was interesting. there were times I was transporting over 2 Litres of milk and during the height of summer too. I never ever checked in my milk with my bag, I kept it with me as carry on. The first time I went on a flight with milk to take home I spoke to the check in person who assured me that I would have no problem bringing my milk on the cabin. I was worried about the changing pressure on the milk bags. As long as ALL of the air was out of the bag, there was no issue. I also packed any airspaces in my soft esky with paper towels and froze as much milk as possible. The furthest I ever travelled was from Perth to Sydney with frozen milk. The enter trip door to door was 8 hours and my frozen milk essentially stayed frozen which was great.

I used the medela freestyle double pump. An amazing pump, money well spent if you are serious about pumping when returning to work. Its really compact, comes with a great carry bag, extra storage bottles, ice brick, bra straps for hands free pumping.

So, travelling and pumping can be done. you have to be SUPER organised but it is do-able!