Should you travel alone when you have kids?

You're a mom now, but does that mean you can't travel alone?

I had always opposed the idea of travel alone without my children, but doing so requires a ton of planning and a whole lot more money (especially if you have four kids!). There's a lot of patience required to book a massive trip that I didn't have; I needed to get away NOW!

I booked a ticket for myself to London, England. This adventure for me was solo, but when I say "travel alone" I don't necessarily mean doing it without a companion- I do mean doing it without your children!

My 11 days touring through England taught my family and I a lot of lessons and we all benefited massively from it.

Should you travel alone as a Mom?

Here are the reasons why you most definitely should:

You need time to recharge

Remember how INCREDIBLY HARD AND EXHAUSTING MOTHERHOOD IS? You need time to recharge and refill your soul. If you think that travel alone will do that then you 100% should do it.

Never forget that you're still you alongside being a Mom.

Your partner gets to spend quality time with your children

And by "quality time with your children" I mean they get a taste of what your life is like. Of course, they also actually get to spend quality time with your children which is obviously very important, too.

You'll inspire your children

When you return from your adventures of travel alone you'll be able to tell them countless stories of the things you experienced. If watching you doesn't inspire them to want to travel the world themselves they'll at least understand and appreciate the need to do things for yourself.

You'll push yourself out of your comfort zone

Things that made me uncomfortable:

1. Flying

2. Leaving my children

3. Sleeping away from home

4. Using public transit

5. Initiating conversation with strangers

6. Going out after dark

7. Leaving my happy comfort zone

During my 11 days in England I:

1. Flew on my first international flight without hyperventilating👌

2. Left my girls for a longer than 3 day stretch (my past record)

3. Slept at good hostels, slept at dodgy hostels, stayed with family, and had a hotel room. Each one was made my home for however long I was there for.

4. I chuga-chuga-choo-choo'd, double deckered, and Minded The Gap. I didn't get lost, not even once.

5. From late night chats with fellow travellers to pub crawls with locals I talked to all the people. In doing so I met folks who I will be forever grateful that I encountered.

6. Realizing that I was missing out on a great deal of exploration time by staying in when the sun went down forced me to hold my head high and confidently walk the streets at night. I saw great things in an entirely new perspective.

7. I went so far out of my comfort zone that I nearly forgot it's existence. I listened to my intuition and my anxiety and differentiated between the two in order to make decisions. My boundary zone grew 3 sizes that trip.

I understand that travel alone without the kids is a big leap, and believe me, it took me a long time to make that jump. The first step for me was booking my ticket-once I put out the money for the plane I knew there was no going back.

I'm not an expert on travel, but if you have questions about what I did and how I did it I'm happy to chat!

Have you done any travel alone? If not, where would you like to go?

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