How it all started – the first talk on travelling overseas

©Exploramum and Explorason – we made a decision to travel

How it all started: The first talk ….

Many have asked me, how did the idea of traveling all start?

Was I really ready for a family travel? Did I use any luxury travel experts to make my decision and experience more comfortable and memorable? How was I going to handle the challenges of single-parent travel? The questions came in their numbers and I had to respond to each with honesty after giving them a thought.

Well, one winter’s night in 2011, after my 12-hour working day, I collected my son, and walked in the front door in “zombie mode”. It was cold and dark and after 7 pm.

So, like a robot, I started the nightly ritual: to bung on the heating; and the dinner; and the washing; turn on the computer (to read 3 complaints from my part-time online business); put my son in the bath; feed the bird, bring bird in and covered him; feed the puppy and discover she has destroyed the wire screen door – must fix that – so text handyman; water the indoor plants; pour a drink; feed myself and son; hang out the washing; do the dishes; help with son’s homework; attempt assistance with son’s almost non-existent reading ability; and thought “Welcome to the rat-race of being a single Mum”.

At 9:30 p.m., I finally get him to bed, and his tears start.

Boy does he start!
Emotional gut-wrenching sobs.
Heartbreaking cries of the devastation of how he sees his life as a 6-year-old.

I have bought him a new train, and he wants me to set up the track – “I never play with him, and he only wants a new toy, because I might like it, and I might spend some time with him”! He says.

So I held him; soothed him; loved him – and explained, “Mummy had to work to pay for the house”, (with little if any financial support from your Daddy – I think to myself).
“Well says son “, I don’t want a house, I want a Mummy. I don’t have a brother or a sister, I have no-one, and I missed you all day, and I hate this life”.

Ping – the lights go on in this curly head of mine!!

I can work for the next 10 or 20 years, and leave him a house, if I managed to even get the mortgage paid – and have no quality time with him, and continue this struggle, or I can quit this rat race, and spend some quality life-changing time with my son.

There is more to life than a house, and you can’t buy your son with a new toy!

So we have a really good ‘Mum and son talk’.

“What do you want to do then?” I ask my six years old.
“Well, really I would like to travel for a bit – we are good at that Mum, and we can go and help the poor, and give stuff out (like we did in Fiji). But we could do that everywhere, and we would be together, and have fun.”

And so we chat – until 11:00 p.m. We have a great discussion – about all the places we could go; the things we could see, and how we could help other people, and it felt so good!

I am about to turn 50, I am getting old, and so it is best to do it now while I have the energy.

And so my friends, this is how it all began.

And guess what – when we eventually managed to sell the house, as soon as I got the offer, there was a rainbow over it! I think that was our sign from God – it is all going to be OK.

The planning so far has taken 1 year. We are both super excited. This one conversation has changed my life; the way I see living, the way I see the real meaning of life.

I hope you enjoy following my blog as I turn this dream into reality. This is just the beginning!!

Oh – and we did finally get to make that track!

©Exploramum and Explorason – the train track talk started our dream
Questions and Comments
  • Do you ever feel like your work is coming in between you and your family?
  • How do you find a balance between your job and your family?
  • What is it that ignites the love between your family in the midst of you chasing your dreams?
  • Where does your passion for traveling sprout from?
  • Please share your comments below.