Travelling Without Dad.

The boys and I are starting our family adventure in Malaysia early with a bit of single parent travel, we’re travelling without Dad, he’ll join us once he’s got the house, car and cat dealt with.

We’ve changed the dates on our Air Asia flights, brought them forward, and payed the difference in price between the two days. That’s a really good service for a budget airline, we’re impressed.

You know I said we were leaving in about three months?

Make that three weeks!

Travelling without Dad. I’m Brave, Right?

No, not really, I’m secretly quaking in my boots, it’s all a bit big and scary, but I’ve done it before and it was fine.

Last year, in the UK, we took advantage of the late deals on offer and took ourselves on a bargain trip to Florida for a couple of weeks. Just the two children and I. We had an amazing holiday, touring the theme parks and the Kennedy Space Center, one of our best. We couldn’t have taken the deal if we’d had to wait for all four of us to be available, work was in the way.

Travelling without Dad wasn’t a problem at all, it actually improves the holiday for the kids in a way, one grown up focuses totally on them, two grown ups have their own agenda, single parent travel is more child focused and is a lot of fun.

We’re used to spending plenty of time as a threesome, I’m a chef’s widow, it goes with the territory, so missing Dad wasn’t a big issue and there was always Skype in the evenings.

It is a really empowering experience being a solo travelling parent, it was a big deal for me to drive around Florida in a great big car, sorting out hotels, money, tickets, not getting lost, all by myself. I know I’m a grown up and I should be able to do that sort of thing with my eyes shut, but you do become quite reliant on your partner after a decade or so of marriage. It was good for me and lovely to share that time with my children. They really step up and become Mum’s little helpers when they are the men of the trip.

I wouldn’t do it on any sort of vacation, if we were going somewhere outdoors-y, where playing in nature was a big feature, the boys and I would like Dad there, he’s more fun for all that running around but we will be in towns and cities for these few weeks, we’ll be exploring, visiting attractions, museums and shops. That’s Mum stuff, I can handle that.

I keep reminding myself of all the amazing single Mums out there, exploring the world with their children, people like Lainie at Raising Miro and Theodora at Escape Artistes. I bet they’re not scared!

So off we go to Malaysia, a country I’ve never visited before, to explore and hang out for a few weeks ’till Dad joins us. Stay with me lovely people, I may need you to talk to.