When was the last time you went holidays without your kids?
Why is it important to take some time out for yourself? Why do we believe that it is important to learn to your holidays for parents without feeling guilty about them?
There comes a time in every parent’s life when you need to recharge the batteries, in order to tackle the everyday life. It is easy to get stuck in the ground-hog-day, always thinking about others before yourself.
This time we will look at why parent travel is important too! The benefits of traveling without kids!
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10 Benefits of Traveling without Kids
1. Having the freedom to do what you want!
How often do you get to do just what you want? Don’t get me wrong, family holidays with our kids is very important to us and we love taking them with us on various domestic and international destinations. However, sometimes you need to do something just for you and your significant other.
Like lazing around on the beach without having to chase your little one with your eyes to make sure they are safe and sound. This is the time for just you two, for holding hands, for snuggling up on that comfy beach chair, whilst sipping on a refreshing cocktail or two. Sound nice? It is! Holidays without kids can be pretty heavenly, and that doesn’t mean that we need to feel guilty about enjoying our time without our kids; we all deserve some down time every once in a while!
I presume, that for some of the parents reading this post, you might ask yourself questions such as: How the hell can I do this? Can we truly have time for ourselves? Can we go on holidays without our children? I guess we are fortunate as parent travel for us is achievable through the help from our families! Big thank you to our amazing parents for being there for us, so we could do these escapes. I know that not everyone has family help handy and finding a babysitter can be a bit hard (and scary). I hope that one way or another, you can find a way to make it happen. We know of other families who swap weekends with friends in order to have quick weekend-escapes! Where there is a will there is a way!
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2. Time to rekindle the romance
Having the freedom to do what you want opens up the world of opportunities for you and your loved one. It doesn’t really matter how far away from home you go, it only matters what you do with that time.
Being at romantic places gives your life that little something that a lot of the time gets missed in the every day living. Usual chores kick in and you move around your house like a robot, automatically ticking off the things you need to do, only to find that you haven’t really talked for few days.
So take your time and choose a destination with a thought on romance in mind! The destination doesn’t need to be far from home, some of our most romantic parent holidays have been located within only 30 min from home!
Nothing beats the look in your partner’s eyes when you know that she or he loves you without saying anything. It’s a perfect opportunity to slow down, relieve yourself from brainless activities and chores and spend some true quality time together.
Splurge out on a romantic dinner with candle light and buy her a rose from a guy on the street. Listen to what her heart is saying and hold her hand tight. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I don’t see anything better than that.
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3. Having the freedom to visit any country in the world
Sometimes we query whether destinations that we want to visit are suitable for our kids. Parent-only holidays give you the opportunity to explore these countries without worrying about your kid’s safety and/or well being.
Are there any countries that you would like to visit, but you feel uncertain as to whether it is a family friendly destination?
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4. Being able to indulge in spontaneous and/or slightly risky adventures
Jolene and I have been on quite a few adventures together. We have been on holidays for couples to many destinations whilst married and pre-wedding as well. It is awesome being on these holidays and being able to make spontaneous decisions to have some fun with either romantic or slightly risky activities and adventures.
I can think of a few. Jet skiing around the bay in Phuket in Thailand, romantic gondola ride on the gorgeous canals of Venice in Italy, or this one below; riding a motorcycle in villages around Hoi An in Vietnam.
The list goes on and that’s the way that I want to keep it. We all need a bit of adventure in our lives and you must get yourselves on that ‘bike’ and experience them together! How about we find our inner child again and have some fun!?
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5. Expensive locations become more affordable
Europe has a very soft spot in our hearts. As it is so far away from where we live in Australia, it makes it probably the is a really expensive holiday destination for our whole family. With Katie-Lee, Lily and a new addition to our family coming in July, we will need to save our dollars carefully, before we can go on our European trip. Choosing to go on no-children holidays to theses expensive locations, makes them more affordable.
It is cheaper if it’s only two of you when you are looking at flight tickets, hotels, dinners, tours or other activities that you choose.
Instead of waiting impatiently and having to save for a family trip to Italy, suddenly your dream becomes more achievable if you look at the price for just the two of you.
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6. See more things in shorter space of time
Let’s be honest, kids slow you down on holidays. It is awesome having them around, but they will most likely whine about being in the Colosseum for 3 hours whilst you try to get your head around the history that lies behind the magnificent building. Not too mention if you have oh 4 other places on your list to visit that day as well. Holidays without kids gives you freedom to see what YOU want and in a time frame that suits YOU.
If you followed our Italian or Vietnamese trips (oh wait.. all of our parent trips, haha.. ), than you know how many places we usually cram into a few weeks. Usually our time away from our kids are time-limited by what suits the grandparents. We only had two days to see Rome, so in the space of one day, we visited the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Mouth of Truth, the Malta Keyhole, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon. Shoes were worn out; we slept like a baby that night; and we don’t necessarily recommend seeing Rome this way. But imagine attempting that with kids in hand!!!!
Saying that, busy or not, those parent-only holidays were still perfect!
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7. Focus on enjoying your relationship
Parent holidays allow you to simply enjoy and focus on each other without the ‘distraction’ of your kids consuming your time. I know it’s hard to do it in the everyday life, when washing piles up, house needs cleaning, kids need to be dropped off to school, you have to go to work and also the pet needs to go to the vet. There are days like that in every family, but obviously not exactly the same. Sometimes time and enjoyment of each other gets lost in all this. Sometimes we take each other for granted.
Being relaxed on holidays with no pressures allows you to remember why you fell in love with each other in the first place. You can focus on your significant other and remind them of how deep your love for them truly is.
The biggest benefit of travelling without kids is that you can deepen and strengthen your love for each other!
You are both the glue that holds the family together. The drivers of your children’s future and their happiness. Being the best you; as husband and wife, with a strong deep love; will allow you to be the best you;as mother and father to your children! At least that’s how I see it.
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8. Being able to stay up late
I can think of a lot of reasons to stay up late with your significant other, however one of those can be to relax at the roof top bar in the heart of Bangkok in Thailand.
Wherever you are in the world, the exciting shenanigans that you can get up to, require late night hours and sometimes to the early hours of the day.
Due to being pregnant, we are not in the position to do all these things; like having cocktails; but there are always other ways to relax with your other half. Simply gazing at the starry skies overhead, whilst sitting in a Jacuzzi at your romantic getaway sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? So much better than being stuck in your hotel room because the kids were tired at 8pm and had to go to bed!
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9. Splurging out on yourself
Things that you would normally think twice about, right? Obviously you probably usually put your family first and probably look after your kids’ needs as a priority over your own. So it is awesome, especially when you are visiting ‘cheaper’ destinations, to completely and utterly indulge and splurge out on yourself. How about putting yourself first for a change?
Put your feet up at your private condo, whilst sipping on a glass of red, surrounded by bliss of relaxation that you have created. Or, treat yourself to some special goodies like a relaxing massage everyday of your stay. If you ask me, the best way to relax with your loved one is to take a relaxing massage at the same time followed by a yummy lazy dinner in or out, doesn’t matter!
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10. Having time for yourself
Finally, take some time for yourself! There are benefits of travelling together to work on your relationship or to enjoy the adventures, whilst holding hands. However, one of the best things you can do is to let her or him relax alone as well.
Let her breath a little, while you read a book or something. She knows you are there, she just needs to centre herself and have a bit of space sometimes as well.
Take that time for you, so you can discover some peace. Do some yoga, have a nap or simply find a spot to breath as well. I have this saying: “Eternal Discovery of Your Soul” , sometimes you just need to be alone to be together.
What do you think about the benefits of traveling without kids?
What would you add to our list?
