While traveling with your kids can be fun, traveling without your kids can give you a feeling of lightness and liberation that you’ve almost forgotten how to feel. However, while you might be looking forward to this adventure, as it approaches, it’s perfectly normal to get a little nervous about leaving your kids for the first time, especially if they’re still young. So to help everyone involved survive a few days without each other, here are three tips for taking your first vacation without your kids.
Start Off Small
If you’ve never spent more than a few hours away from your children before, it might not be a great idea to all of a sudden be gone for multiple days at a time. So to help make sure your first trip is going to be a success, Heather Greenwood Davis, a contributor to Smarter Travel, recommends that you start off small and keep your first trip short. This could mean just spending a night away or going somewhere close by for the weekend. By doing this type of vacation first, you can get yourself and your children used to the idea of being apart for a while and then coming back together after a short period of time.
Be Careful With Communication
For your first time away from your kids, you might be tempted to call or check in multiple times throughout the day. And while this might be beneficial for you to see the faces of your sweet children, disrupting their day with a phone call or video chat could cause undue hardship for them and their caretaker. Seeing your face without you being there might just serve as a reminder that you’re not there, which could make your kids sad instead of happy. So while it might be hard for you, Anna Irwin, a contributor to National Geographic, recommends that you only call during times where your kids might be in transition or when you know they’ll be happy, like early in the morning or right before bed.
Try To Enjoy Your Time To Recharge
Although you might be stressed out about how things are going back at home and worried if your kids are missing you, you chose to take this vacation for a reason—so enjoy it! Janssen Bradshaw, a contributor to Mom.me, advises you to do whatever you can to reduce any guilt you feel for leaving your kids so that you can recharge and get back to them with more energy and love. Just be careful that you don’t enjoy your time too much, like drinking more than you should and putting yourself in dangerous situations. You want to get back to your kids on time and in one piece, not after you’ve had to spend a night in jail for a DUI.
If you’re wanting to plan a vacation that you take without your kids, consider using the tips mentioned above to ensure that your first solo trip is a success.