If you’ve been around for a while, then you probably remember when I talked about how going to Disney with Lily really shifted something in me. I’ve always loved to travel. Always. And when I became a single mom, I was like “how the heck am I going to make this work!?” But then I did.
I didn’t want my single-ness and single income impact that part of my world. So, I had to get real strategic. It’s an intentional choice to live life the way I do, and my kids (mostly Lily at this point) understand why I do things the way I do. They’ve also started saying things like “I’m glad we don’t do XYZ, because then that means we can go see this cool thing.” Experiences over things.
Over the last couple of years, whenever I’ve blogged a trip I’ve taken solo, with a friend, or with my kids, I’ve always included the financial breakdown. I did this because I’ve often looked at other people’s travels and wondered “how much is this actually costing them? How are they doing it?”
So, the point of this post is to say that I’m making it an official series here on the blog- Single Mom’s Guide to Travel. I’m going to blog each time I travel with the breakdown of costs, where we went, etc. I love finding new ways to save money on travel to help maximize the experience.
One of the best things I did in mid 2023 was go through the free course – 10x travel. It’s wild that it’s free. But it was great because it helped reinforce what I was already doing to make adventuring work into our budget, and also gave me new ideas. I’m really proud to say that each trip we’ve taken, I’ve come back with zero debt. I know that sometimes stuff goes sideways and there’s nothing you can do about that. I’m very fortunate so far in this respect. But that is a goal of mine. I don’t go on a trip unless I have the actual money in my bank account.
So, anyway, I’m no travel blogger. But I love to travel and I love to blog. So, this is going to be a fun little series on the blog here. I hope that it can be helpful to other single mamas and families shift their mindset around travel!
Remember, it’s the long game. I make intentional decisions all year round to get me to these amazing experiences. And it’s 1000% worth it. James asks me now all the time when our next big “benture” is going to be, and I love that both of my children have such wonderful adventuring spirits!
You can find all the blog posts in the Single Mom’s Guide to Travel series right here. I look forward to seeing how it grows!
Linda is a Portland-based photographer specializing in weddings and creating family legacies from Portland to Boston and across New England. You can see more of her work online at lindabarryphotography.com, on Instagram, or on Facebook. If you want to reach out directly: linda@lindabarryphotography.com.
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