Family or Solo, I Travel Both Ways — Here’s Why

By The Cultured Passport

Why I Travel Both Solo and With Family (And Love Both Equally)

Some days, I want to roam the world with my mini-me’s, showing them ancient ruins and feeding them croissants in four different time zones. Other days? I want to disappear into a museum where no one asks me for snacks or wipes their jelly hands on my pants.

And that, my friends, is why I do both solo and family travel — because sanity is a delicate thing and variety keeps it (mostly) intact.

Travelling with Kids: Like Herding Sheep, But Cuter

Let me set the scene: You're standing in line at airport security, digging for snacks like a raccoon in a trash bin while one kid licks the floor and the other asks if you packed the “blue socks with the clouds, not the ones with the stars.” You’ve had no coffee, someone’s crying (could be you), and your carry-on now contains exactly one book, six crayons, and a rock someone just had to bring from home.

Congratulations, you're travelling with kids. And somehow… I keep doing it on purpose.

✈️ The Flight: A Test of Endurance (and Snack Innovation)

Boarding a flight with kids is like preparing for a five-hour survival challenge — only instead of wild animals, you're up against boredom, seat kicks, and that mysterious juice box explosion that happens even before takeoff.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Snacks are currency. Pack twice the snacks you think you need. Then double that again.

• Electronics are sacred. I don’t care if they’re watching a penguin unbox Play-Doh for three straight hours — if they’re quiet and happy, you let that penguin live its best life.

• You are a Sherpa now. Your backpack will weigh more than your child. Accept it.

And no matter how many activities you pack, they will inevitably choose the one that rolls away under the seat of a sleeping stranger.

Must-Haves for your family travel survival:

• This foldable travel stroller that handles cobblestones like a champ

• Kid-sized travel headphones to save your ears from “Baby Shark” (plus, 5 minutes of charging, gives you 5 hours of music playback time)

🧭 The Itinerary: Planned by You, Controlled by Tiny Dictators

Remember those pre-kid days when you could spend hours at a museum, sip espresso by the river, or sleep past 7 a.m.? Yeah… that’s cute.

Travelling with kids means:

• Visiting every public bathroom within a 2-mile radius.

• Googling “Is gelato a breakfast food?” (Spoiler: Yes. When travelling, yes.)

• Seeing landmarks at lightning speed because someone has to pee again.

I once planned a whole afternoon exploring a historic palace. My kids’ highlight? The gravel in the parking lot. “It’s sparkly, Mom!”

🍽 The Food Scene: International Dining with Demanding Food Critics

You might dream of tasting authentic pad Thai or fresh tagliatelle made by someone’s Nona. Your kids? They're out here judging international cuisine on a strict “nuggets or no nuggets” basis.

Here’s what usually happens:

• You order something bold and beautiful.

• They ask for plain pasta.

• You bribe them with dessert.

• You end up eating the plain pasta.

Bonus fun: They’ll declare the best meal of the trip was the airport muffin.

❤️ The Magic: Chaos, Laughter, and Core Memories

Yes, it’s exhausting. You’ll question your life choices somewhere around Day 3. But then something amazing happens: your child points at a statue and says, “That looks like the one in our book!” Or they try new food and say, “Mom! I like it!” Or they smile in a way that tells you — this is sticking in their little memory bank forever.

Travelling with kids is messy, unpredictable, and sometimes involves vomit. But it’s also hilarious, heartwarming, and completely unforgettable.

So, would I do it again?
Absolutely. After I nap. And maybe with more snacks.

Because as wild as it gets, nothing beats watching your kids fall in love with the world — one puddle, pigeon, and pancake at a time.

Got your own chaotic travel story?
Tell me about the time your kid licked a statue or asked a tour guide if they were famous. I live for these.

✈️ Solo Travel: Me, Myself & I (and No One Asking for Juice)

Then there are my solo trips. Ohhhh, the peace. The silence. The joy of using a bathroom in an airport alone. It’s like a mini-retreat for your soul... with better souvenirs.

Pros:

• Sleeping in. No cartoon theme songs at 6 a.m.

• Eating spicy food without someone crying (besides me).

• Wandering through art galleries at my own pace without answering 27 questions about why that statue is naked.

Cons:

• No tiny hands to hold (or sticky fingerprints on your phone).

• Nobody to split dessert with.

• No one to blame when you get lost and end up in a soap museum instead of a castle.

But let’s be real: sipping a latte solo in a quiet Parisian café? Pure ✨therapy✨.

🧳 The Best of Both Worlds

Here’s the truth: I love both. I love the giggles and chaos of family travel just as much as I love my quiet solo strolls through cobblestone streets, pretending I’m in a rom-com montage.

Family travel feeds my heart. Solo travel feeds my soul. Together, they keep me balanced — or at least, travel-happy and semi-sane.

My Travel Philosophy (Also Known as: Why I Always Pack Snacks)

You don’t have to pick one way to explore the world. You can be the mom who wrangles toddlers in a museum and the woman who books a solo weekend getaway to eat street food and people-watch. Not only that, but you can make sandcastles and climb temples. You can do both — and love both.

Because the world is full of beautiful chaos. And in mine, there’s room for juice boxes and silent retreats.

So, what kind of traveller are you today?
Team Tiny Humans or Team Treat Yourself? Or, like me... are you living that snack in one hand, passport in the other kind of life?

Thanks for reading!
If you’re a parent craving solo time, or a solo traveller dreaming of sharing adventures with loved ones, I see you. You’re not alone — and you don’t have to choose just one path. The world is big enough for both.