Single Moms Can Travel Too

Staying in the same place and practicing the same routine day in and day out can become mundane. Everyone needs a break, right? Traveling the world broadens perspective and refreshes your life experience. For someone raising a family alone, the idea of travel can seem unnecessary due to the cost.

However, there are some single mothers out there that see the benefits to travel. So much so that they find a way to make it affordable. One single mom, Laura Cecil, writes for a blog called Travel Mamas and in her article, she gives Travel Tips for Single Parents desiring to travel. She makes the suggestion for single mothers to take their kids on road trips for several reasons:

• Road trips allow frequent stops

• Road trips are more cost-effective

• Road trips allow you more room for excessive luggage

Another single mom, Collette Giambrone, also sees the value in traveling with her kids because she desires to give them new experiences. "Traveling is a way of making memories that they will remember all of their lives," says Giambrone. Giambrone is a single mother to three teenage boys; Omari (17), Jamel (16), and Xavier (14). She takes pleasure in exposing them to new places, cultures, people, and foods through travel.

Collette's love for travel started when she was a child. Her parents used to take her on frequent road trips when she was growing up. This gave her an opportunity to see different things and opened her perspective about the world. She too likes to take her boys on road trips because it's more affordable, but she doesn't always let the financial burden of travel stop her. In fact, she encourages other single mothers with this: "don't let the cost stop you from going places. Your children will appreciate it later. Do smaller trips if you have to," she says.

Collette plans ahead for travel each year by setting up a family meeting with the boys. She likes to get their input on where they would like to go and what places they would like to see. She then researches the trip and compiles a detailed itinerary, so that she knows exactly how much she will need to make that trip happen. She then starts to save money for the trip and prepares in advance. Collette makes a list of everything that she needs in preparation so that she is sure not to forget anything and to make sure that all of their bases are covered at home before they depart.

In an effort to make traveling possible Collette also sacrifices things they don't always need. "We like to travel so much that I am willing to sacrifice unnecessary things, like eating out by cooking more meals at home to save money. As well as other things I like, like manicures," says Giambrone. As a result, she has been able to take the boys to a lot of places like California, Chicago, Florida, and New York to name a few. These places are a far stretch for small-town Virginia natives and especially for a single-parent household.

This week, Collette and her boys are leaving for a week-long trip to Hawaii. They are excited as this will be their first time visiting the island. Together they planned this trip a year in advance after COVID interrupted their plans to go on a cruise last year. They decided to forgo any smaller trips throughout the year in an effort to make this big trip happen. The family also has more trips on their bucket list that they intend to explore in the years to come.