The first question most people ask me when they find out I am a travel agent is “do you get to travel a lot?” Yes, I do, but it is up to me as to how much I want to travel. Everyday my inbox has 5 requests for us to do a trip with various suppliers to come and see their resorts, ships, destinations, etc. If I took all of them up on their offer, I would never be home. Not only do I own my own travel agency, but I am a stay at home mom, I couldn’t do that to my family. The MOM GUILT!
However, late last year I decided to sign-up to attend a travel agent training in May of 2017 at one of the most family friendly Orlando vacation destinations, Universal Orlando®. The conference was on property at the Lowe’s Royal Pacific Hotel, so I jumped at the chance to stay on property. I was really excited to recharge my brain cells and to have the opportunity to be around other articulate speaking adults. However, the mom guilt of being away from my kids overcame me like a waterfall. I knew I had to do this for myself and for my business, so I kept telling myself “You Got This!”
It took two seconds to convince my husband to come with me for a few days so we could run around the parks like teenagers. We booked flights and purchased travel insurance. It just got real! The next three weeks my waterfall of guilt felt like a full-on Niagara Falls. How do I explain to my little ones that I will be gone for five full nights and won’t see them every day like I do now? We had a family meeting and we all talked about where I would be and why I was going to be away from them and home. They were sad for about 5 minutes until they found out grandma was going to take care of them while I was gone. Who can be sad when they can convince grandma to buy them all those toys at Target that mom says no to?
A few weeks later, I got on the plane, flew to Orlando, and we ran around the two Universal parks like a teenager with my husband (minus the extra bathroom breaks and water breaks we needed because we are not teenagers anymore). I enjoyed every minute reconnecting with my husband. Just being able to sit across from him at a meal and have a conversation without someone interrupting us was relaxing. There were times we didn’t even have to talk because the silence was just so calming. As for the conference, I had an amazing time and I met so many amazing travel agents. One night they opened Universal Studios™ just for all the travel agents at the conference. I got to have unlimited access to food, drinks, rides, and activities. Yes, the Butterbeer is very good!
In the end, it isn’t always about how we think the kids will be if we leave them to have some us time. They will be fine, but we as moms also have to remember that we need some recharging to the original person we once were before kids. I felt so much better coming back, and I felt like me again which makes me a better mom to these adorable kids. I may have felt the “MOM GUILT” but telling myself “You Got This” and Life is Better Traveling helped me a lot!
