Why I Travel — The Real Answer

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People ask me why I Travel.

The easy answer is because I love it. Because it feeds something in me that nothing else does. Because there is a version of me that only shows up when I am somewhere new — somewhere that has nothing to do with laundry or schedules or the life I left at home for a few days.

But that is not the whole answer.

The whole answer starts at Disney World. About a year after I lost my husband.

The Moment Everything Changed.

My Husband and I had talked about travel. We had so many plans, you know the way couples make plans, the way you assume you have time to do the things you dream about together…..

And then life took a turn that we did not see coming. He was killed in an auto accident and our lives were changed in an instant.

A few years after he passed I took my girls to Disney World. Lauren was a preteen. Gracie was a toddler. I had to talk myself into it right up to the moment we left, honestly right up to the moment we walked through those gates. There was a voice in my head that kept saying this is too hard, this is too much, you cannot do this alone.

And then another voice — the one I have learned to listen to — that said:

NO one is coming to save you. You have to do this or it won’t happen.

So, you know what? I did it.

I watched my girls experience Disney World and something happened to me in that moment that I did not expect. Standing there watching them I saw so much joy on their faces, the wonder, the magic of it… It was then that I made the decision.

I will never let my girls NOT experience travel.

Whatever it takes. However hard it is. However many times I have to talk myself into it right up to the moment I leave. We are going.

The Night I Finally Cried

That trip was also the first time I really cried.

Not the quiet kind of crying. Not the kind you hold back or swallow down so nobody sees it. The kind that comes from your soul. The kind that lives in the place where you keep everything you have lost.

The girls had fallen asleep. We were at Port Orleans Resort Riverside and if you have ever been there you know how beautiful and peaceful it is. The kind of place that feels like it was made for families. For couples. For people building memories together.

I sat there in that room in the quiet and it hit me.

This was supposed to be different.

We were supposed to be here together. My Husband and I. Watching our girls experience this together. That was the plan. That was what we talked about. That was the version of this trip that lived in my head for years before any of it happened.

And he was not there.

I got up quietly so I would not wake them. I walked into the bathroom. I turned on the shower.

And I fell to my knees.

I mourned that night like I had never mourned before. The kind of grief that has nowhere else to go. The kind that has been waiting patiently for a quiet room and a closed door and a moment where nobody needs anything from you. The shower covered the sound. The girls slept. And I let it all come.

I stayed there until it passed.

And when I got up I made a decision. Not out loud. Not dramatically. Just quietly in that bathroom on my knees with my girls asleep in the next room.

I am going to finish what we talked about.

I am going to do everything we said we would do.

And I am going to make sure my girls see the world.

That was the moment. That was the one. And I have never looked back.

What It Does For My Soul

I am going to try to explain this and I am not sure I have the right words.

When I travel whether it is a solo road trip or a flight somewhere I have never been or a cruise where I wake up in a different place every morning something in me settles.

The noise gets quieter. The weight gets lighter. I remember who I am outside of everything and everyone I am responsible for.

Travel gives me peace. Exploration. The time to get away and just breathe. The freedom to do things I have never done before and be anyone I want to be.

It satisfies my soul in a way that is hard to describe unless you have felt it too.

I have ridden a rail car across the Royal Gorge, which is absolutely as crazy as it sounds and you should absolutely do it. I have ziplined through a barn. I have stood in Ireland and felt something ancient and right about being there. I have cruised through the Bahamas and eaten my way through Italy.

I have also been to Greece, and honestly? I did not love it the way I thought I would. And that surprised me. But that is also what travel does — it teaches you things about yourself you did not know. It shows you what moves you and what doesn’t. It is honest in a way that everyday life sometimes isn’t.

The Solo Part

Now I travel solo too.

Not because I have to. Because I choose to.

And yes I still talk myself into it sometimes. Right up to the moment I leave. That voice still shows up — the one that says this is a lot, are you sure, maybe just stay home. I know that voice well. We have been through a lot together.

But I also know what is waiting on the other side of getting in the car. So I go.

There is something about being alone on a road with no schedule and nobody needing anything from you that does something for your head that I cannot fully explain. It just clears everything out. The noise. The weight. The to do list that never actually ends. All of it just kind of falls away somewhere around mile fifty and you remember who you are when nobody is watching.

I love the time flying. Getting myself settled in, headphones in, getting my thoughts together, writing on the go. I love stopping when I want to and seeing things nobody told me to see. That random overlook. That little town with one diner and the best pie you have ever had. The thing you almost drove past and then didn’t.

I love the freedom of it. The quiet of it. The way it reminds me that my life is still happening. Still full. Still worth showing up for.

Nobody is coming to save you. You already know that. So get in the car. So I go.

@theemptynestmoms

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Why I Take Others With Me

One of my favorite things in this whole world is watching someone experience something for the first time.

I mean it. There is nothing quite like it.

The look on someone’s face when they see something that takes their breath away. That reaction you cannot fake. That joy that comes from somewhere real. That moment when the world gets a little bigger for somebody because you brought them along for the ride.

That does something to me. Every single time.

It is why I took my girls everywhere. It is why I dragged them to every museum and every overlook and every little town that looked interesting from the highway. It is why I will keep going and keep telling you about every single place worth knowing about.

Because here is what I figured out somewhere between Disney World and the Royal Gorge and a strawberry cheesecake milkshake in Blue Ridge Georgia.

Travel was never just for me. It was always meant to be shared.

So pull up a seat because we are just getting started.

Why I Take Others With Me

If you are an Empty Nest Mom sitting somewhere right now wondering what comes next. Wondering who you are now that the house is quieter and the calendar is emptier. I want you to hear this.

Go somewhere.

It does not have to be Italy. It does not have to be a cruise or a flight or some big bucket list adventure. It can be a Sunday drive to a town you have never been to. It can be a milkshake at a place someone recommended in your TikTok comments. It can be a walk somewhere new or a road you have never taken or a restaurant you have been meaning to try for two years.

Anything. Just something that gets you out of your routine and into the world.

Because the world is still out there and you deserve this!

Rocky and I talked about traveling together. We had plans. Life had other plans. And I will not pretend that did not hurt. It did. It still does.

But here is what I know.

The travel happened anyway. It happened differently than I imagined. It happened harder than I expected. It happened with a lot of talking myself into it right up to the moment I left. And it became one of the greatest gifts of my entire life.

I fell to my knees in a hotel bathroom in Disney World and I got back up and I kept going and I have never once regretted getting in the car.

Say yes. Go somewhere. See something. You have earned every single mile.

Come Travel With Us

Follow along on every adventure — the road trips, the hidden gems, the places worth driving across Georgia for, and everything in between.

@theemptynestmoms on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Our podcast The Empty Nest Mom is on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.