Before We Were Moms
As much as we all like to think of ourselves as trailblazers here at Travel Savvy Mom, the truth is that behind every great traveling mom is, well…another great traveling mom.
I submit as proof this photo of my first vacation. Look carefully: I am six weeks old in this picture.
Setting aside for a moment the fact that no one has the right to look this good a mere six weeks after giving birth, what kind of crazy woman would go camping in Yellowstone with a six-week-old baby in the era of cloth diapers?
I obviously can’t take credit for my wandering ways. I’ve been in training for a long, long time.
Next week on Travel Savvy Mom we’ll be honoring our mothers. In their tireless pursuit of a change of scenery, these women faced down personal phobias, financial hardship, and even (on at least one occasion) semi-cowardly adult daughters.
Nobody ever said travel was easy, least of all our moms. We hope you’ll join us.
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Read about Jamie’s mom in Opportunity Knocks Down the Door.
Read about Jane’s mum in Diving In.
Read about Rebecca’s mom in Words to Travel by.
Read about Sascha’s mom in This Campsite is Juuuust Right.
Read about Kayt’s mom in Just a Little Push.
April 30th, 2009 | by Jamie Pearson 17 comments
1. kim m on April 30th, 2009
LOL, I had the same reaction, “I cannot believe that tiny woman gave birth six weeks ago!” That was brave of your parents. (And maybe naive? What does mom say about it now?)
2. Elizabeth on May 1st, 2009
It’s amazing what we learn from our mothers without realizing it, like how to appreciate roadtrips for the road as much as the destination. I’m not sure that I have traveled on a plane with my mother more than twice in my life, but she never missed a chance to jump in the car and drive off…or to put me on a plane by myself when she couldn’t make it to where I wanted to be.
3. marina k. villatoro on May 1st, 2009
That’s a great picture. I was flying from one end of Russia to the other starting from 3 months old every other week. I was made to travel:)
4. Seana on May 1st, 2009
I’m not at all surprised that your mom looks this good six weeks after giving birth. She still looked this good or better when we were in high school (which is an accomplishment in anyone’s book, as I will look nothing like I did after giving birth when my kids reach high school). And now it all makes sense to me that you are such a traveler. What an inspiration your mom is!
5. Jamie's Mom on May 1st, 2009
(response to kim m from Jamie’s mom)
Would I rethink taking a six week old baby camping if I had the decision to make today? Yes, absolutely. I would have have gone two weeks earlier.
6. Danielle P. on May 1st, 2009
So cute!!
7. CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) on May 1st, 2009
How sweet! I have a similarly posed picture of myself at about that age, posing with my mom and the Golden Gate Bridge! :) I should dig that up…
8. CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) on May 1st, 2009
That was weird, my comment disappeared!
I wanted to say that I have a photo of myself at that age with my mom in which we are posing in front of the golden gate bridge! :)
9. Jane Rytina on May 1st, 2009
She’s definitely a hottie….
10. Sharlene on May 1st, 2009
Wow. I am impressed. I didn’t get my travel gene from my mom. We hardly went anywhere growing up. Maybe thats why I have a need to go, go, go now.
11. Rebecca on May 4th, 2009
Holy unfair gene pool. :)
12. Alex on May 4th, 2009
That is crazy. She was a first time mom and decided to camping after giving birth six weeks prior? No thank you. Whenever we’re on the road and a melt down happens I always think of my mom–she moved us to Chile–I was 3, my brother was 6 weeks, she had the dog, and 14 pieces of luggage. And, oh yeah, she was BY HERSELF. Again, no thank you!
13. Tracyn on May 6th, 2009
Jamie – how cute is that!!
My parents made a point to take a BIG trip at least every other year. On the ‘off-years’ we would road trip within a few states away from Maine.
I need to dig up some photos!
My love for travel has taken me all over the world, and has me constantly brainstorming ways to afford to take our 3 and 6 year old boys more places… darn that money thing!!
14. Victoria on May 8th, 2009
Our earliest big trip was to New York (from London) and my mother was taking my brother and I by herself as my Dad was already there. She had to cope with travel sickness from my brother, the film not working (we’d been so excited at the thought of watching a film on a plane) and scariest of all, an emergency landing. The plane’s tires burst on take off, so all the way across the Atlantic, we knew that we would be landing on bare metal with fire engines waiting. My Mum remained unflappable throughout and we never got the impression that it was anything but an adventure. As a mother myself now, I realise she must have been really scared. We took lots of trips as children and it instilled in me a love of travel that I think will stay with me the rest of my life.
15. traveling {jeans} | on May 10th, 2009
[...] for Before We Were Moms Mother’s Day series at Travel Savvy [...]
16. Eva Gill on May 6th, 2011
It’s true… parents who travel bring up children who travel. Loved the photo, especially as mothers’ day approaches.
17. Sonja on May 6th, 2011
Love it! I posted a similar pic today at http://www.toeuropewithkids.com/2011/05/photo-friday-happy-mothers-day.html.
17 Responses to “Before We Were Moms”