First real vacation

I leave Thursday for Uzbekistan which will be my first vacation by myself since Colin was born. A close friend of mine was headed to the Stan countries on sabbatical, and Sophia had told me to go meet him there and take some time. It won’t be an easy week for her solo parenting, but I am incredibly grateful that I can take a week to myself.

As someone who loves traveling and seeing the world, one of the biggest downsides of becoming a parent is the the travel, or lack thereof. Family trips are great in some ways, but they are definitely far from a real vacation as you’re just parenting away from home.

I’m incredibly excited to go to a new country and area that I’ve never been. These experiences are really the only time I’m truly able to disconnect from work, and it’s going to be a lot of fun getting away for a bit.

At the same time, I’m definitely getting a little bit anxious about leaving Colin for a week. He’s growing so fast and learning so much, I feel like I don’t want to miss out on anything. At the same time, I know it’s healthy for parents to get away and take a break.

My goal during my trip will be to really maximize my time away. I want to go have fun, decompress, and see the world. I won’t have many opportunities like this going forward, so it’s my best interest to make the best of it.