Backpacking with kids - solo

[mogernator]

Anyone done it? There are tons of blogs about travelling with kids out there but it all involves two parents. I'm seriously thinking of going for three months just me and the kids. Oldest starts secondary next year so now is the time. Youngest will be nearly 9. I will be taking a risk in that I will be working on the assumption that there will be school places on return as the school currently has a few spare places in their year groups. Husband cannot come (and doesn't actually really want to) so I think 3 months is the max I can go, with him coming for a holiday at halfway instead. I will go to southeast Asia. I know it well and feel confident there but obviously it does feel somewhat daunting! I've been in Europe on my own with them so far.

I’ve done a bit of inter railing on my own with the dc, but the longest was 2 weeks. It was an amazing experience that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, but incredibly exhausting and I don’t think the kids could have done more than 2 weeks either. We love each other dearly, but we do need time apart (especially the dc!) which we just didn't get for the entire 2 weeks.
We couldn’t take much in the way to entertain the dc on the long journeys, or for those moments at the hotel/hostel when the dc wake up before you or one needs to go to bed before the other. We took old hand-held games consoles (didn’t want to travel around with 2 Nintendo switches!), some card games, sticker and colouring books but that was about it.
I found that sometimes they were so overstimulated by the change of culture that they needed some wind-down time in the hotel at the end of the day.
It was very tiring packing and unpacking all the time all the time, and making sure we didn’t leave anything behind! I did one lot of washing at a hotel, but when you’re away for 3 months you’ll have to do quite a bit of washing.

Brilliant thanks. Yes I do have form for trying to cram in way too much so will make sure I rein this in a lot. I'm actually thinking of just travelling through Thailand and Cambodia so will have lots of time to go slow and stay in one place for longer. I was going to take switches ....either that or an iPad with films on for longer journeys.

I have not done it! not sure I'd be brave enough. But have travelled a lot with kids & DH - now 9 and 2. I think 11 and 8/9 are good ages. The Switch is a godsend. Do they have kindles? I do think gaming is great for the downtime pp mentions, lets them immerse themselves and get some headspace even in a hotel room. I'm presuming you'll be able to do some air bnb or short term rentals if you're staying longer in some places which will make practicalities easier?

Ooh also a great idea I hadn't thought of longer stays. But yes good idea. I will take kindles too. Ideally I'd like to take hand luggage only and the boys carry their own rucksack so I'll have to travel super light! Or at the very least rucksacks each rather than me lugging everything and stressing about losing kids in a busy railway or something similar. It could be brave or it could be stupid. There must be a reason not many do it

We did 6 weeks camping around Wales back in 2022. Spent the whole summer going from place to place. Back then the kids were 10&11 and we had the best time! I kinda winged it with a map and the pitch-up booking app. To this day we still talk about that summer, it was so memorable! I'd never been camping before then and I had no idea what to expect but it really was amazing. It really pushed us all out of our comfort zone and we did things we never thought possible. Even climbed Snowdon! We also stayed in a youth hostel and met the most wonderful people along the way. I'm contemplating doing it all again next summer in France ☺️ Go for it, you'll surprise yourself and give your children the best memories.

😀😀😀

I took 2 young children backpacking round SE Asia about 8/9 years ago! Just me to start with, then met up with a friend after 2 weeks, and had another week in all together. I had an AMAZING time.

Kids were 3 and 7 at the time. We did Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Borneo. I picked 4 destinations, and we stayed for 3-5 days in each place. So we ended up with 2 cities, one beach and one jungle, and then the odd day in hotels travelling between.

In Singapore we stayed in a Youth Hostel, in KL we stayed in a super fancy Air BnB with an amazing rooftop pool. Then we did a jungle camp in Borneo (slept on wooden platforms in the open air!), and a nice beach side home stay type thing, also in Borneo.

It was pretty intense to be fair, but was so much fun.

Best things:

1. The people. My 3 year old in particular was adored by people every where. Like, genuinely adored. It felt so so safe.

2. Kids highlight was Legoland Malaysia 😂

3. My highlight was the jungle camp. We went here: https://www.uncletan.com/ We saw unbelievable things - crocodiles, huge bats, monkeys jumping into water and swimming, orangutan in the wild - a male and female actually doing a sort of mating ritual (not the actual mating....) It felt like a real adventure.

4. KL fancy apartment

5. Snorkelling in the South China sea with my 7 year old, swimming over fish and urchins - it is still one of my favourite memories of us together, and he is now almost 16!

6. Our first stop was Singapore, which was such a perfect introduction for me. I had never been outside Europe before, so it was all very new! There was plenty to do for all of us, including well into the night, which was helpful for jet lag. And lots of food options. I still remember the first meal we all got, both kids chose this Asian soup with dumplings, and I had peanut butter on toast! They led the way for me really.

7. It was really quite cheap, once we got there. And the flights were not too expensive. But... 9 years ago.

Hardest things:
1)The heat. 3 year old struggled. A lot.

2. Intense being a just the 3 of us 24/7 with no break. It was great when we met my friend, because I could leave 3 year old with them, and take 7 year old out alone (like snorkelling!). Before that, we could only do what 3 year old could do (obviously). I have just reread and seen your youngest is 9, so I guess the same theory applies, but there is a lot more a 9 year old can do, so this might not be a problem for you.

I can't think of any other negative! Maybe other people's reactions?? I got a lot of "what's the point? They won't remember. Why bother? It'll be hard work" etc. Well, they do remember! Even the 3 year old has some memories of the trip. And even if they didn't - so what? I went because I wanted to go, I was newly divorced, and I happened to have a few weeks window with no work, and it felt very much 'now or never', and I had an amazing time! And so did the kids. And yeah, parts of it were hard work. But so would being together 24/7 at home. Again, with the age of your kids, you might not get that negativity.
Their dad was very supportive of it incidentally, and encouraged me to go. We just did a few video calls, and all was fine.

We went over Christmas time, so school/nursery wasn't much of an issue. Just missed a few days either side.

Luggage - I had a large backpack, 7 year old had a backpack, and 3 year old had a tiny backpack. I also took a side carry sling thing which was very useful at times, when 3 year old fell asleep. I also had a big karabiner clipped to my backpack, which I attached her little backpack to when she couldn't manage it.

I know my 2 weeks alone isn't quite the same as your 3 months alone plan! But just writing to encourage you to go for it really! And I seriously recommend Borneo.

Have an amazing trip!

Oh wow! This sounds awesome and thanks so much for taking the time to detail all that. It really does sound amazing and also really good to hear experiences of someone who has done it. And aged 3!! That really is epic. I had a bit of a wobble yesterday but need to talk to husband. I've planned out the route and now need to cut it back a bit as I think I am still trying to do too much.