March 30, 2026, 5:18 am | Read time: 5 minutes

There’s hardly anything I love more than showing my child the world. Together, we’ve traveled to 14 countries so far. The list of places I want to discover with my family is long and constantly growing. Just like before. Although traveling was different before my husband and child. Just like I was.

Changed Needs

I’ve been traveling a lot for a long time, and my work is deeply intertwined with it (more about my life as a traveling author here at TRAVELBOOK). I thought my new family would seamlessly fit into my old solo travel life, adapt, so to speak. Good morning, reality. Not only were there suddenly more demands, simply because we are three people now instead of one. What surprised me even more was my own change.

Motherhood changes you, everyone said. And I imagined myself as a deeply relaxed, because inwardly calm, travel mom. Strapping the child on my back, once more walking through Nepal, equipped with the wisdom of the world. And at first, it was like that, or at least almost and somewhat similar. Then came the mold, the cold, the rats, and with them the enormous worries. Quietly, almost stealthily, my needs changed.

Suddenly, safety became a big issue, cleanliness another. Once, I boldly entered the only toilet for miles in India, holding my nose to ignore the various excretions around and laughing loudly at a monkey in the wall hole. Today, that toughness is gone. Not only that. It has turned into the opposite. Once, I wanted it as simple and authentic as possible and was happily willing to share my room with 20 others until my thirties; today, I suddenly need clean rooms and beds. Separate from other guests, so the three of us can sleep well. Honestly, I preferred sleeping alone and in a clean environment back then, too, but I often didn’t allow myself that due to my sometimes tight budget. That’s different today. The permission to spend a little more to meet our needs has changed, and I give it to myself more easily now.

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Planned Instead of Spontaneous

All of this is part of a travel planning that was foreign to me before. Suddenly, I plan trips. I used to just set off and let myself be surprised. Often, I only booked my first night in advance and then spontaneously searched and let myself drift. Now I suddenly know roughly what to expect. To ensure we have a place to stay at my child’s bedtime on one hand, but also because the time frame has become shorter. We rarely just set off, let ourselves drift, and casually decide how long the trip should last or where we want to sleep. Although I claim this is the case at the moment and will change again in the future. But life suddenly has more demands on me, and more being present is required on various levels. Even though I can still take my work with me.

This also shows a change: I never used to take vacations, always traveled long and often while working. That was great. Today, someone has demands on me and my time, my daughter. Accordingly, the working time on trips is shortened. And at the same time, my own need to just travel grows. This is perhaps the biggest difference for me since having a child: Suddenly, I take vacations again. I take time when I don’t work. However, this is currently limited. I would like that to change again in the future.

Experiencing the World

And the travel itself? Once, I traveled the world with wide eyes, open to everything and every new experience. Whether good or bad. I wanted to live, to experience. Today, I want that again. But it took a bit of a wake-up call. The need for safety is great, especially when it comes to my child. While she happily laughs at unfamiliar faces and curiously looks for snakes behind large stones, I sometimes wait on alert. And I watch very closely how people react to my child. Is there a threat somewhere? Do I need to react? Does she need me? The view of the beauty around can get lost. Yet it is this beauty that she reminds me of every day. She experiences the world as it is, feels, and discovers it simply. Just like I used to. And she allows me to rediscover the world for myself despite my worries as a mom. Through her eyes and mine. What a gift.

A recent solo trip to Amsterdam reminded me of this and shook me up a bit. Affirmation of life and openness have nothing to do with my child; they are part of me, or they are not. And even if I might find reasons for the fears I’ve lived with so far, they must not guide me anymore. The world is a beautiful place that my child is allowed to experience, just like I am. And that’s why being a mom for me is also about finding myself in the new. And that’s exactly what I’m doing now.