Spas - Mom's Guide To Travel

Jan 01 2010

Traveling Power Mommy?

As I enter the new year and come to terms with how much I enjoy traveling with my children and helping make it easier (hopefully) for other parents, I’m considering ways to take it all to the next level.

2009 was a whirlwind year for us travel wise. My soon to be five-year old truck hit the 100k mark the day before Christmas, a testimony to how many road trips we’ve taken since purchasing it new back in ’05. Although we’ve made our marks on the map before, this was the first year as a foursome that we’ve gotten to really travel. My one year old definitely got his fair share of road and air time this year.

And I’ve gotten my fair share of the expanses of the family travel world. Through social networking, I’ve discovered a whole mommy blogging/traveling community who are monetizing their family travels and providing great ideas and resources as well.

Through a domino affect, I’ve met other mompreneurs who are making it happen in other areas of business while balancing their home life. A departure from my norm, I wanted to share an interview I conducted with one such mompreneur. Chandra Clarke, owner of Scribendi.com, coined the term “power mommy”. Learning about her journey and her business has been useful and encouraging and I hope that maybe it will be useful to all my mompreneur readers out there as well. Enjoy!

Q: What inspired you to create this specific business?
Chandra: I started Scribendi.com in order to provide people with much-needed editing and proofreading services. Prior to launching the business, I was a freelance journalist and editor, a job that put me in constant contact with error-laden press releases and story drafts. I knew the market was out there, and I was determined to find a way to fulfill that demand via an online platform.

Q: Though your business is virtually based, do you travel for business and how do you manage to balance it all with a family? Do you have a nanny or consistent sitter?
Chandra: Since my three boys are homeschooled and still quite young, I try to keep my traveling down to a minimum at the moment. When I have to go out of town, my husband and business partner mans the fort both at home and at the office (he’s the Vice-President at Scribendi.com). And I do the same when he leaves town. On those rare occasions when we’re both required to head out of town, my parents live just a short drive away, and they’re always eager to spoil their grandkids for a few days.

Q: What one piece of advice could you give to a mom who is early in the entrepreneur cycle? How long did it take you to actually start making money from your business?

Chandra: We’ve been profitable since I started, mainly because I was careful about what I spent my money on. I see so many businesses that spend a fortune on the trappings of business straight out of the gate – a fabulous office, high-end computers, multi-function business phones. My advice here is that you should consider every purchase very carefully, especially early on, when you have very little capital. Consider whether you need all the bells and whistles, or can do okay, and even grow a little, with something less pricey to start.

Q: How do you define a Power Mommy? And what does it take to become one?
Chandra: I define a Power Mommy as a Mompreneur who has taken it to the next level; a woman who has moved from the home office to the executive office, all the while caring for her family and herself. It does require a willingness to sacrifice certain things—spare time, sleep, sometimes your sanity, other interests and pursuits. You really have to pare down your life and focus, at least in the short-term. For example, you’re not going to be able to fit in the piano class, the photography course, and a complete house renovation while also trying to build a big business, raise happy, well-adjusted children, and have a strong marriage. Be patient! You can have it all—just not necessarily all at once!

Nov 13 2009

I’d like to be on a beach right now

It is unbelievably late and I am still awake! Here is where I take a departure from the idea of Traveling with Kids.

Belize_beach

Right now, I’d actually like to be on a beach . By myself. No husband, no kids, no responsibilities. All I’d like is my bathing suit, my phone and my computer.

As much as I love taking my kids to new places, there are times when a mom just needs to be a woman and nothing else. I feel like men get to lose the “father” branding a lot easier than women get to lose the “mom” branding.

My husband’s current trip, a 5-week training course on the other side of the country, stifles any possibility of me having that much-needed Me-time. It’s times like these where I daydream about being alone on that warm, tropical beach up above. In Belize. In solitude. I’d probably still write about how and where I travel with my kids. I just wouldn’t be doing it at that particular time. Hey, everybody needs a minute. Especially moms!

I’m having a learning moment here: Parents can’t truly appreciate traveling with their kids unless they get some time to travel with just themselves.

Sep 26 2009

Taking Care of Yourself

One of the things about traveling that I tend to forget about is that it takes a toll on the body. I was kindly reminded of it this past week when my immune system said “nighty night” and shut down Sunday evening, mere hours after getting off the road from a weekend getaway.

The change in environment, introduction of new germs, lack of sleep, change in diet, exposure to more people are all leading factors to why we tend to get sick when we come off of a trip. I’d say the main factor is pure lack of sleep. It happens to me everytime. I go away, I’m pumped and excited to be somewhere other than the “4 walls” of my house, I stay up later watching t.v. that I don’t normally watch at home (although I get the same programming), and before you know it, “kachoo”, the first sneeze and accompanying sniffle make their way to the surface. Apparently it isn’t enough that I take Clorox cloths and wipe down various surfaces in the hotel room or that I travel with my own washcloth and sometimes my own towel or that I wear slippers in the room or flip flops in the shower or line the bathroom seat with paper. No, that’s not enough. Somehow, someway those sneaky bastard germs make their way through all of my other protective barriers and catch me through that one little crack…sleep.

Bottom line: I need to take better care of myself when traveling with my children. I make sure that they are in bed on time and that they’ve taken their necessary vitamins. I even try to maintain my workout schedule when I’m away from home. It’s just a challenge for me to wind down and go to sleep at a human hour…kind of like now. I was lucky this time around, getting over my sickness in a few days but it took discipline to do so. I went to bed before 11pm most nights this week; I didn’t workout before 6 am in the morning; I took either Nyquil or TheraFlu to have uninterrupted slumber; I drank 3-4 packets of Emergen-C a day coupled with double shots of vitamin C chewables; and I napped in the day, whenever my body wanted to say “nighty night”. I didn’t fight it.

Moral of the story: Go to bed! You’ll do your body good. Everything that’s there now will be there tomorrow. Traveling can be exciting and we may try to cram as much as possible into our schedules so that we don’t “miss anything” but what’s the sense in going away on mini-breaks or vacations if you come back sicker than when you left? None whatsoever.

So, on that note: Good Night.

Sep 19 2009

The Things We Do For Our Kids

I got the title for this post from a Face Book friend as she was replying to my Status Update where I said “soo tired – did mid-morning workout, drove 5 hours solo with the kids, yawning like crazy but still trying to be a trooper and let Amir enjoy a late night swim.” I thought quickly about what she said and nodded my head. Too true.

Us moms in particular preoccupy ourselves all too often with ensuring our kids’ happiness or what we think would make them happy sometimes to our own detriment.

Yesterday was my oldest son’s first homecoming game for football and the days leading up to them were difficult for me as I struggled with the decision of staying to allow him to go to the game or hitting the road with he and his brother instead.

We had an engagement to attend the following day which required me driving 4 hours away – that’s 4 hours without traffic (it actually took me almost 5). I had actually considered going to the 8pm homecoming, getting up early the next morning, hitting the road, and making it to our destination in time for the event.

But then I thought about me being on the road with the kids by myself not feeling totally rested and probably slightly stressed and I reconsidered my options.

The only option was to forego the game, pick my oldest up early from school, and get ahead of the I-95 Friday afternoon traffic. Nobody wants to be stuck in that with a 1 year old and a 5 year old. And I wasn’t.

I had definitely made the right choice.

My son asked me while we were on the road if we were going to make his football game, a question I was dreading because I didn’t want to hear the disappointment in his voice.

The excitement of traveling and my choreographed explanation dispelled any anger that he may have harbored and I was relieved of my fears to ensure his happiness for that day.

Sep 14 2009

One Place My Kids Will Never See With Me

As you can imagine, I’m always on line researching and reading all things related to traveling with your kids. In my research just now for an Examiner article, I came across an article from Budget Travel.com on 15 places every kid should see. Number 2 on the list was Ground Zero in New York. Honestly, I felt like my heart stopped when I saw that suggestion but worse yet, it felt like someone punched me in as I read “The nearby Tribute-WTC Center exhibits crushed firefighter helmets and other recovered items.” But I knew that I was still breathing because if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have been able to cry. I am crying at this moment as I write. I felt compelled to get on and write this post as I sit in the midst of my heartache otherwise how I feel will not truly be conveyed at another time. And I feel that if I write through this I can get out of this place that the suggestion took me to. Unfortunately, my thoughts aren’t very organized right now, they are seriously all over the place, therefore my writing will be all over the place. I apologize for that. I’m not in a place where I can self edit and I will not return to this post to edit outside of spelling mistakes.

First off, you’re probably wondering why I am so upset. Well, I worked at 1WTC for Cantor Fitzgerald for 3 years after graduating college in ’96. I left my job as an institutional broker for grad school. Many of my friends that I made on the job working 12 hour days, 5 days a week, stayed behind continuing their careers, one of my closest friends in particular. She had just come out to visit me in Los Angeles where I was living at the time for a week a couple of months before that fateful day. When September 11th happened, I was still working in the securities business, so I was awake as I listened to the events on my way into work. When I got to my office and saw the images on the t.v. I had to leave. When I got to a girlfriend’s house to sit with her, it was before the anyone thought that the towers would fall but I knew that I’d need company because I couldn’t get my friend or anyone else in NY for that matter on the phone. All of my family lives in NY so I didn’t know what was going on or what to expect. It was the one time in my life where I felt the most alone in the world and probably made the mental note to move back East and be within driving distance from my family. When the towers fell, I sat looking at the screen in shock and then just started screaming and kept screaming. Even til this day, 8 years later, I know that I haven’t dealt with this. The pain is still there, dormant, suppressed. Every year on 9/11, I take a personal hiatus from television. I listen to no radio, I read no papers. I guess that’s not dealing with it.

Now to the Budget article. I was truly interested in reading where they thought EVERY kid should visit, prepared to make a mental note for my own. I’m always open to suggestions and new ideas. Reading that the “museum” has items retrieved from the towers has plummeted my imagination into overdrive. All I can think about is going there to face whatever demon I need to face and seeing a familiar item of my friend’s or my best friend’s ex-boyfriend (or an item of anyone else I knew from the job for that matter) and absolutely losing it. I know I would. I’m not even there and I feel like I’m losing it. What would I explain to my kids? Should I explain anything to them? I think that would be a conversation that I will leave for my husband. I think that would also be a trip I’d leave for him as well if he felt so inclined to take them. I understand it’s a part of our history now but that day isn’t just “history” for many people who lost loved ones. It’s a bad bad dream, one never to be forgotten. It’s a hole, like the one in the ground that marks the place of hate and destruction, that can never truly be filled. I think what also stung me was that the “museum” was charging. My thoughts on that are why should anyone make any money off of the death of our friends and family.

I’ll get through this moment. I have to leave the post in this place, not really wrapped up like I usually like to do because that would be disingenuous to my feelings right now.

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