A mother to two girls and a full-time creative agency producer, shares how a mother-daughter solo trip made her want to do it again and again
Article by Alicia Yueh
After getting married and having kids, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. I lost the part of me that loves taking risks, the part of me that loves freedom, and the part of me that enjoys travelling solo. I wouldn’t say that I am a seasoned female solo traveller, as I could count the times I have gone solo travelling with one hand. But I missed it.
Inspired by father and photographer, Stefen Chow, who does it every year individually with his elder daughter and younger son, I decided to go on a ‘solo trip’ with my 3-year-old after not having travelled solo for the past five years.
Us at Qixingtan Beach, Taiwan. Photo by Alicia.
Since it’s our first time, and as much as I love taking some risk, I understood the huge responsibility that I have as a mom having a little human being tagging along. And so we had to travel somewhere where communication would not be too big of an issue for us. With that, I struck out Japan. We also didn’t have to travel in luxury because we almost always do when we travel as a family.
I took the leap of faith when I saw Stefen Chow posting photos of himself travelling with his son to Hualien, Taiwan. And off I went and booked tickets on Scoot bound for Taipei. We did a six-day trip that included Hualien and I enjoyed every bit of it. The good bits and the not-so-good bits.
And here are my four reasons why I chose to travel solo with my 3-year-old and will continue doing so.
1. I got to spend 24 hours x however long we were travelling together
My daughter wanted her own luggage so we packed it with carry-on essentials like diapers, toys and snacks. Photo by Alicia.
I am a full-time working mom so I never actually get to spend this much time with my daughter. Like it or not, we only have each other to depend on. And that is when I realised I can’t let any frustrations get a hold of me during moments when she was being difficult (not gonna lie about that!) because it’s not as if I can just walk out and let my husband take over.
She got her own baby bubble tea, so we didn't have to fight over mine. Photo by Alicia.
Yet at the same time, I realised I could be that full parent, the mom or cool mom that I also wanted to be. I let my daughter run and tumble around in the park, she had one too many bubble teas during the trip and no one was there to tell me no (haha!), she eats what she wants and I too get what I wanted. More often than not, we over-ordered our food.
2. I saw a side of my daughter that made me realise she’s rather mature and very adaptable
She was always enthusiastic about asking me for money for the street buskers. Photo by Alicia.
In a foreign land, I thought she was an awesome travel buddy. She helped look after the luggage while I was Googling for things. She was excited to be in a hostel that doesn’t have a lift and we had to use a coin-operated washing machine.
She realised that we were low in cash and figured she shouldn’t just donate what we had left to the street buskers, and she said I shouldn’t waste money on claw machines since I was bad at it.
Waiting for our train back to Taipei from Hualien. Photo by Alicia.
She knew when she should hurry along otherwise we’d miss the train. She made do with eating meals on the go, and she understood that we were ‘not there yet’ because Mummy got lost while cycling. She also cheered me on when I told her that I was tired from all the cycling.
3. I rediscovered the part of me that loves taking risk
Some of her favourite times were spent at the night markets around Taipei. Photo by Alicia.
A week before I left, my mom texted me to say that my dad should follow us on this trip. I told her ‘No’ and that I tried my best to make sure I don’t put my daughter at too much risk. Yet some risk is necessary to create interesting life experiences.
If anything, the craziest thing we did was to cycle almost 20km to get to Qixingtan Beach (七星谭) and back. Honestly, I didn’t realise that the journey would be physically tough, slightly dangerous with some cycling alongside motorbikes, roadblocks, wrong turns, and long inclines. At some point, my daughter even fell asleep on the bicycle child seat.
We cycled almost 20km that day to get to Qixingtan Beach and back, and loved every minute of it. Photo by Alicia.
But because of my stubbornness, cycling along the east coast of Taiwan is still one of our best memories, and we still talk about it whenever we see bicycles with a child seat back home in Singapore.
4. We made many great memories together
We decided to travel light and do away with the stroller. This is us at Hualien Dongdamen Night Market. Photo by Alicia.
These memories and moments are unique to us and I really want to do this every alternate year with my daughters.
I do feel that such solo trips with kids open up a window of getting to know each other better and I honestly can’t wait for our conversations to go deeper as they grow older.
It is Daddy’s turn this year and I hope he’d be able to enjoy it as much as I did.
#KlookInsider is an ongoing series that features the experiences of fellow travellers. If you’ve got a story to share, drop us an email at sgmarketing@klook.com
