When Travel With Kids Feels Overwhelming: How We Found a Gentler Way Forward

Before every family trip, we used to do that quiet little dance all parents know too well, checking bags again, mentally running through packing lists, trying to squeeze tasks into already-full schedules, rushing around the house hoping we didn’t forget something essential.

None of it had anything to do with our son.

He wasn’t the stressful part.
The stress was the weight we were carrying long before the suitcase ever zipped shut.

It was the mental load.
The planning.
The pressure to create something special.
The exhaustion from already being stretched so thin as parents.
The feeling that we had to hold everything together so our child could have a good time.

Then one morning before a weekend trip, as we moved around each other in the kitchen, tired, quiet, and overwhelmed, we finally said it out loud:

“Travel isn’t fun anymore.
And it’s not because of him…
It’s because we are burnt out.”

That was our light-bulb moment.

The problem wasn’t our child.
The problem was that we were out of capacity.

And when you’re out of capacity, even the best parts of parenting feel heavy.