How Becoming a Mom Changed the Way I Plan Travel (Even When I Didn't Notice It)

For years, I thought my travel style was consistent.

I liked walking cities. Good food. Cultural landmarks. Days that felt full but intentional. When I look back at my itineraries from 2015–2019, they read confident and ambitious — tightly structured, carefully optimized.

Then I had a child in 2020.

And travel stopped — for everyone.

What surprised me later wasn't that travel changed after having a kid.

It was how invisible that change was at first — and how clearly it showed up once I started traveling again.

This isn't a story about logistics.

It's about mindset.

The Year Travel Didn't Tell the Truth

If you look only at my travel history, you wouldn't see a clean break in 2020. COVID flattened everything. No flights. No itineraries. No planning energy.

From a data perspective, 2020 is a blank year — not a transition.

The real shift only becomes visible in 2022, when travel resumes and something important doesn't come back:

My old way of thinking about trips.

When I looked at our travel patterns over the past decade, the shift wasn't obvious at first — until I compared the structure of actual days.

What My Old Itineraries Optimized For

Before kids, my itineraries were about coverage.

• •How many neighborhoods could we walk?
• •How many landmarks could fit in one day?
• •How late could dinner be without ruining the next morning?
• •How efficiently could we move between cities?

A "good day" was a productive day.

White space felt like waste.

Looking back, those itineraries were quietly performance-driven. Not for social media — for myself. Proof that I was doing travel right.

When we visited Barcelona before kids, our days were stacked — market, museum, long lunch, cathedral, late dinner, repeat.

Barcelona is a perfect example. We visited once before kids — and later as parents — and the difference wasn't the city. It was the way I structured the day.

What Changed (Without Me Consciously Deciding)

When travel came back, the structure was different — even though I never said, "I'm going to plan differently now."

The changes were subtle but consistent:

• •Fewer activities per day
• •Tighter geographic clustering
• •More open-ended blocks
• •Earlier endings
• •Fewer "must-see" checklists

On paper, the itineraries looked simpler.

In reality, they required more thought.

Even fine dining — something I still deeply value — shifted in tone. I still seek out thoughtful restaurants. I just think differently about timing, pacing, and energy.

The Mindset Shift I Didn't Name at First

Somewhere along the way, my definition of success changed.

I stopped optimizing for output and started optimizing for experience quality — not just for my child, but for myself too.

Travel Didn't Get Smaller — It Got More Honest

One of the biggest myths about travel with kids is that it becomes limited. Looking at my itineraries, that's simply not true.

I still:

• •Travel internationally
• •Prioritize food and culture
• •Walk cities
• •Choose depth over novelty

What changed wasn't where I went.

It was what I expected from a day.

I no longer plan to impress a hypothetical version of myself.

I plan for the humans who are actually there.

What I Understand Now

Having kids didn't ruin travel.

It removed the illusion that travel is about maximizing anything.

It taught me that planning is not about control — it's about care.

When I started building TravelTreasure, I realized I wasn't trying to recreate my old itineraries.

I was trying to design a tool that supports better judgment — the kind that leaves room for energy, flexibility, and real presence.

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