The one-on-one trip every kid deserves

James and I just got back from our very first and most-definitely-not-last solo trip. Ok, not quite solo, because we roped in the camping queen herself, my mum Ann Holt, to join us. But solo in the sense that it was just one kid, no siblings, no referee duty, and most importantly no “if you poke your brother in the eye one more time!!!” threats.

It was just James and me (and Gaga), and I am telling you…the bonding, the snuggles, the sheer euphoria of not having to break up a fight for four straight days. Every parent needs this. Every kid needs this.

We stayed at Under Canvas, which is technically glamping – we had a toilet, a real bed, and a pull-chain shower, thank God – but it still felt close enough to the real thing. No air conditioning. No screens. Just a tent, the woods, and us. We played board games. We ate s’mores. We listened to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the Stephen Fry version obviously). No service. No emails. No “shit, I forgot to respond to that” feeling. We were completely locked into nature and each other.

I cannot tell you how awesome it was.

I’ll be honest, I was nervous going into it. What was I going to do with no wifi? Spoiler alert: I was fine. How was James going to handle a 3.5 hour car ride from SFO and then another hour into the park every single day? Would he beg for his iPad? Would he melt down on a hike? I am pleased to report: none of that happened. Ok, maybe a tiny squeak of “I’m tired” before I refueled him with some nasty ass chicken fingers, but that kid did so damn well. And you know what he kept saying, unprompted, the whole trip? “Thank you so much, Mum. This is the best. Can we do this again, Mum?”

He loved it. I loved it. My mum loved it. Being disconnected made me really sit with what actually matters. I am so sick of contorting myself into knots to hustle, to win, to be “successful.” And funny enough, none of that mattered even a little bit when I was standing dwarfed by sequoias or playing in a stream with my son. It felt like what life is actually supposed to feel like.

I know it’s not realistic to go off grid and live in a hut in the wilderness forever. I’d probably lose my mind after a week or two. But stepping away from the absolute hamster wheel of social media and the internet, even just for a few days, is genuinely divine.

So I’m coming home mildly behind on hustle, but completely full up on love for my family and the great outdoors. Already dreaming up the next solo kid trip. Turns out Andy’s been on to something all these years (annual vegas trip IYKYK).