It’s called maternity leave — not maternity sit around at home.
After giving birth, a restless Esther Draycott, 31, wasn’t about to waste perfectly good paid time off nesting with her newborn — instead, the professional midwife from the UK grabbed her growing family and set off for Southeast Asia.
“A lot of people thought our plans were crazy,” the mom in motion told Luxury Travel Daily. “I don’t think they believed we were going ahead with it until we booked the fights.”
Clutching just one check-in bag to keep her, husband Daniel, 13-year-old daughter Bella and baby Reuben clothed for their six-month adventure, the adventurous crew announced their 11-country itinerary to their family and headed for the airport.
“[The idea to travel the world came after our] honeymoon in Thailand. “[Daniel and I] fell in love with Southeast Asia and realized that we hadn’t seen enough of life and the world, the National Health Service worker said.
“We wanted to do some traveling ourselves but it felt impossible. I saw a post online about another NHS [new mom] who was traveling during maternity leave [and felt inspired],” Esther related.
“We didn’t book the flights until Reuben was born and we knew we were both healthy enough to travel,” she said.
Relatives were disappointed, she admitted, over missing out on so much of Reuben’s first year. But, they were supportive, saying that they they were happy for her “amazing opportunity.”
“My biggest fear was our health while we’re away but I was treated for a sinus infection and the private healthcare out here is outstanding and I made sure we took out a very comprehensive travel insurance in case we needed it,” she shared.
“I’m also breastfeeding Reuben so I know he’s getting lots of antibodies — and I don’t have to worry about making up or sterilizing bottles,” she continued.
To make the trip happen, Daniel took a sabbatical from his engineering job, and received approval from Bella’s school — once they were satisfied that the trip would be educational for the teen.
As reported by What’s The Jam, the couple are relying on savings and some inheritance money. They left soon after Reuben’s birth last June, and have already been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
They will be on the road until April, with stops in Malaysia, South Africa and The Maldives to come.
And despite negative comments she’s received both on and offline — the peripatetic parent runs an Instagram account documenting their travels – Esther believes the whole thing has been “amazing” for her baby’s development.
“There’s baby sensory everywhere we go with all the different sights, smells and sounds. He happily sleeps in his carrier and loves all the attention he gets from locals. He’s such a happy and relaxed baby,” she said.
“We plan our activities to avoid the midday heat and we book our accommodation a day or two in advance, which gives us the flexibility to stay put and rest if we feel the need. We know he won’t remember the trip but we feel so lucky that we get to spend every day together as a family when he is growing so fast.”
While for some experienced parents, the concept may be a complete nightmare, Esther says the whole thing has been a relative breeze.
“It’s been much easier than we were anticipating. There are some grumpy days or nights where he wakes up a lot but being away doesn’t make it anymore difficult,” she suggested.
In fact, Esther encourages others to give the extreme family bonding experience a try, saying that people might be surprised how little they need for a trip like this.
“We planned so carefully what we would pack but we didn’t need most of it or could have bought it out here. We would have packed less if we’d known,” she said.
And she’s hoping her experience will ultimately help others follow in her footsteps.
“When I was looking for advice and trying to research traveling with a baby, I couldn’t find much,” she said.
“I built up the confidence by watching another woman on social media and blogs who is doing the same thing. It would be great if sharing our experience could help families to travel,” Esther enthused.
“We’re having an amazing time and taking it all as it comes.”
