Claire Petersky wrote:
We recently had a dinner party, one couple, and four guests who were single.
After the party, one of my husband's comments was how much everyone there
travels. One of the guests left the party early because she was flying out
to Hawaii early the next morning. People talked about diving in the Red Sea,
a recent trip to Indonesia, the list went on and on. I said to DH that none
of those people had kids full-time. Even the couple only had one kid from a
previous marriage who they don't have custody of. It's a lot easier to go
places and have the money to travel if you're not raising kids.

Comments?

I think all that is true. We travel a fair amount, *but* we have an
only child. (Her first plane trip was when she was under a year old and
my in-laws had their 50th wedding anniversary.) We've hauled our
daughter to Mexico many times, the first when she was a toddler, and
we've taken other air trips -- a couple to Hawaii, one to the
Southwest, one to Disneyland, many times to the Pittsburgh area when
the in-laws were still around --- plus taken car trips, especially up
and down the coast. We'd like to take her to England, but right now our
money is going into private middle school, so it's hard to seriously
consider that kind of expenditure.

But, again, we have an only child. I didn't have only one kid because I
wanted to travel...I didn't think that far ahead...but I constantly
realize if I had more than one, we couldn't do these things.

I think it's just a practicality. Unless one has infinite money, one
can't buy an increasing number of airplane seats to Tahiti (for
example; it's no place I've been). And people who are kidless are going
to have more freedom than our family has. What's surprising to me is
that it didn't occur to me how much I would be tied to the school
schedule until it was too late to do anything about it. I would have at
least gotten in a trip to the East Coast for the changing of the
leaves; I'd love to see that. So, I should be able to go in -- what? --
another 7 years. If there's any money left after paying college bills,
that is.

beeswing