Moose Match Mayhem, PB&J, and Glacier Chunks — Adventures in Solo-Mom Travel

This summer, I took my two kids (ages 9 and 11) on a 12-day trip to Alaska. Just the three of us. Planes, rental cars, lodges, national parks—the whole thing. It was the longest we’ve traveled alone together since my divorce. I was equal parts excited and nervous.

I wanted to do something big that the kids would remember, and we did it. Not perfectly, not without stress—but joyfully, with lots of laughter, fish, and a luckily unused can of bear spray.

What I Was Afraid Of

There were a million little things I worried about, but one night stands out. The night before our fishing charter in Seward, I laid awake worrying. My daughter gets seasick. She hates fishing. My son, on the other hand, had been talking about this fishing trip for months. What if my daughter vomited the whole time? What if she was miserable? What if this thing I planned to make one kid happy made the other one sick and cranky?

As part of my 6-pronged strategy (🤣) I gave her Dramamine that morning, packed a load of snacks, and told myself we’d get through it. She napped through the first hour of the tour and then spent the remainder playing on her iPad. One of the fishermen gave me a little lecture about screen time on the boat, but to me it felt like a win. No crying, no whining, no vomiting—and my son got his fishing dream day.

Because I was traveling solo with two kids, sometimes one of them had to do something they didn’t love for the sake of the group. That part was hard. But it was also okay.

What Actually Happened

Some of our favorite moments were the ones we didn’t plan.

Like the day we found a little lagoon in downtown Anchorage, and my son asked if he could fish. He’s 11, and this is new for us, so I hesitated, but said yes.  I left him there while my daughter and I went to an aquarium nearby. I kept checking my phone, wondering if he had somehow managed to be eaten by a bear, but when we came back, he was glowing. He had caught fish. He had met people. He was so proud. Meanwhile, my daughter and I had the best time wandering the aquarium at our own pace. Everyone got what they needed.

On the last day of the trip I had a rafting tour scheduled, but the kids were just done. Instead of pushing through, I canceled it. We spent the day hiking, exploring, and relaxing.  It was better that way. I kept reminding myself that this trip wasn’t about crossing everything off the itinerary. It was about being with my kids.

What I Learned (a few tips + a mindset shift)

• Bring a card game. We brought Moose Match Mayhem, which was Alaska-themed and  perfect for long dinners or downtime. It saved us more than once.

• Always have a PB&J in your bag. One of mine is a selective eater and the other is very adventurous.  We had more conflicts than I care to admit around which restaurant could reasonably feed us all.  Toward the end of the trip I talked to the more selective kid, and realized we would have all been much happier if she could have just opted for a sandwich from my bag.  This will be my go-to for dealing with food from now on. 

• Get a place with a kitchen or an inn that serves breakfast if at all possible.  Getting dressed and out for breakfast didn’t work for us.

• Don’t over-plan. The tours were fun for me, but truthfully a few of them bored my kids to tears. The biggest hits were the DIY adventures—renting kayaks and exploring a lake on our own, hiking in Denali and Kenai Fjords, finding places we could wander with no pressure to stay.

• Carry Dramamine, Band-Aids, and Neosporin. You’ll feel like a hero when you have enough gear to dress 20 bleeding mosquito bites in one go.

• The goal is time together, not perfection. Let go of the pressure to make it amazing every moment.

  
  

Why You Can Do This Too

If you’re newly out of your marriage and the idea of traveling solo with your kids feels overwhelming, I get it. I truly do.

But here’s the thing: You’re already doing the hard stuff. You’re managing school schedules and bedtimes and moods and messes. You’ve navigated heartbreak and transition. Compared to that booking a rental car in Anchorage is a piece of cake.

You don’t have to be the most adventurous person or the most organized. You just have to be willing. To try. To trust yourself. To laugh when things go sideways. To cancel your rafting tour.

And your kids? They’ll see you doing that. They’ll feel it. They’ll remember.  

You’ve got this.

Me holding a piece of the Holgate Glacier. Photo by my sweet daughter.