'I packed 1 suitcase to go travelling for months with 2 toddlers. This is how I did it.'

Back in 2020, the pandemic pretty much decimated my wedding business. So I pivoted to the online world, dreaming of the day we could travel again and I could take my work on the road.

I spent two years growing my consultancy business and watching the rise of the 'digital nomad' online, knowing that I definitely wanted a piece of that life. Sunrise gym sessions in the morning, work stints at boujee cafes, followed by midday yoga classes and some more emails before a sunset swim to wrap up the day. 

Watch: Listen up digital nomads: here are Mamamia's rules for travel etiquette. Post continues below.

What's not to love about making money from anywhere and living your best life, while seeing the world? Trouble was, all of these digital nomads were carefree 20-somethings with zero responsibilities. And me? I was a 36-year-old working mum with a newborn and a toddler… 

As someone who loves a challenge, I was determined to make this digital nomad dream a reality. So much so, that I even booked a business branding shoot to manifest it all coming to life. I created a life-sized vision board with images of all the places I wanted to visit, hoping to 'will' my dream into existence.

Fast forward 12 months, and my husband and I hatched a plan to surprise my dad for his 70th birthday in the UK. His grandad was also turning 100 in July, so we saw this as our opportunity for a European adventure — and to see if the digital nomad life was for us. As the main breadwinner, we decided I would keep working while my husband took some time off work to be the primary caregiver.

Having been to the UK the previous year, we learnt lots of lessons about travelling long distances with kids. In particular, how challenging it was to wheel multiple suitcases and a pram around whilst simultaneously stopping two excitable toddlers from running amuck.

So this time, we did things a little differently and packed up everything in just one suitcase. As a notorious overpacker, I was not happy with this, but in the end, it was definitely the right decision because we didn't realise just how tiny European cars were — and there's no way more than one case would have fit into the boots of our rental cars! 

Laura and her family packed all their belongings into one suitcase. Image: Supplied.

It also made it easier to haul it across the cobbled side streets when searching for our hidden Airbnbs on those hot summer days.

Overall, it was very challenging to decide what to pack as we left in March, which was still pretty cool in Europe. We needed warm clothes for the first few months but also summer stuff for when the weather got warmer too.

We were all restricted to two long-sleeved t-shirts, two short-sleeved shirts, two jumpers, two long pants, two shorts, two sets of pyjamas, two sets of swimmers, undies and socks, one pair of trainers and two pairs of sandals each. Gym gear for my hubby and me, as well as some extra dresses for me. 

Basically, we just wore whatever was clean on rotation and did a lot of washing every few days. I've since burned every item of clothing I took with me because I was just sick of the sight of them after wearing them every single day.

When we set off, our kids were 20 months and three and a half years old — not exactly the carefree scenario featured on my vision board, but hey, we were up for the adventure! 

We moved to a new country every month for four and a half months. We visited Spain, Portugal, Montenegro, Croatia and England. On average, we travelled to a new city every seven days, making it almost impossible to create any kind of routine. 

Laura and her family moved to a new country every month for four and a half months. Image: Supplied.

My original plan was to wake up super early and smash out a few hours of work, while my clients and team were online in Australia. My hubby would do the morning routine with the kids, while I headed to a café to work in peace. But little did I know that, because the Europeans love their late nights, early morning brekkies are not a thing. So I ended up wandering the streets at 6am (a very reasonable time for a coffee in Australia) looking for a place to work, not realising that these places didn't open until 10 or 11am…

After that, we tried a new approach where we had family time in the morning and then I would work in the afternoon… also forgetting that all the cafés and restaurants close from around 2pm to 5pm for afternoon siestas.

Laura would work from a cafe while she travelled. Image: Supplied.

Fortunately, my business is set up so it doesn't require much hands-on time from me, but the time zone between Europe and Australia meant it was hard to get certain things done. I often found myself awake long before sunrise, setting up makeshift offices in the kitchen for client calls, trying not to wake the kids.​

Once they were up it was impossible to work, so most days looked like me squeezing in an hour or two of work either on the go, by the pool while hubby entertained them, during kids nap times or escaping for an evening of sangria and catching up on a few things. It was definitely not what I'd seen on TikTok…

It took us around two months to find some semblance of a 'routine'. The regular travelling was tough, adjusting sleep patterns and new bedrooms for the kids each week was challenging and trying to keep them entertained without all their usual toys from home was hard.

We'd only been able to pack them two books and a teddy each, some small games and toy cars. This meant getting out of the Airbnb as much as possible — lots of exploring, building sandcastles, visiting parks and castles. 

The concept of being a digital nomad seemed sexy but with kids in tow… not so much. The hardest part was often feeling like I was missing out. Whilst the boys were splashing around in the pool, for me, there was still a constant push-pull between work life and mum life and I felt like I wasn't being present enough. 

What I learnt was that, as a working mum, I was facing the exact same scenarios as a digital nomad as I did at home. Juggling work life and mum life and managing those feelings of guilt about not doing enough — but often just with better food and a nicer view!

Laura pictured during her four-and-a-half-month trip to Europe. Image: Supplied

Despite the chaos, it was an incredible experience.​ As all mums know, time is a thief and our kids will never be that small again. We made incredible memories, saw some amazing new places, spent so much time with our family and friends, celebrated milestone birthdays and my boys got to meet their great grandma, before she passed away a few months later. 

Would I do it again? For now, I'm not sure if I'll mix business, family and travel. I think for most businesswomen, when we're with our family we would prefer to fully disconnect and be present. From now on, family holidays will be reserved purely for fun and I'll save the work for my solo business trips!

So can mums be digital nomads?

Yes, but don't expect the glossy, carefree TikTok version! It's less about 5am yoga and blissful café work sessions and more about squeezing in business meetings amongst the chaos.

My biggest tips for any mums thinking about becoming digital nomads would be:

• Stick to one spot and do less actual travelling, this way you'll create more routine for the kids and for you to work.

• Consider waiting until the kids are a bit older so you're less dictated by nap times and they won't need constant entertaining.

• Make sure your business is set up to support you so you can actually let yourself be present and enjoy the experience.

It's challenging, unpredictable and definitely requires a sense of humour. But if you're willing to embrace the messiness, it's 100 per cent worth those memories.

Feature Image: Supplied