Sarah became a single mum at 24. So she took her toddler on a worldwide trip.

The moment single mum of one Sarah Noack reached the summit of a 3180-metre mountain in the Himalayas, after carrying her three-year-old daughter on her back for three days, something clicked deep within her. 

"I knew if I was capable of this, I was capable of anything," she tells Mamamia.

Sarah has been travelling full-time with her daughter, now four years old, since October 2022, when she split up with her child's father.

The German native says she was faced with a choice when she found herself a single parent: stay in Germany where she would have to "work my ass off every day just to make ends meet," or try something completely out of the box.

"I didn't know where I wanted to rebuild my life and really missed travelling, so I decided to travel for a while until I figured out where I wanted to settle," she said. 

Watch: Must-Pack Travel Essentials. Post continues after video.

And it turns out, "settling" has taken on a new meaning for the adventurous pair.

"We never stopped traveling, because life on the road gave us such a sense of freedom and sovereignty that we would've never found otherwise," Sarah explained.

"I didn't want [a life of non-stop work trying to get ahead] for myself, but even more so, I didn't want it for my little daughter. I'm still working really hard to maintain this lifestyle, probably even harder than I would in a 9-to-5, but at least now, it feels like my own life, not some default setting I was expected to accept."

And what does her family back home think of her decision? 

"My family and friends were worried about our safety in the beginning, but now they've seen us do all these crazy adventures and while they still prefer to have us closer, they have more confidence in my abilities," she laughed.

"My daughter's father supports my decision and also, it's not like we never see our families, we come back to Europe every three to four months to visit family and friends."

@bysarahnoack

if only all women had the audacity of a middle aged white man, the world would actually start to heal!!!

♬ LUNA BALA (Slowed) - Yb Wasg'ood & Ariis

Along the way, Sarah's unconventional approach to motherhood has garnered over 100K followers on social media, as she documents her travels — often with her little girl strapped snugly on her chest or back. 

In one video, Sarah explores the ruins of Petra in Jordan. The next, she sits on a wall in New York's Central Park. Another? She's on the back of a tuk-tuk in South East Asia. 

Her videos have struck a chord with mums all over the world - this mother included - who dream of a life outside the status quo.

And that's become another focus for Sarah herself, who is creating a docu-series highlighting the voices of mothers around the world to challenge the conventional ideas we have of motherhood. 

"When I was younger, I always thought that being a mother meant being this sacrificing, loving woman who puts everything in her life on hold to raise her baby, and that this was the ultimate fulfillment a woman could possibly achieve," she explained. 

"When I became a mum at the age of 24, I realised how wrong everything I ever thought I knew about motherhood was. It was nothing short of propaganda."

"Nobody tells you how isolating it can be, especially as a new single mother," Sarah continued. 

"How much pressure there is to disappear into the role and to stop desiring being anything other than someone's mother. Also, it really pisses me off that the village everybody speaks about is gone, because patriarchy and capitalism literally stripped us of it, just to make even more profits. Modern motherhood is often just women trying to survive in systems that were never built for us."

Mic. Drop.

But she's not without her critics, either. While the majority of Sarah's comments are positive, one user recently commented:

"Backpacking with a baby in Jordan is not a flex, it's super dangerous and risky."

Sarah, who is as committed to dismantling incorrect assumptions about different cultures as she is about unpacking Western motherhood, created the following video:

@bysarahnoack Replying to @🧚‍♂️✨ the only danger here is regaining trust in humanity oh wait that’s actually what we all need 💕 #jordan #traveljordan #solotravelwithkids #visitjordan #backpackingwithkids @Visit Jordan ♬ Wavin' Flag (Made Famous by K'naan) - World Cup All-Stars

Mostly though, people who engage with Sarah's content are excited by the possibilities it represents. She's even starting organising meetups for other mums. 

"So many mothers were in my DMs telling me they wanted to travel with their children but were too scared to do it alone," Sarah said. 

"My first group trip was in April this year, to Bali, and it was one of the best things I've ever done. It was so beautiful to see how all these mums who were strangers at first came together like a family.

They supported each other, shared stories, and stepped outside their comfort zones together. The next trip is to Tanzania in October, and I'm currently planning more for 2026."

Sarah is currently raising funds for her docu-series - you can donate via the link, or check out her upcoming mum-meetup trips.

Feature Image: @bysarahnoack Instagram.

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