In the spring of 2023, I had been separated from my now ex-husband for about a year. I was beginning to look at my future with all the possibilities it now held and trying to envision what that new life would look like for my son and me. I knew I wanted travel to be a bigger part of our lives.
My then-almost-5-year-old was obsessed with trains. We watched kid-friendly train montages full of fun songs over and over again, and he ended up with a favorite train: the Norfolk & Western 611. He pointed it out every time it came across the screen, and we even found a documentary-style show about this specific train that he watched every day.
Because of his passion for this train, I stumbled across a Facebook group and learned that it was almost finished with restoration in Pennsylvania. Not only that, but it would be doing a farewell tour, with two weeks of rides, before moving “home” to Virginia. It wasn’t clear whether it would run in Virginia or end up in a museum.
This felt like our last chance to see his favorite train. The dates were right around his birthday. It was a perfect trip!
The train was in Strasburg, which meant flying into Philadelphia and driving out to Amish country. I booked our flights, a rental car, and one of the only motels that still had rooms. I was so excited. I felt so free, and we had something fun to look forward to after several months of feeling quite broken.
My mom was nervous for us to go, but I just knew everything would be fine.
We planned to fly in Saturday, spend Sunday doing all the train things, drive back toward Philly that evening, meet friends and visit the Philadelphia Zoo on Monday, then fly home Tuesday morning.
The Trip That Tested Everything
Things started off great. Bags packed, we headed to the airport, got there early…and our flight was delayed.
Instead of leaving around noon, we finally boarded after 3 p.m. We arrived in Philadelphia just before 9 p.m. local time. With only carry-on luggage but a car seat in tow, we boarded the shuttle to the rental car facility, only to find out there were no cars available.
So we sat. For over an hour.
I called our motel to let them know we’d be late. Thankfully, my son had taken a great nap on the plane and found a little girl to play with while we waited.
It was after 10 p.m. when we finally got our car.
And it was electric.
I was shocked. I told the lady behind the counter, “Honestly, I’m from Texas. It never even crossed my mind that I was booking an electric car. I didn’t realize when I made the booking, and I don’t know what to do with that.”
She reassured me that chargers were everywhere and someone would show me how it worked. And more importantly, this was the only car available.
The man who handed over the keys showed me the charging cables and told me to download an app to find chargers. He admitted he didn’t actually drive an electric car himself, but assured me I’d be fine.
I told him we were staying in Amish country.
“You probably won’t even need it. This thing can go 100 miles without a charge.”
Well, okay then.
I got the car seat installed, plugged our destination into the GPS, and we were finally on the road.
We made it to Strasburg around midnight. It was Memorial Day weekend, the train was a huge attraction, and the town was packed.
We arrived at our motel, and there was no one in the office.
I had never stayed at a true, small, family-run motel. I didn’t know what to do. I called repeatedly and could hear the phone ringing in the empty office. There was a doorbell, but that seemed pointless when no one was there. I pushed it, waited a minute, and left.
I was frustrated, exhausted, and had just woken my son from his sleep, only to have no room.
I drove around town. Not a single vacancy. Every hotel, motel, and B&B had a No Vacancy sign.
I pulled into a parking lot and started calling nearby towns.
My son was asleep behind me, and I remember looking back at him and just crying, questioning what I had done.
We were alone, in a state I’d never visited, in a tiny town with nowhere to go. Every place was full, and we had so many plans that really needed a good night’s sleep first.
I didn’t know the area or how safe it was. I was worried about my son sleeping in the car, whether we’d get any sleep at all, and whether I’d made the right choice bringing us here.
More than anything, I felt very, very alone.
I took a moment, got myself back together, and made another call.
It felt like forever, but I finally found a motel almost an hour away with ONE room available. They held it with my credit card, and we drove through the night to get there.
The beds were terrible, the sleep was rough, and I was so anxious about missing my alarm and getting back to Strasburg for our train reservation. I tried not to cry at the thought of missing the breakfast and morning exploring I’d planned.
But we made it.
We got back to Strasburg the next morning. I was exhausted, but my son was excited.
We rode HIS train.
The look on his face couldn’t be beat. We were both so happy.
We explored the town, visited the toy train museum, and ate a meal inside a train car overlooking the tracks, where we watched his favorite train go by over and over again.
He got a kick out of seeing the horses and buggies around town, too. I wish I’d researched taking a buggy ride beforehand, but by the time I realized it was an option, it was too late.
As evening approached, we needed to head back toward Philadelphia to check into our next hotel and meet up with friends.
Except all that extra driving the night before meant the electric car needed charging.
I pulled out the apps and followed the directions to a Tesla charger along our route.
Except I wasn’t driving a Tesla.
And none of the connections fit.
So there I sat, searching for what kind of charger I needed and what would happen if the battery died in the middle of nowhere. It’s not like AAA could bring me a gallon of electricity.
After a few YouTube videos, more downloaded apps, and some backtracking, we finally found a compatible charger in a parking lot shared with Whole Foods.
We spent an hour wandering around Whole Foods for absolutely no reason while the car charged.
The next hotel supposedly had a charger, too. Unfortunately, the only working connection was for a Tesla.
Of course it was.
Thankfully, the rest of the trip went much more smoothly. We met up with friends, had a great day at the Philadelphia Zoo, and I even ventured into the city to pick up a famous Philly cheesesteak.
Which was honestly not great. I’d fallen into a tourist trap with my limited research, and I still regret that sandwich. We need a repeat trip just to make up for it.
We never did find another convenient charger. I gave up, paid the inflated airport fee to recharge the car, and we made our flight home.
This trip was stressful. There was a stark realization that it was just my son and me, and several moments where I felt incredibly vulnerable.
But I also felt empowered.
I figured it out.
The plans changed, things weren’t perfect, and there were definitely lessons learned. But I still have the best picture of him trying apple pie for the first time, sitting in our lunch train car, on my computer slideshow.
And I wouldn’t trade that memory for anything.
Finding My Confidence (and Someone Who Understood)
A year later, my divorce was finalized, my house was sold, and I’d spent some time getting my finances in order.
I wanted to celebrate with a big trip, something just for my son and me. I let him pick our destination.
He picked New York City.
We stayed for a week, and I spent almost four months planning. NYC offered so much, and I had no idea what was realistic to accomplish with a six-year-old.
How far apart were the landmarks? Could we walk? How many subway stops? How long would attractions take? How much could one kid reasonably handle in a day?
I searched for family itineraries, weeklong itineraries, kid-friendly attractions, and everything in between.
But article after article seemed to assume I’d have another adult helping me or that my child was a teenager who could manage independently.
Then I found one blog post by a Seattle-based mom who had traveled solo to NYC with her eight-year-old son.
I studied her itinerary. I was so grateful for the advice and reassurance I found. We didn’t follow everything she recommended, but it gave me confidence that we could make this trip happen.
And we did.
NYC is still one of my favorite trips. It had its own mishaps, but this time I was more confident, and we had some experience behind us. We both fell in love with the city that week, and we still talk about it today.
Why I Started By Sarah Marie
Then came another Memorial Day weekend.
My son was newly seven, we had one long weekend, and I just wanted to get away. Plans for another destination fell through because of the weather, so we opted for an old favorite of mine: San Antonio.
I planned the trip in maybe a week or two.
We found a fantastic hotel, drove down, and knocked it out of the park.
SeaWorld, LEGOLAND, the Alamo, and Natural Bridge Caverns. All in three days.
When I got home and told my girlfriend everything we’d done, and the deals I had found to make it possible, she looked at me and got serious.
“Girl, you just planned a whole summer vacation in one weekend! You need to write a blog. I would read that! I’m a single mom, PTO is limited, and I want to make the most of my kid’s summer on a budget. You need to teach people how to do this!”
I thought back to that one blog post by the mom who had traveled to NYC with her son, and how much it had helped me plan a trip I wasn’t sure I could manage.
I wanted to do the same for another mom, another solo parent, or another family.
I’ve always been good at finding a deal, but now I also had real, practical experience to share.
Too many of my friends tell me they could never do what we do. They couldn’t afford it, couldn’t find the time, or couldn’t manage traveling with their kids on their own.
I know those feelings because I’ve had them, too.
So here we are. The start of By Sarah Marie.
Because your “one days” can become “todays.”
If I can do this, I know I can show you how to do it, too.
