I left parenting duties behind for a mums’ trip to Turkey

August 29, 2026 - 21:30

There is a specific kind of silence that only exists when you are not listening for a child. It is not the absence of noise, but the absence of vigilance. For the first time in years, I found that silence on a long weekend with two other mothers in Turkey. We did not plan an itinerary. We did not look for family-friendly buffets or splash parks. We simply booked a hotel with a pool and a view of the sea, and we let the days unfold without a single request for a snack.

The most radical thing we did was talk. Uninterrupted, meandering conversation that started with coffee in the morning and picked up again over wine at sunset. We talked about our marriages, our careers, the quiet resentments we carry, and the deep love we feel but rarely articulate. We talked about our children, not as a logistical checklist, but as people we are getting to know. There was no one to interrupt, no one needing a bathroom break, no one asking if we were done yet.

We cherished the time for unrushed and child-free conversation. We swam in the sea without watching the shore. We ate long meals where the plates were cleared and we still sat there, talking. It was not an escape from motherhood, but a return to the self that exists before the title of mum. We came home tired in a good way, with sand in our shoes and a renewed patience. The kids survived. The husbands survived. And we remembered that we are not just mothers, but women with stories that deserve to be told out loud, without a timer.