My two most recent trips have done a lot for me in the way of intangible benefits. I’d say my trip to Africa removed a lot of fear in my life (staring at glowing eyes 30′ from you in the dark bush puts things in perspective) and Nepal built up a lot of confidence (ice climbing at 15,000′ will do that). Since returning I’ve been taking on things and going places I wouldn’t normally. Nothing Earth shattering, but still, I’m getting outside of my comfort zone a lot more.
And that’s how I found myself as the only Dad in a room with over 40 Moms last night. It was a Mom’s Night Out, so what the hell was I doing there? It turns out two of the Moms speaking about travel this night were good friends Debbie Dubrow from DeliciousBaby.com and Michelle Duffy from Wandermom.com. I hadn’t seen either of them since last year and here was a chance to see them both at the same time!! And hear about travel with kids. And CUPCAKES!!! They had yummy, mini-cupcakes donated to the cause by Trophy Cupcakes. Oh yeah, they get a link in this post as I munched down at least a dozen of the delicious salted caramel gems they provided. The Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland also gets a nod for hosting the event plus wine from Trio Vinters and Woodhouse Family Cellars. I haven’t been in a wine mood much lately so I only sampled the 2007 Merlot from Woodhouse and would rate it as, “yummy”.
Also on the bill with Debbie and Michelle was Anne Taylor Hartzell of HipTravelMama and Lora Shinn of CascadiaKids and author of Northwest Kid Trips. Lora acted as moderator and the three other gals fielded a number of scripted questions then took questions from the audience. Now, I know the idea was a Mom’s night out and the event was well attended for being the first time it was hosted, but really, as a Dad, I found all of the information to be highly useful. I’m not saying the gals should change the format and I’m not saying the likes of me should be invited to every event, but all the information presented applied to either type of parent. And that was cool for me to see. That when Moms get together to talk about travel, it’s pretty universal stuff.
So for all you Dads out there who ever wondered what’s going on at secretive Mom meetings like this, it’s the same stuff Dads would talk about. Except they had cupcakes.