Im using my maternity leave to go backpacking around the world people say Im crazy but I dont care

It’s called maternity leave — not maternity sit around at home.After giving birth, a restless Esther Draycott, 31, wasn’t about to waste perfectly good paid time off nesting with her newborn — instead, the professional midwife from the UK grabbed her growing family and set off on a backpacking trip to Southeast Asia.“A lot of people thought our plans were crazy,” the mom in motion told Luxury Travel Daily.“I don’t think they believed we were going ahead with it until we booked the fights.” Clutching just one check-in bag to keep her, husband Daniel, 13-year-old daughter Bella and baby Reuben clothed for their six-month adventure, the adventurous crew announced their 11-country itinerary to their family and headed for the airport.

“[The idea to travel the world came after our] honeymoon in Thailand.“[Daniel and I] fell in love with Southeast Asia and realized that we hadn’t seen enough of life and the world, the National Health Service worker said.

“We wanted to do some traveling ourselves but it felt impossible.I saw a post online about another NHS [new mom] who was traveling during maternity leave [and felt inspired],” Esther related.“We didn’t book the flights until Reuben was born and we knew we were both healthy enough to travel,” she said.Relatives were disappointed, she admitted, over missing out on so much of Reuben’s first year.

But, they were supportive, saying that they they were happy for her “amazing opportunity.”“My biggest fear was our health while we’re away but I was treated for a sinus infection and the private healthcare out here is outstanding and I made sure we took out … comprehensive travel insurance in case we needed it,” she shared.“I’m also breastfeeding Reuben so I know he’s getting lots of antibodies — and I don’t have to worry about making up or sterilizing bottles,” she continued.To make the trip happen, Daniel took a sabbatical from his engineering job, and received appro...