Mamma Mia Me Time

When writer and mom Mandy Walker went on a solo trip to the Greek isles, she rediscovered her sense of self...

Last July, I left for a 12-day solo trip to the Greek islands, with ‘unencumbered’ as my motto. After seven years of being a mom and wife, I embraced it.

There were practical reasons why the holiday didn’t include my daughter, India, or husband, Mike, such as not wanting India to miss school. But mostly, I’d waited patiently for my reprieve from what I quite honestly term as ‘domesticity burnout’. Mike had cycled in the Karoo with friends, run the Prague marathon and travelled abroad for work a few times. An avid traveller, I hadn’t left SA’s borders since India was born. Now, with a support plan in place, she was old enough to cope without me for a while.

I’d always loved motherhood, but never completely adjusted to that heel-nipping feeling that demanded I exchange a paintbrush for a play-date chart. Years ago I’d stuck up a picture of a village perched on a cliff in the Med, where, on days I dreamt of having me time, I imagined I’d dine on olives and read the books that lay by my bed.