Travel stories

A high-flying single mother retires from the rat race to travel the world with her son

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A mother defied the ‘standard’ by quitting her job and traveling around the world with her teenage son.

Crissy Whalin, 42, and her 13-year-old son Zephyr have visited 40 countries and 123 cities.

The radio producer, originally from Los Angeles, wanted to leave the rat race. She pulled Zephyr out of private school and the two embarked on a cheap trip around the world.

‘Before losing my work, I was earning £80k [$100k] a year from three jobs: one full-time and two part-time. But I was depressed because I couldn’t keep up with the rat race in Los Angeles.

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‘So, when I lost my main income in January 2018, I decided to reevaluate life and figure out what is most important for me and my son.’

‘Zephyr fell in love with Paris when we went in 2016 and at the time, he suggested travelling the world together. Losing my job enabled me to make his dream our reality as I still had a part-time remote job as a radio producer and another at a photography studio.’

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Crissy formerly spent £6,380 per month on rent, automobile bills, and Zephyr’s school fees. With £16,000 in savings, she decided to book a one-way ticket back to Paris in April 2018.

‘As soon as I mentally decided we were going, things started happening,’ she says.

‘I had very little savings but then I was lucky enough to get a one-off job working on a film festival which added a chunk to my savings.’

‘I left with $20,000 (£16,000) which was enough to fund flights, travel insurance, storage for our belongings and a Euro rail pass.’

Before travelling to Asia, Africa, and South America, the mother-and-son team traveled around Europe, stopping in France, Italy, the Czech Republic, England, and other nations.

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Their daily budget was from £7 to £15 [$10 to $20], though it fluctuated based on Crissy’s workload.

‘I never wanted to spend more than $80 per night on accommodation. I aimed for $30-45 per night for hotels which was totally doable to find. We tried to stick to $10-20 a day for food and activities, there’s so much free stuff to do with kids. You don’t have to do loads of wild and expensive things to have fun.’

‘I was desperately broke in the UK as I was running out of savings and there was a payroll error for 12 weeks. I remember eating Greggs sausage rolls for breakfast to fill up and walking around London.’

‘Some of the best times were when we were broke.’

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Crissy recounts that they spent a month in Peru on a strict budget of $5 per day in order to save money for a trip to Machu Picchu at the end of their journey.

‘We had a great time with and without money, Zephyr saw budgeting as a challenge and a game,’ she says.

‘He never once asked to go to Disneyland on this adventure as everything was amazing and different for him.’

Crissy’s favorite memories include winning the World Cup with France, climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge, visiting an orangutan rehabilitation center in Malaysia, and going on a safari in Kenya, Africa.

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‘We were in France when Paris won the world cup, I’m not a football fan but nothing will beat that experience. It was phenomenally special and unplanned. We have never seen a country run into the street and celebrating.’

In Gdansk, Poland, the traveling duo recently helped Ukrainian refugees.

‘We couldn’t not help while in Europe!’ she says. ‘I’m really glad that we got involved in generating money for donations and distributed them to the refugees who were left homeless.’

‘It was painful and eye-opening, especially for my son,’ says the mother.

Zephyr was home-schooled during their voyage and continues to do so today, allowing the couple, who are currently based in New Orleans, to travel whenever they want.

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