Hi there, I'm Laleigh Arakoglu, and in today's episode of Women Who Travel, we're talking about something that I admittedly don't know that much about.

It's travelling with kids. From chasing a total eclipse in Dallas to encouraging your kids' sense of independence in Japan,

three listeners share dispatchers about the joys and the challenges of embarking on an adventure with

children of all ages.

First up, Sharon Jackson from Golden Valley, Minnesota.

My wife and I went to Nebraska to see the total solar eclipse in 2017, and it was the first time we'd done such a thing.

And it just blew us away.

Sharon saw her first total solar eclipse while pregnant with her first child in 2017.

I think two days before we went to see that eclipse,

we had gone to the doctor's office and seen the very first ultrasound of the baby.

And something about looking up at the sun and seeing, well, the moon really, and then the

sun around it glowing in black and white, it looked just like that ultrasound image looked

to me from the bed at the doctor's office, looking up at the screen and seeing this black

and white pulsing thing.

When we saw the eclipse, it was like we both had this recognition that there was some cosmic

connection to this being we were creating and this major event happening in the universe.

So when the next total solar eclipse came around earlier this year, it felt like a full-circle moment.

And Sharon wanted to share it with her now six-year-old, just two days after his birthday.

So I chose Dallas because there was a direct flight from Minneapolis without any stopovers.

But a few days before we left, the weather forecast was just abysmal for Dallas.

And it seemed like we might not see it at all.

So there was a lot of scrambling about should I change

...