Taking time away from your kids doesn’t make you a bad mum, it makes you human.

Actress and mum-of-two Tammin Sursok shares why solo travel is self-care, not selfish – and how she’s teaching her daughters to dream big by doing the same herself.

Because if a dad jets off to Spain solo, he’s praised for taking a well-earned break. But when a mum does the same? Cue the side-eye and questions about who’s looking after the kids.

It’s a frustrating double standard, and one Tammin is tired of seeing play out.

Splitting her time between Sydney and Nashville, the Home and Away alum is no stranger to airports, time zones and the juggle of parenting on the move. But it was a recent kid-free trip to Spain that sparked a bigger conversation—about guilt, rest, and the pressure mothers feel to be endlessly available.

“Mums need to normalise filling their own cup,” the host of The Shit Show with Tammin Sursok podcast tells Bounty Parents.

“Because when I come back rested, I’m a better parent. And my daughters get to see that it’s okay to prioritise yourself sometimes too.”

In this candid interview, Tammin opens up about parenting across continents, ditching outdated expectations, and why taking time away from your kids might just be one of the most loving things you can do.

“It’s not selfish, it’s necessary”

Tammin says her solo trip to Spain was more than just a break, it was a revelation. “If a dad goes to Spain solo, he’s living his best life. If a mum goes, she’s abandoned her children,” she says.

“There’s still so much social conditioning around what makes a ‘good mother’. She’s expected to be tireless, devoted, always available—and anything that looks like rest, solitude or joy outside of that is seen as selfish.”

But Tammin believes that mindset doesn’t just harm mothers—it teaches the wrong message to the next generation.

“I want my girls to know it’s okay to take care of yourself. That you don’t have to disappear to be a good mum.”

Once caught, the noodles are dipped in tsuyu (a chilled, umami-rich sauce made from soy, mirin and dashi) then slurped down between bites of tempura or cool slices of cucumber. “It’s the perfect dish for summer when the heat dulls your appetite,” says Ishi Take, director at Chihonoie. “Nagashi somen is light, refreshing and easy to eat – even when [it’s so hot outside that] nothing else sounds appealing.”

He adds, “We get all kinds of visitors here – parents with kids, couples, even travellers from overseas. Everyone gathers around the bamboo flumes, laughing and trying to catch the noodles. It’s not just a meal; it’s a shared summer memory.”

Last year the rustic-chic Lone Mountain Ranch unveiled Auric Room 1915, a members-only supper club and venue where overnight guests can retreat into cowhide-swathed booths to enjoy fried chicken and pours of 18-year-old Elijah Craig bourbon. True to its cattle-ranch roots, the hotel still devotes Thursday nights all summer long to the rodeo, a rowdy, locally beloved spectacle of cowboy and cowgirl culture complete with Montana beef brisket sandwiches and plenty of beer.

Finally, in the Spanish Peaks, Montage Big Sky, which opened in 2021, expanded its lodging options last year with 47 new residences—including 15 freestanding Mountain Homes, each with five or six bedrooms—adding to the resort’s 100 original rooms and suites. Guests can take advantage of all the hotel’s perks, such as access to Crazy Mountain Ranch, an 18,000-acre working cattle ranch with ample terrain for horseback riding; an 18-hole golf course; and summertime outdoor excursions like heli-fly-fishing tours that take guests to remote stretches of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.

This article appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.