Coaching Couch: Travel, passports, fake urgency, and the fear they won’t bring your kids back

Travel should be simple. You plan the trip, coordinate the schedule, pack the bags, and go.

But when you’re dealing with a high-conflict co-parent, travel turns into something else entirely: last-minute demands, passport drama, withheld information, fake urgency, guilt trips, control tactics, and sometimes very real fear.

In this Coaching Couch episode, I break down why travel becomes one of the most explosive issues in high-conflict co-parenting, what’s actually happening underneath the logistics, and how to handle it without getting pulled into chaos.

I cover:

• why “concern” is often really about control
• how toxic exes use information as leverage
• manufactured urgency and last-minute sabotage
• the difference between real risk and emotional discomfort
• 8 practical tools to stay grounded and strategic
• what to think about with international travel
• and how to handle the terrifying fear that they might not bring the kids back

I also answer real listener questions about permission, passports, check-ins, travel demands, international trips, and the emotional spiral that can come with all of it.

If travel with your co-parent feels like a fight before the trip even starts, this episode is for you.

Send your questions to: [email protected]
DM me: @unfuckyourcoparenting

Take a breath. Don’t take the bait.