Stella Marie EncinaContributed by Her Brave Soul
You! The reader of this article! Yes, you. You probably eat, sleep and breathe travel. Congratulations! You may already have plotted all your weekends for the year for short trips with your friends. That is amazing. It proves how much you love adventures. We live in such an outgoing world today that we constantly think about escapades and travels and a hundred more things to do as written on our bucket lists. It is a universal motto, mostly of the millennials, to travel when you are young and able. Please do not be mistaken. There is nothing wrong with that. We are meant to live our lives to the fullest and to do whatever makes us happy.
But we got to admit it. It is likely that we plan vacations with our schoolmates, workmates, friends, family; even a solo trip. But it is not common to plan it only with our parents coming with us. Sometimes, we are so engrossed with living our awesome lives we forget that the two people who brought us in this world are aging day by day.
Also read: Surviving A Family Trip: 10 Things To Expect While Travelling With Your Parents
I got to be clear. My mother, father, and I have not travelled together without any of my siblings yet. But I intend to do that soon because of these five things I am sure of:
1. It will be your time to show off
You will be in-charge this time. (I refuse to believe that you will let your parents do all the planning and booking. You are already a grown up. That is your job now.) You are going to do everything — not just to make the most out this trip — but to make your parents happy with the itinerary you carefully curated. It will be your opportunity to say “Hey, Mom and Dad, can you believe it? I can get from Point A to Point B without getting lost!” It will be such an achievement because you know what? To them, you will always be their baby no matter how old you get. Travelling with your parents is one of the best ways for them to realise that gone were the days when you could not leave home without them. Now, you are independent. You are the leader.
2. It will take family bonding to a whole new level
Sure, family days are awesome. You spend the entire day baking and cooking and watching some sports or sappy TV series that interest both you and your parents. But when you are in a new place, all of you are so damn excited to try out new things! No matter how strict or boring you think your parents are, you just know they also want to have some fun with their first snowfall experience. You will witness some quirks you have never noticed before. You will see how they take care of each other especially when one of them is already tired. You will probably die because the ants are going to eat your butt as they go lovey-dovey.
Tip: Perhaps, you do not want to teach them how to use the selfie sticks if they do not know about it yet! Just be a dear and take lovely photos of them together. *wink*
3. It will send you right back to the original essence of a vacation
With your parents, the trip is possibly going to be more relaxed and slow paced. No need to hurry all the time just to see everything in one go. It will be a vacation at its finest. I specifically like the part when I do not have to stress so much about the finances because they can get me covered in case of emergencies and of course, vice versa. After all, if you are really young and able, you can make resist having fancy coffee for a while to treat them on a trip or two, right? Because that is practically what they did when they had you. It is payback time.
Also read: 8 Struggles Parents Have to Deal With When Travelling With Children
4. It will debunk the belief that travelling with parents is such a nuisance
There is this generation gap issue between parents and children. Decades of age difference prompt us not to like the same things. Parents are pretty old school while the children are more like “out with the old, in with the new.” But come to think of it; it is a beautiful adjustment. To get to a vintage cars museum instead of an amusement park; to visit the aquarium instead of a sky promenade; to watch the concert of Air Supply instead of Coldplay. The world will always be there. Waiting for each one of us to explore its core. But the smiles on your parents’ faces when they see and enjoy the things that truly fascinate them? It is priceless.
Note: Not to mention their reactions when they secretly glimpse at you; and you are not aware that your face shows you appreciate it too!
5. It will bring you to an important realisation
If usually, you are so into taking photos of the view and yourself. This time, you will end up taking so many pictures of your parents together. It will feel so nostalgic as you see them smiling, posing for a snapshot, or laughing freely on that stolen capture. You know that overused line in the movies? A guy looks at the girl and realises “Damn, I am in love with her.” That one? Well, get this. Look at those two people who gave your life. The very reason why you are where you are right now. Just look at them; vacationing and pleased with beach hats covering their graying hair. Think about that moment. There is a hundred percent chance that it will make you feel emotional and say “Oh, how I love these people. Can I just never be parted from them again?” And your throat will hurt because you will try not to let the tears fall. But they will, anyway.
You see, I can never physically travel with both of my parents anymore because my mother has already joined our Creator. It is such a shame that she had to go before we had the chance to travel. But this is my plan: Someday, my father and I will have such an epic trip together, and we will bring a gorgeous photo of my mother with us! Do not tell him about it yet, okay?
Also read: Why Your Mom is the Best Travel Buddy You Could Ever Have
So how about you? Will you consider travelling with your parents?
