Grandparent Travel or Why Trips with Your Mother-in-Law Can Be Cool

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Back in 1997, when my husband and I were dating and working for the same travel company, we planned a (free!) trip to Hawaii. I’ll never forget when he turned to me one day and said, “How would you feel if my mother came with us?”

Grandma Bonnie and the kids on Kauai

Huh? Your mom on our romantic, tropical vacation? (Never mind we worked for what was essentially a bus-tour company, and we’d be island-hopping with 40 other people all over the age of 60.)

To my husband, traveling with his mom was second nature. After all, he grew up taking trips with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents — from camping in Colorado to rafting the Yukon. It wasn’t so bizarre (to him) that my mother-in-law-to-be wanted to come along.

And I am so thankful she did. Truly, Bonnie made the trip. She had us hiking up Diamond Head, taking a catamaran cruise, bicycling down Haleakala and watching volcanoes erupt from a helicopter. Thank goodness it rained by the time we got to Kauai; I was too exhausted for river kayaking.

I’m thankful, too, that Bonnie passed down her love of travel to her son. Whenever I suggest a new vacation destination, my husband says, “When do I pack?” Our children, ages 6 and 8, have jumped on board the travel bandwagon, too. They were both on a plane by the time they were three months old. They know just how to put their backpacks on the conveyor belts at airport security checkpoints.

Lucky for us, Bonnie continues to enjoy vacationing with us, post-kids. A fluent Spanish speaker, she’s helped us out of more than one jam on our family trips to Mexico. She’s easygoing, patient and adventurous — would your mother-in-law take that bike ride down a volcano on Maui or swing on a rope into the river on Kauai? And she absolutely loves spending time with her grandkids.

Plus, you can’t beat having a built-in babysitter. Family togetherness is great, but for those days when my hubby and I want to snorkel by ourselves or enjoy a meal that doesn’t involve having to cut pancakes or steak into small pieces, it’s so nice to have Grandma on hand to take the kids.

Do you take three-generation vacations? If so, I’d love to hear about them!

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February 5, 2009 | Filed Under Family Travel, The Cookie Jar 

Comments

5 Responses to “Grandparent Travel or Why Trips with Your Mother-in-Law Can Be Cool”

  1. MudslideMama says:
    February 5, 2009 at

    Great post, Kara! As you know, I’ve been on several family trips that included my parents. The last one, to the Big Island, was great for everyone. It really is nice to have everyone hang out together (especially since my parents live 3,000 miles away).

    Just like we’ve got to slow down the travel for the young kids, we also should remember to make accommodations for the older generation when doing this kind of travel. Not all grandparents are eager to take that Haleakala bike ride.
    :)

  2. Donna Hull says:
    February 5, 2009 at

    My in-laws introduced me to cruising. I’ll never forget the smile beaming from my father-in-law’s face as we clinked glasses of champagne in the ship’s observation lounge after my first day on the ship. He dearly loved presiding over the table at dinner in the ship’s dining room surrounded by his wife, children and their spouses. We made many memories which are really special now that he has passed on. Family trips are wonderful.

  3. Cyndy Kryder says:
    February 5, 2009 at

    One of our most memorable vacations was when my father-in-law joined us for a week at Disney World. He was spending the winter months in Florida in his RV. When he picked us up at the airport, my older daughter asked, “Papa, what month is it in Florida?” We had just left snowy Pennsylvania three hours before and now we were enjoying balmy temperatures…a bit too much for a first grader to understand.

    My daughters were young, so we spent a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom. Papa kept up with us and went on many of the rides with the girls. Having him along was a great experience for us all.

  4. Rebecca says:
    February 5, 2009 at

    Always. My family was the one with the aunts, uncles and cousins. My Mom, sister and brother plus all six of the grandchildren. Eight grandchildren when the twins came along 6 years after the youngest till that point.

    We did New York, Disney, Las Vegas and more. At 85, my mom is still accompanying each of us to visit our grown kids but it’s too hard to co-ordinate schedules now that they have kids and jobs of their own.

    Still, I plan to be the grandparent joining the vacations now and I’m hoping it won’t be too long before we can get my 2 daughters with each of their young children together for a trip.

    My daughters have great memories of their extended family vacations…much more fun than just the three of us. So I’m hoping their kids will get to have the same kind of experiences.

  5. marathonrunner says:
    February 5, 2009 at

    Family vacations are great! It is so nice and important to be close with your family. My grandparents always came with me and my family on vacations and I was always able to cherish the time we spent together. Your post is so fun to read!

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