“I have an idea for our next road trip.” says six-year-old Mickey to his grandparents. “Let’s go to LEGOLAND!”
More and more grandparents are starting a tradition of taking their grandchildren on road trips, sans the parents. In fact, 37% of grandparents with a household income greater than $50,000 who took a vacation last year did so with grandchildren, up from 28% in 2007.
A growing trend is for grandparents to celebrate various milestones in their lives by taking road trips with the grandchildren. For example, one grandfather, who is turning 70 next year, has already started planning a week-long road trip with his wife and two grandsons. The plan is to end up in Canada for an extended family reunion. With this known destination in mind, the grandfather is researching and putting together a list of all the possible places they could visit while on the road. Each of them will get to pick one “for sure” place to visit; they will negotiate other stops.
Examples of Road Trips
I know a grandmother who takes her grandchildren, two at a time when they are around the ages 10 to 12, on a train trip to Washington, D.C. Prior to the trip, she helps them do some research on the places they will be visiting. So far, four of her eight grandchildren have taken this trip, and the other four are looking forward to it.
Other grandchildren and grandparents trips include: a variety of museums – sports, science, arts – depending on the grandchildren’s interests; water parks; special interest places such as Hershey Park or an Amish village; places that recreate earlier times, such as Sturbridge Village, Plymouth Rock, or Valley Forge.
More physically active grandparents take their grandchildren on biking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, paddle boarding or white-water rafting road trips. The possibilities are endless. Sometimes the grandchildren pick the road trip destination, other times the grandparents choose. Once the activity or destination is selected, usually there are other activities and places of interest in the same area.
Resources for Traveling with Grandchildren
For those grandparents taken with the idea of traveling with the grandchildren, but don’t want to be bothered with all the details of planning such a trip, options abound for them. There are many ways to enjoy traveling with the grandchildren where the only requirement is to show up. The prices range from expensive to reasonable.
On the higher end, Journeys for Families will customize their trips because they appreciate that grandparents often want comforts and services that are not important to the grandchildren. For example, they will provide a guide to help the younger members of the family do things that older members may not want to do or are unable to do. Road Scholar, a division of Elderhostel, offers many trips in several states for grandparents and grandchildren; helpfully, they include recommended age ranges for the grandchildren.
For those more inclined to rough it, several, very reasonably priced camping experiences are available. And there is Disney, always a trusted resource, which features multi-generational, national and international trips and cruises.
For the budget minded, Kiplinger publishes “23 Best Travel Sites to Save You Money,” to help find the best deals online for plane tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages and car rentals, domestic or abroad. In addition, road trip planners may want to check out various hotels that offer significant discounts to grandparents and grandchildren traveling together. Being an AARP member can provide numerous ways to save money while on the road.
Here is what four grandchildren had to say about traveling with their grandparents: they were all in agreement that they liked this special bonding time with their grandparents, they enjoyed choosing what they wanted to do, and they appreciated getting a break from their parents and usual routines.
So what about the parents who are left behind? Yes, the parents may miss their kids when they are on the road with the grandparents, but most admit to enjoying this child-free time, especially knowing their kids and the grandparents are having a great time together, sharing and building lifelong memories.
All agree that taking road trips and traveling together is a wonderful legacy for grandparents to leave their grandchildren.
I’m looking forward to taking our grands on a vacation, but I want them to get a little bit older. At 5 and 3, it’s still a little to hard. I don’t really have a good plan yet for where we might go, but I think it can be a great thing for both them and us.