Traveling with my Daughter
Although I have both a son and daughter, much of my recent travel has been with my daughter. My son Miles was busy preparing for college graduation, internships. His summers and holidays were no longer conducive to the family trips that we had become accustomed to.
Now, my daughter Janine was always an outgoing and lively character. Everyone knew that when Janine was home during her brakes, our house would come alive with music, singing show tunes, dancing, and friends.
Janine is very talkative and animated; she can run her mouth on just about any subject. She’s also humorous, quick witted, and opinionated. You could described her as a deep thinker, culturally aware, and best of all, she’s an excellent travel companion.
A Foodie in the House
She’s what some might call a “foodie”. But she’s not a foodie in the sense that she seeks out the best restaurants, shops, and markets during her travels.
Janine is a foodie similar to Anthony Bourdain. She would try almost anything at least once. Frog legs, crickets, octopus tentacles, etc. I’m not as adventurous as she is with exotic foods, but I do enjoy eating vicariously through her.
At the age of 15 Janine spent her 11th grade year of high school in Thailand as a foreign exchange student.
She lived with a Thai host family, attended a Thai all-girls high school, and had a life-changing year abroad. This year in Thailand majorly influenced the trajectory of her now 27-year-old life.
So, now that you have a better idea of who my daughter is, let’s get into how we’ve been able to have fun and successful mother daughter trips together through the years.
Communication is Key
Whenever we have that craving to get on a plane and see a foreign land, one of the most important steps to the planning process is communication.
Communication is so important to understand where you want to go and why. Really understanding what you both want to get out of this experience.
Say you planned this trip to be an opportunity to unwind, get away, and unplug from the grid for a while and your daughter wants to use this trip to create new content for her social media, it may disrupt your plans.
Therefore, communication is imperative.
Collaborate on Desired Activities and Excursions
After communicating your individual needs and desires for this upcoming trip, to collaborate on activities and excursions will help you both find a balance, where you both will feel like this trip has fulfilled your expectations.
Collaborating and compromising go hand in hand when being a good travel companion.
Using the previously mentioned mother daughter scenario, through collaboration and compromising you might opt to take a few days when your daughter creates the itinerary, but also you may want to have a beach day, a spa or yoga-meditation day for both of you to unwind and unplug.
Both Mother and Daughter Must be Flexible
Another important factor with mother daughter travelling is flexibility. Being able to roll with the punches is an amazing skill to have when traveling no matter with you’re alone, with your partner, child, or a large group.
Things often can and will go wrong, you just must be prepared and willing to adjust accordingly.
Here are a few examples:
- The restaurant you planned on going to for dinner decided to close earlier than the hours on their website.
- Your flight got delayed due to weather, so you miss your connecting flight.
- You start to have some sort of allergic reaction and you break out in itchy hives.
- What would you do in these situations? What is your back up plan B?
- When you travel, you must expect the unexpected.
With these tips of communication, collaboration, and flexibility, you should be able to plan a successful and enjoyable trip with your daughter.
Now there still may be some disagreements and some unwarranted attitude along the way but remember…collaboration is the key.
Our Top 5 Favorite Mother – Daughter Destinations & Experiences (Thus Far)
Cuba– relatively safe. Able to walk around even at night without being bothered, great street music, dancing, art and strolling the city, being among the locals.
Thailand– Night markets, boat rides, great shopping, Thai massages.
Morocco – For some real mother daughter bonding – Moroccan Hammam bath and spa, camel ride into the desert to your camp site to spend the night in the Sahara.
Portugal – Trolley rides through the city, visiting the Lisbon castles, traditional pastries at the market.
New Orleans – Great food, live music, eating in the market, spooky ghost tours, great entertainment.
Tanzania – Stone Town, Ramadan, Prison Island, Old Slave Market,
Hammam Bath – Les Bains d’Oriente – Marrakesh, Morocco
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