Why you Should Travel with your Parents as an Adult?

When you became independent, you were eager to enjoy your newfound autonomy. You focused on building your career, your family and new routines. The time you spent with your parents was greatly reduced. But time with our parents is actually valuable. It is especially positive to travel with your parents.

Today, you may share some holidays with them or visit them occasionally and help them with certain daily chores. But your quality moments together have become more and more rare . That is why we suggest traveling with one's parents as an adult and enjoying all the benefits that come with it.

It is quite possible that your last shared experience of this kind was in your younger years, perhaps even in your childhood. Since then, it has been your friends or your partner who have become your travel companions.

Therefore, it may seem strange to you to experience new cultures, explore new cities and visit different landscapes hand in hand with your parents. At first, they may not even be eager to do so themselves. However, there are several reasons to do so. We will share them with you.

Why travel with your parents?

If you are an experienced traveler, you already know all the advantages of small or large excursions. But it can be even more enriching to experience them together with your parents. Here are the main reasons:

It increases the well-being and happiness of both parties

Travel makes us happy. It has actually been proven on many occasions. Getting out of your routine and having new experiences helps you reduce everyday stress and experience more positive emotions . In fact, this happiness occurs even before one leaves one's home. Research has shown that planning and anticipating a trip improves our subjective well-being and the feeling of satisfaction with life.

This extra dose of excitement can be especially beneficial for older adults . This is because certain events that occur at this time (e.g. retirement, empty nest syndrome or losing loved ones) can increase the risk of apathy, dysthymia or depression. So the anticipation of traveling with their children can really improve their mood.

But it's not just the parents who benefit from these experiences. They can also be a great source of satisfaction for their children. Although often perceived as an obligation, traveling with parents is a good opportunity to talk with them, increase camaraderie, do things of common interest and enjoy each other's company. The whole experience can be highly enjoyable, stimulating and satisfying.

It promotes a sense of belonging and purpose

One of the hardest aspects of getting old is feeling like we are no longer needed. When the children become independent, the parents can experience a real upheaval in their identity, which for so long has been closely built around parenthood. Gradually, they begin to feel more distant from their offspring. They feel less useful and necessary to them and even almost invisible.

Therefore, it is excellent to propose a joint trip with your parents to express how important they continue to be in your life . Even if you are no longer dependent on them, you still need and value their support, advice, experience and company.

It allows you to strengthen the bonds between you

As mentioned, the quality time you share with your parents in adulthood is usually more limited. Both parties' work, family and personal commitments can make it difficult to find time to be together. If you therefore want to continue nurturing the bonds between you , traveling is an excellent way to achieve this.

Traveling together is an experience where there are no schedules or pressure. Therefore, you will be able to talk together, feel closer together, rediscover yourselves and ultimately devote quality time to each other. Furthermore , it gives you the opportunity to improve communication between you and strengthen bonds. It will increase your overall satisfaction with your relationship.

It's never too late to learn

Even though older adults are in the last third of their lives, that doesn't mean they can't enjoy some personally enriching and transformative moments. In fact, this phase of life lends itself to reflection, analysis of values ​​and priorities, and broadening of personal perspectives. And nothing is more conducive to personal development than travel.

Contact with other cultures, places and realities can help people (regardless of age) to develop tolerance, empathy and critical thinking . It is also interesting and enriching on a personal level to discover and experience the history, traditions and way of life of other places.

In addition, traveling with your parents as an adult gives you the opportunity to create healthy conversations and debates with them on various topics.

Traveling with one's parents in adulthood to create lasting memories

In conclusion, traveling with one's parents as an adult, in addition to all the mentioned benefits, will be an excellent opportunity to create memories that will ultimately prove to be a gift.

It is understandable that your daily commitments or the distance between you may make frequent contact difficult. But when age-related factors ultimately prevent your parents from having more new experiences, or when they eventually pass away, these shared moments will be a true treasure for you that you will be extremely grateful to have experienced.