How to Plan a Mother-Daughter Getaway

September 26 2008 by Amy Graff
Comments (4)

I let my 5-year-old daughter, Paris make the call to her friend Tomo in Portland, Ore. "We're coming to visit you! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Paris excitedly screamed over the phone. I could hear Tomo cheering on the other end of the line.

Before Paris starts kindergarten at the end of August, I decided to take her on a special getaway to Portland, Ore., where one of her best friends recently moved. We had a busy summer with little time alone together and Paris was anxious about going to a new school. She seemed to need a few days away with just the girls.

This isn't our first vacation together. She tagged along on my work trip to Waikiki, where we swam with dolphins, took a hula lesson, and ate lots of pineapple. I find that mother-daughter getaways renew relationships and create lasting memories. Paris is always saying, "Remember in Hawaii when we..."

Here are some tips on how you can plan a mother-daughter vacation and make sure things go smoothly on the road:

Plan the trip together. Here's the rule: Mom picks three places and then the daughter chooses one of them. Try to come up with three very different options--a destination in the mountains, at the beach, and in the city. And then when your daughter picks your least favorite option, keep your mouth shut!

Visit a place that's new to both of you. Your daughter doesn't want to hear you saying, "And last time with your father...." You'll bond much more easily if you're exploring a destination that's entirely new to both of you.

Avoid shopping-centric trips. Shopping is probably the one thing that you do together at home. There's nothing all that special about it. Try other activities such as taking a hike, browsing a museum, riding bikes, taking a cooking class.

Leave expectations at home. Make sure you're both clear on this rule before you go. No one is allowed to say things such as, "And I thought we would do this..." "I thought this would be more fun..." "I thought you wouldn't be so moody if I took you on a trip..."

Set a budget. Let your daughter know how much you money have to spend, and involve her in the budgeting. It's a great learning experience. To stop your daughter from incessantly asking you to buy stuff, tell her that you'll buy only one souvenir--and be sure to set a price limit.

Invite others to join you. Traveling with other mothers and daughters--or aunts or grandma--can be a lot of fun. If you have a teenager, this might help ease tension.

Have you gone on a mother-daughter vacation? What tips do you have to offer?

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Categories : Packed & Ready

4 Comments

By Cindy Reynolds on October 3, 2008 8:07 AM

This article is fun and I like escaping into the article. I would enjoy taking a trip wtih either of my daughters so I desire to read on.

By Peggy Serendipity Traveler on October 3, 2008 8:56 AM

My company Serendipity Traveler offers inspired tours for women
and often times we have a mother and daughter join us who are
celebrating a birthday. I recommend allowing for times together and
times apart during the trip. Sharing a room can work and each
having their own room often suits the differences in style for each
woman. A mother and daughter trip is one of the best ways to
create life long memories that are fun, and enrich the relationships.
I encourage women traveling together to relax, learn, and celebrate
life.

By Karen Llewellyn on October 3, 2008 2:40 PM

I travel a couple of times a year with my daughter, who is now 11. We go from CA to PA and CA to OR to see grandmothers. And we always spend some time just hanging out, the two of us. We like to play tourist wherever we go, and since we homeschool, we can also learn something that relates to our school work.

We also travel with books each of us enjoys, so we can have some quiet time sort of alone. And I limit the time she watches the cable TV in the hotel (we don't have cable at home), or she'd be TV stupified most of the time.

By Jan Anders on October 3, 2008 4:01 PM

I travel often with my small chihuahua and am delighted so many BW properties allow pets. I would like those additional charges be tiered, i.e.
less for small dogs than for large dogs. I also would like a record kept for those of us who usually stay at BW whose dogs are well=behaved and leave no trace.


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