Adventur

The statistics are promising: The Family Travel Association’s (FTA) 2023 US Family Travel Survey found that 81% of parents say they’re likely to travel with their kids in the next year. Interesting considering that 65% of US respondents to Expedia’s depressingly named Vacation Deprivation Report said they don’t take enough time off, with an average of just 11 days of vacation per year per American employee.

So people are finding work-arounds, naturally. One of those comes in the form of Grandma and Grandpa.

More than 50% of those parents indicating they’re likely to travel in the next year said that they plan to do so as a multigenerational group, bringing grandparents along for the ride–and possibly to help split the bill.

I’ve done the multigenerational trip, as well as the large family group trip, and while there are merits and drawbacks of both (to be covered in a later post), one of the best benefits was having extra hands to help with childcare, and, of course, quality time with adult family members. But just how feasible is some of the most exciting family travel with grandparents in tow? And does that affect the ability to plan travel to locations with less mass appeal?

No matter how you plan to tackle your family travel, the FTA’s report included some valuable insights for parents who hope that travel expands their children’s horizons. Some particularly notable findings supporting the case for family travel:

• 84% of parents said that family travel helped make their children more adaptable and open to new experiences
• 62% of parents said that travel gave their children a more positive outlook on life
• 61% of parents said that travel helped their children with social skills

From gaining interest in other cultures to building confidence and independence, family travel is an excellent way to make memories together while building and reinforcing valuable skills in your children.