Family Trips with the Girls

What does Family Travel mean to you?

It has many different meanings and is specific to you and your family situation. Families come in all different forms and although most of my family travel is with my husband and two kids; I like to shake it up sometimes and go with other family members instead! On a recent overnight road trip with my sister and nieces, I was reminded of how special taking those trips are with them and the importance of travelling with other family members.

It has somehow become a tradition in our family for the girls to take road trips about once a year or so. It all started when we moved back to Canada when I was younger and we all piled into the car with my mom, sister and two aunts. In a stereotypical girls trip, we hit the road and went shopping south of the border to the USA. The purpose may had been to go shopping, buy new school clothes and get different candy or cereal, but the underlying bonds that we formulated travelling together is irreplaceable. We have tried to keep this tradition going and has now moved to including the next generation with my nieces.

I know myself, I get wrapped in my nuclear family stuff like working, kids in school, running to some kind of sports practice, homework, house chores, etc. It’s exhausting and I sometimes lose focus to ask my sister, nieces and aunts how things are going and truly make time for them. Travelling with them helps me reconnect with them.

By travelling with other family members you have time to wear your other hats for a while. For me on these girls trips I am not a wife or a mom (until my daughter is old enough to come) – I am a sister, an aunt or a niece. These other family relationships mean a lot to me and are worth investing my time in building them. A great way that I have been able to build strong relationships with my family is by dedicating time for girls trips. Did I forget to mention is it FUN too!