Why You Should Plan A Mother-Daughter Trip!

When people ask me who I travel with, the majority of the time my answer is my mother! That’s why I thought I would share some reasons why you should travel with your mother (or daughter depending on where you are in life)! Plan a yearly trip for just the two of you.  It doesn’t have to be a huge trip.  It could just be a weekend away somewhere.  Wherever you go, I strongly believe that taking a mother-daughter trip will not only help strengthen your relationship but can be very beneficial to each of you individually as well.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I can earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support.

I will preface this by saying I know that my mother and I have a unique bond, and not every mother-daughter relationship looks like ours. I realize that there are some people out there that don’t have a relationship with their mother or daughter.  While I personally couldn’t imagine not being close with my mom, I do understand not being close with a parent, so if that is your situation, I’m sorry! 

You’ll Learn New Things About Each Other

You’ve known your mother your whole life, but not her whole life! There was a whole other life before you ever came into the picture.  For most people, it’s difficult to picture their moms before they became parents.  Do you know what she was like before she got married? Who their other relationships were with? What school was like for them? How they interacted with their siblings? Similarly, just because she’s been your mother your whole life, doesn’t mean she knows everything about you.  This time away gives you a chance to open up to her more as well.  Let her truly get to know you, and not just as her daughter, but as the woman you have grown to be. When you get away from all of the distractions of being at home, you’ll truly get a chance to learn more about each other. 

You’ll Learn What Strong Women You Both Are On a Mother-Daughter Trip

Until you do know more about each other, you may not truly see what a strong woman the other is.  Perhaps your mother lost someone very dear to her that changed her life. Maybe you’ve struggled with mental disorders that you’ve never really been able to tell her about. You are both strong women who have, no doubt, had your set of challenges that you’ve had to face.  Maybe we’re talking about what’s ahead of you.  Getting away, maybe facing a fear or encountering new experiences, can show you how strong someone is too!

You’ll Be On Neutral Territory

Let’s talk about going on this mother-daughter trip even when the two of you may not be in the best of places.  When you’re traveling together, you’re not in either one of your comfort zones or territory.  You’re on neutral ground.  No home-court advantage here.  Just the chance to fully open up to each other!

Neither of You Are Getting Any Younger

Let’s face it, neither of you wants to picture a world where the other isn’t around anymore.  How many more years do you have with each other?  Don’t you want to take advantage of the time you do have left together?  Unfortunately, we don’t know when someone’s time will be up here on earth and you don’t want to look back and regret not making more memories with each other. 

You’ll Make Amazing Memories on Your Mother-Daughter Trip

When, God forbid, the time comes that one of you is no longer here, having those memories to hold on to will be priceless.  Perhaps one of you is sick and you’re able to talk about the time you climbed into a polar bear den to help brighten up her day. Also, as people get older they like to talk about their experiences.  My grandmother would repeatedly tell us about the time she drove out to San Francisco to take her brother his car.  When she got there she called her brother and told him she was in town.  He said, you know where I live and she said, you want your car, come get it.  She loved that story.  It brought a smile to her face every time she told it. By taking these trips you’ll have those memories that you can hang on to forever! 

You’ll (Probably) Travel Well Together

Do you remember when you were a kid and your family went on vacation? Fast forward to when you go on vacation now as an adult.  Any similarities?  More than likely, your mother was with you on your very first trip.  She trained you, in a way, how to travel.  That means that now, as adults, there are probably similarities in how you both like to travel.  There might be disagreements about going to a museum or a play, but there probably won’t be disagreements about what type of hotel to stay in or how to travel to get to where you’re going. 

You’ll Get Back to Your Roots

This can go with getting to know each other more.  If your mother grew up somewhere else than where you did or currently live, then there’s a chance to explore that.  Or if you know where your family came from, you’re able to go back and experience that culture together.  For me, my mother spent time in a boarding school in England.  On one trip she took us to go visit it! We had heard stories she shared of her time there, but to actually see it puts things in a different perspective.  Or when we visited Denmark and were able to go see the shore where people like my grandmother would go to help Jews escape.  Being able to learn more about your heritage, or experience the culture first-hand makes everything else come to life in a different way, and gives even more meaning to those memories. 

You’ll Both Get to Cross Things Off Your Bucket List When You Take a Mother-Daughter Trip

Having the opportunity to get away on a mother-daughter trip gives you both the chance to cross things off of your bucket list, which again adds even more meaning behind those memories you’re making.  Something on my bucket list was to go on a helicopter ride.  Honestly, I didn’t think I would be doing that with my mother because of her fear of heights.  However, when we were up in Canada exploring the Polar Bear Capital of the World, she was ready to give it a try.  So my first helicopter ride was over snowy tundra looking for polar bears, with my mother right by my side.

Something on my mother’s bucket list was to swim with whale sharks.  That had never been something on my radar.  But she had decided she wanted to go, and I went along with her just to support her and get a chance to relax on a beach.  Even as we were going out on the boat to where the sharks were I wasn’t sure I was going to be getting in the water.  Not only did my mother get to cross something amazing off her bucket list, but I got to face one of my fears and have an amazing experience, with her, that I will definitely never forget!

It’s Healthy

I’m not a doctor so I won’t try to get technical about the health benefits of traveling, but I can speak from experience.  Traveling is a chance for you to get away from your everyday life and stressors.  It gives you a chance to recharge, which is something I’m sure you both can use! I will tell you, from someone who struggles with depression, travel can be very beneficial.  It adds purpose and value to my life.  Something to look forward to and something to look back on.  It can add to my anxiety a little in the planning stages, but it’s totally worth it! There are many other benefits of traveling as well.  I’ve heard it can help decrease your risk of heart disease or keep you alive longer.  Again, I’m no doctor, I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.  😉

Some Tips

Both of you need to have some input into your trip.  The location, activities, travel arrangements, etc.  Each of you needs to have a say in what you’re doing. 

Be aware of the different stages of life you’re both in. If you’re in your early 20’s and your mother, well isn’t, going out and partying at night may not be something you would both do together.

Realize that there may be times where you will do things separately on your trip.  I get the whole point is to spend time together and make those memories, and that’s not happening if you’re not together.  However, you simply may not want to do all of the same things.  My mom scuba dives, I do not! I would prefer to look out over the ocean and read while she goes diving!

Understand if one of you needs a little breather from the other.  Perhaps this is when you go off and do the individual things you like.  It’s not uncommon to need some ‘alone’ time even when you’re on a bonding trip!  

So, these are just a couple of the reasons why I would highly recommend that you call your mom and start planning a mother-daughter trip for as soon as people can start traveling again! What are some places you’ve gone for a mother-daughter trip?

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram or Facebook for even more photos and details about my journeys! If you enjoyed this post, please pin it and check me out on Pinterest as well! Thanks for reading!