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Grandtravel
Grandparents Traveling with Grandchildren
By Sue Marquette Poremba
The best bonding times between grandchild and grandparent come when the middle generation (the parents) isn't around to interfere. That could happen during an afternoon, during an overnight visit or during a special trip.
Helene Schlafer of Freeport, Ill., bonded with her grandchildren on camping trips. "The children's parents divorced, and the children no longer lived nearby," she says. "I found the best way to visit with the children on a senior citizen's budget was to go camping."
She and her grandchildren would fish, sing songs, tell dumb jokes and have a good time together. Her grandchildren are adults now, but she has maintained a very close relationship with them. She credits that relationship to that special time they shared, away from parents and away from home. "It helped the bonding," she says.
Schlafer was ahead of her time. Today, grandparent-grandchild vacations – trips that don't include the child's parents – have become big business ventures for resorts, amusement parks, spas and other vacation destinations. Even Elderhostels, once retreats for those over 55, have begun to put together events that include the grandchildren. This type of travel has been given a special name within the travel industry: grandtravel.
Before grandtravel can begin, grandparents need to decide what they want from this type of vacation. Is it to have fun with all or some of the grandchildren? Or is it a chance for one-on-one bonding? One set of grandparents, for example, likes to include as many grandchildren as possible for a week's vacation. Then, during the course of the year, the grandmother takes each grandchild individually for a weekend trip of the child's choice. The big trip gives all of them the chance to spend special time together as an extended family, and the smaller trips give them some special time to focus on a particular grandchild's interest.