Esther and one of her grandsons on Safari in Africa.
We’ve had the absolute pleasure of planning some very special trips for our client Esther Murray over the years: Each time one of her grandchildren turns 20 years old, Esther takes them on an incredible luxury family vacation abroad! Top Photo by Tobin Rogers on Unsplash
So far, she’s visited Great Britain, Africa, Spain, and Portugal with a grateful grand kid in tow, and she has one more trip left to plan for a grandson who’s just now 16 years old.
We talked with Esther about how she started this wonderful travel tradition, and why travel is the greatest gift of all.
Read on for inspiration on how you can start a similar vacation tradition with your loved ones.
How You Can Start Your Own Travel Tradition With Your Loved Ones
It Imparts a Spirit of Adventure
Nothing says adventure quite like travel, and for Esther — who’s been an avid world travel for decades — getting to share that sense of adventure with her grandkids is thrilling.
Esther takes a pretty hands-off approach to planning the family vacation, allowing her grandchildren to choose destinations that really spark their interest. She makes sure, though, that these epic trips are no more than two weeks long, for an interesting reason.
Says Esther: “I like to tell my grandchildren that I’m introducing them to the world, but it’s up to them to go out and discover the rest of it. In two weeks you don’t have time to experience everything a country has to offer — if this trip piques their interest, then they’ll have to come back and explore the rest on their own.”
Esther plants the nugget, so to speak, of what will hopefully become a lifelong love of travel in her grandchildren.
It Brings Loved Ones Closer Together
Esther cherishes these vacations with her grandchildren because it’s a chance to spend some one-on-one time with them — which becomes scarce once the kids get out of the elementary-school years.
“I love these family vacations because I get to know my grandchildren in a way I wouldn’t get to at a family gathering,” said Esther. “Grandparents often spend a lot of time with grandkids when they’re really little, so I like that I get to know them as adults, not just little grandchildren.”
Travel has always been viewed as an opportunity for unparalleled bonding experiences, so if there’s a loved one in your life who you don’t get to spend as much time with as you’d like to, the gift of travel is an incredible way to make that happen.
It’s the Perfect “Rite-of-Passage” Gift
For Esther, choosing to gift a family vacation to her grandchildren specifically upon their 20th birthdays was no accident.
At 20, her grandchildren are just at the beginning of their journey into adulthood, when they’re especially open to new experiences that could have an outsized impact on the direction they take their lives in.
Also, at 20, her grandchildren are able to make travel decisions for themselves.
Says Esther: “I usually start giving them travel brochures to look over when they’re 16. We talk about where they want to go, and they usually change their minds a few times before deciding.” Using travel as a way to mark a special point in time in a person’s life makes the trip that much more meaningful and memorable.
We’ll Plan the Best Luxury Vacation Just for You
Whether it’s a two-week vacation around the world or a surprise weekend getaway to a theme park a few states away, gifting travel to your loved ones is an incredible way to show how much you care. If you’re interested in giving the gift of travel, get in touch with us.
Our team of experienced family travel agents would love to help you share the travel bug with the ones you love most.