Who’s your best travel buddy?

I was only published in 2 publications when I left my advertising job and wanted to pursue journalism full time. Instead of pushing me to find another corporate job, my parents have always believed in my crazy ideas and championed them. Now my work has been seen in more than two dozen publications with adventures I couldn’t have imagined.

Prior to Alaska, I brought my mom to the Caribbean and it was her first flight in over 12 years…she even had to get an expedited passport because hers expired. You might be thinking that she’s afraid of flying, but she’s not. Sometimes, life just happens and we all just get “too busy”. Those bucket list adventures stay on the backburner and never truly come into fruition.

Alaska was one of those trips – not only a bucket list destination for me but for my mom too. I was on a mission to make it happen and after months of behind the scenes conversations, it did. My mom and I went on an 11-day trip to Alaska with Holland America which included seven days at sea followed by a land excursion to Denali National Park which included a scenic 10-hour train ride with glass ceilings. Here are my top tips for traveling with parents and why you should take them on a cruise to Alaska.

Helping my mom check Alaska off her bucket list is just really freaking special.

The views in Alaska from Glacier National Park to watching a whale breach with snow capped mountains in the background were once-in-a-lifetime for me, but to have my mom there too and to see her so happy is really what it’s all about.

Spending nearly two weeks in Alaska with my mom is a trip that we’ll both remember for a long time. Sappy I know…sue me!

My parents are my favorite travel buddies.

Don't tell my parents (hi, mom and dad, if you're reading this), but traveling with them is more fun than with some of my friends. Also, while my parents seem pretty buttoned up, they both know how to let loose.

If there’s a list of activities onboard, my mom needs to try all of them. On the ship in Alaska, she took a dancing class and we would go to the bar every night to watch the band perform (and dance!) until last call.

I don’t care if this is corny but the top tips for traveling with parents is all about making some core memories.

While I enjoy doses of solo travel, I personally prefer to share a trip with someone. There are “you had to be there” moments on trips that you just can’t explain. Traveling solo, you mostly keep those thoughts to yourself whereas traveling with someone else those silly moments become inside jokes for years to come.

If you can make time, take the trip.

You’re always going to have stuff going on but you need to make time for what matters to you. So if not now, when?

In one of the final scenes of The Office, Andy Bernard says, “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.” I think about that quote quite often because we don’t have a crystal ball of where we’ll be in a couple months or even years.

As a travel writer, my advice is to take that damn the trip with the ones you love because that might be time you’ll never get back.

Be good,

JB

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