Millennials and travel

[Hikergirl]

I don't know anyone including millennials that travel with their parents for every single vacation every year. Many of them do travel with their parents from time to time though.
My kids are not in that age group yet, just a few more years until they are. I can see them traveling with us often, we have a great time all together on vacation. We actually enjoy the company of our kids and they enjoy hanging out and doing stuff with us. I don't really see that changing once they hit a certain age.

Traveling together with family has always been the norm for me. It wasn't for dh's back when he and his siblings were in their mid 20's but it is now that they are parents with kids those ages. We don't do it as often just because scheduling everyone is hard but when we all can go somewhere together we don't hesitate.

 

[StarGirl11]

I wouldn't say its a generational shift as much as its a cost shift. This talks about it some but the bottom line is from what I can gather (being a 90s kid) reading and having talked with my parents. Air travel used to be a lot more expensive: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/air-travel-ways-flying-was-totally-different-in-the-80s

Now adays if you budget it right you can get international flights cheaply too.

Simply put road trips used to be the more afordable way to travel. Now with airlines like Southwest where you can get from A to B in under 100.

 

[CdnCarrie]

This is an interesting thing to think about. My husband and I have gone on several vacations with his parents (mostly the beach). We live on our own, so it’s kind of nice to spend that QT with our family when we can. I go on smaller day and weekend trips with my mom frequently and on our upcoming trip to Disney we are actually bringing my dad (who’s never had a vacation in his whole life). I’ve never looked at it as “I only have so much time off why spend it with my parents or in-laws.” It’s more of a “Hey life is short and we don’t get to see these people as much as we would like to, let’s see if they want to tag along to this place.” Now I will say that we don’t do everything on the trip with our parents, we kind of do our own thing for most of the trip – it just so happens that we like the same things so we do a lot of it together if it works out. We also both grew up super poor so this is the first time we’ve really been able to have these experiences with our parents.

Interesting perspective. Income levels may play a factor.

My recollection of the 80s differs from yours when it comes to airline cost and maybe it was a difference in markets. I bought tickets to Central Europe for about $350.0 r/t but hotels were much cheaper. Now it seems the pricing has reversed.

As for traveling with my mom in my twenties I didn't but my older sister did frequently and other close in age friends traveled from time to time with their parents as well. I think it was pretty normal in my culture and nothing unusual about adding grandparents and/or aunts and uncles to the mix. I know that I found it different that people I knew outside my culture had age-segregated parties. For us, a party meant all the generations together, trading jokes, recipes, and sharing the latest gossip.

Culturally it may vary!

I'm an older millenial, single and travel often with friends & solo. I also like going on trips with my parents when I can. They're fun to do stuff with! Why would that be odd.

Not odd. Reread what I said.
I said every vacation. Not some. All.
And I specifically said married couples.

I love my kids but once they are in their 20s I don’t need them on every vacation I take!
One a year would be plenty.
Great that you love traveling with your parents.
I just got back from a trip with my parents but looking forward to this summer when it’s me and my SO!
Besides family weddings I only traveled with my husband ( or friends) from age 18ish to early 30s after we had kids.
Parents did their own thing.

 

[Colleen27]

I think there are a number of things at play - the generational shift from "things" to "experiences" in terms of discretionary spending and gift giving, a different sort of parent-child dynamic between the younger generation and their parents, and different peer group dynamics that make "friend" trips less viable than they were decades ago (because of limited vacation time, increasing imposition of restrictions on its use, varying student debt burdens based on parental support, more variation in when people "settle down" with kids, etc.).

I do a lot of traveling with my mother and always have. Not all of my trips, now, because she's in her 70s and has mobility challenges that make some of our travels unsuitable - she wasn't going to hike Glacier NP with us, for example - as well as making longer road trips uncomfortable for her. But she's a single woman from a generation where women didn't travel solo, so she's always invited me and my kids along when she wants to go somewhere, and although I'm married, DH has never had much vacation time so I invited her along on a lot of trips as well. Who pays varies from trip to trip, so it isn't really a money thing - just companionship and the fact that traveling with kids was easier with two adults than on my own when they were young.

I haven't traveled with friends since college. After school, we were just on too different a page, both in terms of marriage/kids and finances, to plan friend trips once we started our adult lives. There's about a 15 year range in when my peer group got married and had their first kids, from early 20s to late 30s, and some of us graduated with no student debt while others had tens of thousands to repay. None of that gets in the way of trips with parents.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I think there are a number of things at play - the generational shift from "things" to "experiences" in terms of discretionary spending and gift giving, a different sort of parent-child dynamic between the younger generation and their parents, and different peer group dynamics that make "friend" trips less viable than they were decades ago (because of limited vacation time, increasing imposition of restrictions on its use, varying student debt burdens based on parental support, more variation in when people "settle down" with kids, etc.).

I do a lot of traveling with my mother and always have. Not all of my trips, now, because she's in her 70s and has mobility challenges that make some of our travels unsuitable - she wasn't going to hike Glacier NP with us, for example - as well as making longer road trips uncomfortable for her. But she's a single woman from a generation where women didn't travel solo, so she's always invited me and my kids along when she wants to go somewhere, and although I'm married, DH has never had much vacation time so I invited her along on a lot of trips as well. Who pays varies from trip to trip, so it isn't really a money thing - just companionship and the fact that traveling with kids was easier with two adults than on my own when they were young.

I haven't traveled with friends since college. After school, we were just on too different a page, both in terms of marriage/kids and finances, to plan friend trips once we started our adult lives. There's about a 15 year range in when my peer group got married and had their first kids, from early 20s to late 30s, and some of us graduated with no student debt while others had tens of thousands to repay. None of that gets in the way of trips with parents.

Interesting that you brought up the last point about being on the same page.
The daughter of a good friend goes every where with them at the age of 28.
But her parents had her young - 19 -
so they aren’t”old” perhaps.

When I was in my mid 20s I had no desire to road trip to Branson with my 50 year parents!

 

[Colleen27]

Interesting that you brought up the last point about being on the same page.
The daughter of a good friend goes every where with them at the age of 28.
But her parents had her young - 19 -
so they aren’t”old” perhaps.

When I was in my mid 20s I had no desire to road trip to Branson with my 50 year parents!

I don't think "old" people act as old as they did a generation or two ago either. I wouldn't have any interest in Branson with my parents either... but neither would my mom! She's done WDW with us, and theatre trips to various cities, and came along on a lot of older DD's college tour trips to hang out poolside with younger DD. And she was, for my generation, an older mom - she had me when she was 32. I can't imagine my grandmother would have done any of the same things; we went on one three-generation vacation when I was a kid, to visit my aunt in Virginia for my cousin's birth & christening. She mostly hung out around the house and cooked while we enjoyed the beach and the boardwalk tourist attractions, and she really didn't like all the eating out we did on the road trip part of getting there and back.

 

[slpeters]

I'm 48 so hardly a millennial but I traveled with my parents several times in my twenties--New York, New Orleans, Puerto Vallarta amongst other places. When I met my now-husband in my mid-twenties the four of us went on a few vacations together. My parents were actually a riot to travel with!

 

[ronandannette]

My older son is almost 24, gainfully employed and loves to travel. He and his significant other are traveling the world together, which is great. But, he will still gladly go with us whenever we invite him on a vacation. We don’t find it odd at all to travel with our young adult sons. We cherish every minute we get to spend as our little family of 4

May I ask if inviting includes you paying? No criticism - I would have gone practically anywhere with my parents if they were treating, especially way back in my single days. Our DS is similar. I do doubt he would accompany us if he had to pay for it himself though and given his age, we're at peace with that.

 

[Moliphino]

My mom would tag along on all of our European vacations if she could. She and my dad actually tagged along when I had a work trip to Munich a few years ago. They also go to Hawaii with my other sister and her family every year for two weeks.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm 48 so hardly a millennial but I traveled with my parents several times in my twenties--New York, New Orleans, Puerto Vallarta amongst other places. When I met my now-husband in my mid-twenties the four of us went on a few vacations together. My parents were actually a riot to travel with!

I’ve traveled a couple short trips lately in my 50s with my parents and enjoyed the time with my parents. Of course I have to take care of everyone so it’s more like having 2 extra kids.

However in my 20s we did not have a “friend” relationship and they were much more uptight.
It would have felt like traveling with parents as a teenager. Not a riot. Not bad but not super fun.if that makes sense.
My dad would be grumpy and mom would yell.
Now they are much more mellow and just happy to be there.

 

[China Expat]

Great topic! Our son is 27 and financially solvent, and we take a summer trip together as a family every summer...Croatia, Iceland, Thailand, and more. He is a photographer and gets so into where we are traveling. My husband is a bit....reserved, so I love having my son on trips! More fun!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You're looking at it front the standpoint of the young adults travelling with their parents. Isn't it the case that the parents are also traveling with their young adults?

Why phrase it as a negative to the young but not the same way to the parents.

Especially on the Boards there is quite a bit more of the parents inviting their children on the trips rather than the children inviting their parents.

 

[dosekies]

Mid twenties millennial here - I can only afford to travel on a week long nice vacation maybeeee once a year. Usually it’s every other year that my fiancé and I go on a nice vacation by ourselves. Both of our families, however, enjoy family vacations and know we’re saving hard to pay off loans and buy a house, so they are more than happy offering to bring us with for family time if they plan a trip. I’m sure the offers to pay will end soon, which is completely acceptable. We never expect them to pay or even invite us, so when they do, we do what we can to pay for a nice dinner or two.

On the other side of it, I also have many friends who go on 3-4 smaller trips a year on their own/with their significant other/friends and seem to be loving it.

 

[OhhBother]

Not a millennial, but my DH and I (40s) frequently travel with my parents (70s). We just enjoy their company. I got the travel bug from them - all four of us like exploring the world. And every couple of years, my sister and her family, along with my brother and his family, will join us. It’s really fun when the whole family goes. We tend to do a big trip in place of Christmas gifts, etc. Just a fun way to make memories together.

 

[CdnCarrie]

You're looking at it front the standpoint of the young adults travelling with their parents. Isn't it the case that the parents are also traveling with their young adults?

Why phrase it as a negative to the young but not the same way to the parents.

Especially on the Boards there is quite a bit more of the parents inviting their children on the trips rather than the children inviting their parents.

Good question!

I think in the case of the young couples I’m thinking that traveling alone would increase their independence from parents, give them alone time in a newer relationship compared to a long term established marriage, and in some cases maybe get out of the shadow and influence of the older generation.

 

[Feberin]

I'm a millennial with kids and my Dad is going to Disney with us but it's my first trip with him since I was a teenager. He knew we were planning on going and asked if he could join us. I was just talking to him about Fastpasses and he is only interested in doing rides with the kids.
A lot of my friends without kids travel with their parents more regularly. Are you sure their daughter never travels on her own? I know with my friends those who travel with parents travel a lot in general.

 

[dish rag]

You're looking at it front the standpoint of the young adults travelling with their parents. Isn't it the case that the parents are also traveling with their young adults?

Why phrase it as a negative to the young but not the same way to the parents.

Especially on the Boards there is quite a bit more of the parents inviting their children on the trips rather than the children inviting their parents.

Probably phrased that way because the parents are paying for the trips. Mellenials seem to expect parental help much longer than past generations. And don’t seem to be ashamed to accept it.

 

[disneychrista]

I have traveled (to WDW & Disneyland) with my parents as an adult.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Good question!

I think in the case of the young couples I’m thinking that traveling alone would increase their independence from parents, give them alone time in a newer relationship compared to a long term established marriage, and in some cases maybe get out of the shadow and influence of the older generation.

I can agree with that but it still doesn't address my comment IMO at least.

Most often you're going to find the parents inviting the kids not the kids inviting the parents--at that stage in life. Certainly there are trips here and there I mean my mom went with us to Vegas and my mother-in-law is about to go on a ski trip with us however what you're talking about is every trip. I'd hazard a guess it's not the norm for the kids to say "hey mom and dad wanna go on a trip?"

So why not say "hey parents why do you want to travel with your kids rather than instill a sense of independence, etc?" Obviously it's your thread I just found the question more negative towards the young adults when I feel it's more probable the parents inviting the kids at that stage in life. Obviously young adults can say no though.

* ETA: Again your thread just me musing out loud here

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Probably phrased that way because the parents are paying for the trips. Mellenials seem to expect parental help much longer than past generations. And don’t seem to be ashamed to accept it.

1) It's millennials (and normally I wouldn't comment on spelling but it seemed quite fitting at the moment) 2) The OP said the young adults are paying for themselves so nope 3) I don't much feel like going down the obvious generation bashing that you're known for tonight