Sonja Prokopec took her son on their first “solo” journey collectively when he was six years outdated.
They went to Rome, and it was so memorable that Prokopec stated she’s now planning their second journey this summer time.
“I actually take pleasure in one-on-one time which now we have when travelling alone,” she stated. “There are not any distractions, no arguments among the many siblings, time spent collectively is of top quality… My son nonetheless talks about our time in Rome and may’t anticipate [our] London journey this June.”
Prokopec and her husband have three kids — her son who’s now 10, plus two youthful daughters. They journey collectively, however time away with only one youngster and one father or mother has perks that household journeys do not typically present, she stated.
“Travelling with just one youngster permits you to concentrate on the wants of solely that youngster,” she stated. “Additionally, as I’m not stretched from managing completely different calls for, I really feel like I’m a greater father or mother — extra affected person, extra playful and extra within the second.”
Plus, “my son loves all the eye and loves that we get to discover collectively, simply the 2 of us,” she stated.
Prokopec’s husband — who “all the time insisted on doing issues collectively, together with travelling” — is now a proponent too, she stated.
“My husband has additionally taken my son alone to Turkey and actually beloved it … even he sees the worth in it,” she instructed CNBC Journey.
Serbian Sonja Prokopec and her son, Laith, on their journey to Rome.
Supply: Sonja Prokopec
Prokopec hasn’t taken solo journeys together with her two youngest kids, largely due to Covid-19, she stated. However which will quickly change.
“I’ll positively do extra,” she stated.
A rising pattern
The posh journey firm Scott Dunn named “parent-child bonding holidays” one among 2023’s high journey tendencies.
Mom-and-daughter journeys particularly are on the rise, although father-and-child journeys are additionally rising in popularity, in line with the corporate.
“Mother or father-child duos typically decide locations and embrace experiences based mostly on their mutual pursuits,” stated Scott Dunn’s Common Supervisor Mike Harlow.
Scott Dunn’s Mike Harlow recommends Norway (proven right here) for climbing and biking, Finland to see the Northern Lights and Africa, which has been standard with dad and mom touring with youngsters. For extra budget-friendly choices, he really helpful Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand or Sri Lanka.
Nadezhda1906 | Istock | Getty Pictures
Harlow stated his firm lately helped a father-son duo e-book a visit to Cambodia that centered on the nation’s historical past and nationwide parks.
“We additionally had a mother-daughter duo who headed to South Korea for a visit themed round Okay- dramas and Okay-pop, whereas one other mother-son duo travelled to India to do the traditional Golden Triangle collectively,” he stated.
Elephants and ‘jungle bubbles’
Final 12 months, I made a decision to e-book my very own mother-daughter journey with my oldest youngster. (To fulfill cries of injustice from her youthful siblings, I promised everybody a “solo” journey at their tenth birthday, too.)
To determine the place to go, I requested my daughter a collection of straightforward questions: seaside or mountains, chilly or heat climate, animals or journey sports activities?
Primarily based on her solutions, I offered her with just a few concepts. She selected the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, exterior of Chiang Rai, Thailand. We booked a number of nights in the principle lodge, and one night time within the lodge’s “Jungle Bubble” — a spherical tent with a king-sized mattress and toilet that overlooks a part of the lodge’s 168-acre space the place its elephants can roam.
By day, we walked with the elephants by means of the fields and watched them bathe in a river alongside the Myanmar border. We ready meals for the elephants and fed them, however we didn’t experience them, a apply that’s neither allowed by the lodge nor condoned by animal rights supporters.
Within the evenings, we swam within the lodge’s pool and held a “spa night time” in our room, with facial masks from house and tub salts and lotions from the lodge. At night time, we sat exterior and regarded on the stars.
Friends at Anantara’s Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort can put together “energy balls” manufactured from bananas, rice bran, sunflower seeds, sticky rice, tamarind and salt to feed to the elephants.
Supply: Monica Pitrelli
One morning, I instructed we e-book a cooking class. However my daughter was adamant about making an attempt Muay Thai boxing as an alternative. Resisting the urge to inform her she would not prefer it (learn: I would not prefer it), I booked a session. She beloved each minute.
As for me, I cherished having a lot time with my daughter, with out having to are inclined to others’ wants. I discovered myself telling her tales from the previous — my very own and my husband’s — just because, with out competing voices round, I might.
Anantara’s Golden Triangle Elephant Resort & Camp at the moment has 20 elephants, together with a mom and child pair. The lodge stated they don’t purchase the elephants, and driving them is forbidden.
Supply: Monica Pitrelli
The time additionally afforded many teachable moments — classes that had lengthy wanted to be taught. Whereas resting in our room in the future, I out of the blue remembered that we would have liked to put lunch orders for my daughter’s upcoming faculty time period.
“Mother,” she stated, wanting up from her e-book. “We are able to do this after we get house.”
As a bonus, my husband reported having a beautiful time at house with my different kids — having fun with their very own particular moments as a trio, with out the problems that may include a household of 5.
Reminiscences that final ‘ceaselessly’
California native Madeline Austin additionally grew up with 5 individuals in her household. She stated she vividly remembers the journeys she took as a baby together with her mom and grandmother.
The journeys “centered round one thing they knew I used to be fascinated about. For instance, I did a report on Yellowstone Nationwide Park in elementary faculty and have become obsessive about the geysers, so that they took me on an extended weekend journey to go to and see them in actual life,” she stated.
A latest picture of Madeline Austin and her mom earlier than they went to the Hollywood Bowl, a reside music venue in Los Angeles, California.
Supply: Madeline Austin
Austin stated her household did not journey typically, so it felt “extremely particular” to take journeys together with her mother.
“She was invested in my pursuits, and the undivided consideration I obtained from her that weekend — particularly because the forgotten center youngster — was really particular and one thing I am going to keep in mind ceaselessly,” she stated.
She recalled holding arms together with her mother and watching a geyser erupt. “I additionally keep in mind leaving the park drained from strolling, getting dinner collectively and having the ability to order soda — which we did not often have at house!”
Austin, 27, is not a father or mother but, however she stated she would proceed the custom together with her personal kids in the future.
“It is such a particular time to attach one-on-one together with your youngster in a means that you may’t replicate at house.”
