Grandparents travelling with grandkids can create special memories for life | Canada Voices

In 2017, Susan Mariani Mitchell decided to take a special, one-on-one trip with her eldest granddaughter, who was 12 years old at the time.

The two went to London, England, as part of a group tour designed for adults, visiting sites like the Tower of London and the historic Borough Market where they enjoyed sampling new foods. During the trip, Ms. Mitchell was delighted to see how confident and curious her granddaughter was – asking more insightful questions than most of the adults.

“The children’s personalities are absolutely different when they’re with just their grandparents,” says Ms. Mitchell, who is retired and lives in Toronto. “They’re more relaxed, more open, more expressive.”

After the success of that first trip, Ms. Mitchell took her other two grandchildren on one-on-one trips, also when they were around the same age. She booked those international excursions through Road Scholar, a Boston-based travel organization that offers education-focused trips specifically for grandparents and grandchildren.

Ms. Mitchell and her middle grandchild went to Tuscany in Italy where they enjoyed learning how to cook gnocchi and sauce from scratch, and she went with her youngest on a safari adventure in South Africa, where he was pleased to craft a bow and arrow out of wood.

These kinds of “skip-gen” trips, where grandparents travel with their grandkids and leave the parents at home, have emerged as a trend in recent years. Road Scholar’s chief program officer, Maeve Hartney, says the company offers about 75 unique itineraries for small group trips tailored for grandparents and grandkids, with global destinations including Paris, Japan, Germany and the Galapagos Islands. It’s quite common for grandparents to take each of their grandchildren on a special trip like Ms. Mitchell, she adds.

“It’s almost like a rite of passage when their grandchildren hit a certain age. It’s a phenomenal gift for them both.”

A connection ‘without the parents’

Louise Steele has travelled to Iceland and Costa Rica (twice) through Road Scholar with three of her grandchildren and plans to take one more trip with the youngest. Ms. Steele lives in St. Catherines, Ont., and her grandkids are spread out between Waterloo, Ont., and Halifax. She says taking these trips is a memorable way for her to spend quality time with each child.

Highlights of her trips include glacier tours, learning about geothermal energy and relaxing in hot springs in Iceland. In Costa Rica, they went rock climbing and hit the beach. But more than anything, Ms. Steele says she relishes the time away with each grandchild.

“It just feels closer. There’s more of a connection, because you get rid of the parents,” she says with a laugh.

Both Ms. Mitchell and Ms. Steele say they feel grateful they have been able to afford to travel in retirement. But for many people, a big trip like this may require some careful financial planning. Shannon Lee Simmons, a certified financial planner and author of Making Bank: Money Skills for Real Life, says that proper financial planning is, in fact, the key to being able to fully enjoy the trip.

When people don’t fully know if it is safe or smart for them to spend money travelling, the trip can feel scary instead of joyful, she says.

“But when you do understand the plan, you have emotional and financial permission to spend that money which allows you to feel safe and have fun.”

Financing strategies for retirement travel

If someone wants to make travelling a priority in retirement, there are several ways to make that happen, Ms. Simmons says. Travelling in early retirement can be a smart move to take advantage of better mobility and lower travel insurance premiums, and working part-time can be a great option to help save up for your trip.

“If you know that working part-time or taking on one freelance client is 100 per cent going [towards] travel, it can actually be very motivating to work,” she says.

Other ways to fund travel can include setting aside a portion of your income to slowly save up, downsizing your home or selling another asset like a cottage. Retirees can also plan a more affordable trip. There is security and convenience in using an organization like Road Scholar that takes care of all the details, Ms. Simmons says, but planning your own trip can save a lot of money. Retirees might also want to take advantage of “house-swapping” services where travellers trade homes for a period of time with someone living in another country.

She cautions that it’s not a good idea to withdraw extra money from a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) or other registered fund because that can result in a significant increase in income taxes.

Meaningful moments that endure

Ms. Simmons acknowledges that finding the money to travel often does require some sacrifice one way or another. “I always tell my clients they have to choose which cactus they want to hug,” she says.

But a special trip can make the sacrifices worthwhile.

Ms. Mitchell remembers a meaningful moment at the tail end of her last trip with her last grandchild. Realizing he would not be able to bring the bow and arrow he made home with him from South Africa, her grandson created a touching ritual for them by burning the bow and arrow in a bonfire.

“I’m hopeful those trips will remain with my grandchildren forever,” says Ms. Mitchell of the adventures she has shared with her younger travel companions. “That’s such a wonderful heritage to give them.”