The pros and cons of holidaying with your parents

Having grown up taking annual holidays with my parents and only last year experiencing my first trip with friends, I can clearly see both the pros and cons of travelling with your parents.

The first con that comes to mind is that you may not always have the same travel priorities as your parents. This wouldn’t be such a bad thing if me and my parents had the same expectations of what we should be doing on holiday…but we don’t. My parents prefer a beach-type holiday, while I prefer to sightsee. This usually means we end up splitting up, with me solo-travelling while my parents and the rest of my family stay on the beach. Although not a massive con, it sort of ruins the point of having a family holiday, as I never see them for the day. We also often have disputes about the location of our annual holiday, with my mum much preferring a hot destination, while me and my father bid for a coolcation. Unfortunately, my mother often wins this debate, and we end up heading off to the Mediterranean.

But, I guess a sort of sweetener to this issue is that I don’t actually have to pay for everything when on a family holiday. If I was solo-travelling, I would be opening my wallet to pay for my meals, accommodation, and souvenirs. At least on a family holiday your parents are more willing to cover some of these expenses. On this year’s family holiday I only spent around £150, and that was for a two-week holiday!

I got to spend quality time with my dad while also seeing some great sights and again not paying for anything – great for the uni student’s wallet!

I also have to admit that recently my family has gotten into sight-seeing. This holiday we were able to split up as a family and me and my father (with a sibling or two) went off to sightsee while my mum stayed at the beach. I got to spend quality time with my dad while also seeing some great sights and again not paying for anything – great for the uni student’s wallet! We did a fantastic private taxi trip around Rome where we got to see the sights of the city, and we did a bus tour of Florence and Pisa. The holiday was truly a fantastic experience and it was great to spend it with my family exploring these new places.

Speaking of meals, I also quite enjoy mealtime with my family. During uni time, I never see my family and even when I am back home, we don’t tend to eat as a family very often. So, I guess it is nice being able to all sit together, talking and eating during the evenings. It is almost our way of bonding as a family and catching up with each other. But, as I am sure you have all experienced, you can have too much of a good thing and this certainly comes into effect for me during night-times when it is time for bed. Our usual sleeping arrangements are one room for my mother and sisters and another room which includes me, my brother, and my dad. This is a rather intense situation for 14 days. With all three of us trapped in a tiny room for the night, tempers do flare and sometimes we have arguments. Usually, they are things that can be easily solved, such as turning down phone brightness or putting in headphones, but the arguments can get more heated. We once had an argument over snoring, which can’t be helped! At least when solo-travelling you would be able to avoid these arguments and even when travelling with friends I felt that we never had any night-time fights.

But after a while, I must admit that being in such a close space with my family and being around them 24/7 does end up creating tension and arguments.

So, I guess there are pros and cons for travelling with your parents. For me, I have begun to enjoy travelling with my parents. I get to sightsee with them and spend quality time together. It’s also a very cheap holiday, with my parents covering most of my expenses. But after a while, I must admit that being in such a close space with my family and being around them 24/7 does end up creating tension and arguments. Maybe for a small holiday or a holiday where you get your own room, then a holiday with your parents is great! I certainly do enjoy my annual family holiday despite the occasional fall-out, but I could not see myself doing more than one a year.