Enjoy this article by my friend Stephanie LeGrand from Curious Dandelion (read more about both Steph and Curious Dandelion at the end of the post!) Now – go plan a Mother-Daughter trip of your own!

We all grow up thinking we know our moms…. But do we really? Like REALLY?

A few years ago, I took my first trip with my mom and it exceeded all my expectations. I was a few years short of my fortieth birthday and, while she’ll tell you she was 29, my mom was rounding the corner to seventy when we took an eight-day Viking river cruise on the Danube.

It was on this trip that I TRULY got to know and connect with my mom in ways that I couldn’t imagine before.

She told stories about her childhood and her life before kids that I’d never heard. She shared details about her struggles and joys in marriage, parenting, and her career that gave me a new perspective on my own life.

And for the first time, I got to see how truly intelligent, courageous and fundamentally interesting my mom was in her own right.

(Am I the only one who, even as a grown up, sometimes still thinks my parents’ lives and identity revolve around me?… just a bit?)

Why should mother-daughter trips be on your bucket list?

1. You’ll learn things you NEVER KNEW about your mom.

Traveling with your mom gets you out of whatever relational rut you’ve been operating in since literally the day you were born.

Your teen years are long past – you know, when you wouldn’t be caught dead with your mom. Most of your conversations with her were spent arguing about a body piercing or the appropriateness of a midriff-baring shirt.

But now, you’re more like peers, albeit with varying decades of life experiences.

And because you’re sharing a totally new experience together, with people you probably won’t see again, it gives you a license to be more authentic and spontaneous in what you share.

For example, while my mom and I were traveling in Budapest, she told me she was engaged to someone else before she met my dad. What? I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.

And I was filled with pride hearing her stories about traveling through Europe in the 1960s BY HERSELF as an eighteen-year-old. (Hello, fearless female!)

One of my favorite parts of our trip happened every evening at dinner onboard the ship. I listened to my mom share her life story with our tablemates. It gave me the chance to see her for the first time through a stranger’s eyes. I had a newfound appreciation of where she’d come from, who she is now, and the things that bring her joy.

2. Your mom isn’t getting any younger. (And, frankly, neither are you.)

Lucille Ball once said, “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.”

As much as we all want to believe that our parents – and we – will always be around, that just isn’t how life works. And I knew I would regret not taking a trip with my mother (and I just LOVE the wisdom of Lucille Ball!).

Better to travel together as peers and NOT as a caregiver or under the cloud of some terminal diagnosis. Bump a mother-daughter trip to the top of your bucket list and prioritize planning as your next big travel adventure.

3. It is way more affordable than you think and the memories are priceless.

Now you might be worried that this kind of trip-of-a-lifetime is going to break the bank.  

For sure, mother-daughter adventures aren’t “budget travel.” But they don’t need to break the bank either. You can take a comfortable trip and include a bit of luxury with careful planning.  

Our trip, which was the Danube Waltz with Viking, took us to four countries and included six tours. It cost us about $5300 which was  $2650 per person plus we each spent about $300 on souvenirs and other incidentals.

So, let’s look at what you get for $330 per day (besides floating down a river with your one-of-a-kind mama)… Beautiful accommodations, exceptional service onboard the boat, gourmet meals, guided tours, and all transportation (on and off the river) are included in the cost.

If you tried to plan a trip on your own with all of these details (with food, lodging, sightseeing, and transportation) it would be tough to get below a daily budget of $330 (not to mention the anxiety and stress planning it might induce).

So now that we have ‘affordable’ down, let me clarify what I mean by “luxury” (which I think is a non-negotiable ESSENTIAL for your best mother-daughter trip).

I’m not talking about a fancy room with a balcony or little chocolates on your pillows (although we did get chocolates). Instead, focus on the luxury of having the itinerary, tours, and meals planned out for you. (And bonus points if free-flowing wine is included with your meals like ours was!)

Choosing a trip that has a pre-planned itinerary, tours, and meals might be THE KEY to your relational harmony. It leaves VERY LITTLE for you and your mom to disagree about while traveling together.

And I can guarantee that bickering about what you should do or where you’re going to eat with your mom will suck all the joy out of the adventure.

Tips for planning a mother-daughter trip to remember:

• Pay IN FULL for the trip as soon as you can. Research shows that this significantly increases your enjoyment and maximizes happiness while traveling with your mom. Once it’s paid for, you can focus 100% on dreaming about and anticipating your special mother-daughter adventure.  
• Book well in advance to take advantage of deals. We booked our river cruise a year out and used one of Viking’s many 2-for-1 deals where you pay for one traveler and the other is free. (I recommend you Google “Viking 2-for-1” to see current travel deals).  
• Use reward miles to book your airfare.  My mom and I decided to apply miles we earned through travel hacking with rewards credit cards to pay for the airfare. This definitely made the trip more affordable for us. (For some ideas on how to do this, check out this article on How to Fly (Almost) Free to Berlin.)
• No matter how well-planned, travel can be stressful for any relationship and particularly for a mother-daughter duo. (Remember how you fought when you were a teen?) Here are some essential tips for getting along so you can truly enjoy your time together.  

To this day, four years after our trip together, our mother-daughter trip ranks as one of my top five happiest memories (competing only with my wedding day and when I brought each of my three kids home).

So, if you have a travel bucket list, then without a doubt a mother-daughter trip should be at the top.

Have you taken a trip with your mom? I’d love to hear why you did it and any tips you have for planning a mother-daughter getaway adventure in the comments below.

About Stephanie LeGrand:

When she’s not traveling with her mom, Stephanie LeGrand collaborates with bloggers and online businesses to spread their ideas. She works with clients to develop and clarify their brand strategy, design their websites, and increase their influence through Pinterest marketing. You can learn more about her and the services she offers at Curious Dandelion.

Safe Travels,

From what I’ve learned while traveling, staying safe should include:

• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Be savvy about local scams in the country your traveling to.
• Keep your data and credit card information safe from RFID readers by taking a purse/wallet/passport holder that blocks them.
• Carry a crossbody bag (laying across your stomach and not your hip) with locking zipper closures, and made from slash resistant mesh – like the Travelon Crossbody bag I took on my trip to Krakow + Berlin.

Note: RFID means “radio-frequency identification.” There are RFID tags in passports (issued since 2007) and in new driver’s licenses that hold your personal contact information. A reader can (and will) capture this info via radio waves. RFID wallets/purses/passport holders can help to block this.

And there are more tips on how to travel safely included in The 9 Best Things Women Can Do To Be Safe While Traveling. Get the password for the resource Vault to access the 9 travel safety tips by filling out this form:

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The following article is brought to you by my friend, Melanie Ebersole, CEO at 3 Gypsies and a Passport. Melanie’s business specializes in teaching travel safety. Now read on as Melanie breaks down five essential, common sense things to think about before and act on during your travels. 

Travel Safety Starts at Home

By Melanie Ebersole

In today’s unstable and ever-changing world, you can’t ensure safe travels 100%, but you can reduce the risk as much as possible – especially women traveling alone.  Although these tips won’t guarantee safe travels – they can reduce your risks. They’re mostly simple and mostly common sense, but you need to practice good safety habits continuously.  

Not to scare you to death, but take a look at a poll done in 2018 by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and AIG Travel Inc. It showed a disturbing 83% of respondents, women traveling for business, experienced a safety issue or concern in the last year while traveling. And just talking to women, almost everyone tells me stories of travels gone awry because of a safety issue.  

Safe travel relies heavily on a confident mindset. You’ll get a confidence boost when you learn to be self-reliant and not overly dependent on a travel companion.  Putting all your trust in your companions’ ability to keep you safe makes you complacent. And complacency can make you vulnerable to trouble. It could even get you killed!  

What I Did to Stay Safe

I’ve had more than one safety scare while traveling, but what happened on a trip I took to Costa Rica was genuinely frightening. I stayed at a 5-star boutique hotel with excellent security that required checking with the guard each time you entered.  One night, returning to the hotel at midnight, a security guard offered to walk me to my room. I didn’t think anything of it because it was dark, I was alone, and – hello! – it was hotel security.

About halfway to my room, the security guard said something to me that caused me to pause, the hair standing up on my neck. I just knew trouble was looming. When the lights suddenly went out as we were walking, he grabbed my hand and said: “here let me lead you.” I took my hand back and said I knew the way – but he followed me anyway.  

Photo by Tiraya Adam on Unsplash

The lights came on as I reached my room and the guard opened the door for me. He told me: “I have tomorrow off,” and I said, “that’s great, I hope you have a nice day,” as he stood between me and the door. I thanked him for walking me to my room and said goodnight, but he still didn’t leave. Suddenly, I forcibly made him leave and quickly shut and locked the door. He beat on the door trying to get me to open it, but eventually went away.

I was lucky; others have not been.

Because of my awareness and intuition, I picked up early that the Security Guard was going to be trouble. I took the stature to secure myself and show confidence. I also know self-defense and acted quickly to push him out of my room. But how many women would have just felt safe because he was hotel security and let their guard down – until it was too late?

Five Common Sense Tips

Adopting and practicing a safety mindset at home will help it become second nature to you when you’re traveling. And that could save your life. Become an empowered traveler by adopting these five common-sense habits in your daily life.  

There’s more, but you’ve got to start somewhere – and not get overwhelmed!

#1 – Practice Situational Awareness.  No matter where I go, I practice being aware of everything and everyone around me. I started doing this while growing up. In my low-income neighborhood, it was dangerous not to be mindful of your surroundings and the people in them. I rely on this skill in both my daily life and my travels. It saved me from trauma and harm in Costa Rica – and on many other trips.  

To start practicing situational awareness, pay attention to what and who is around you at all times. Become aware of where you’re parking and walking – day and night. Is it a dark area, no people, secluded, etc.

Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

Also, know where your exits are in all establishments. Can you get to them quickly if there’s trouble (fire, robbery, any emergency)? Are there shady looking characters hanging around entryways?  

And always walk with confidence wherever you go – head up, and cell phone put away to keep your hands free whenever possible. As you go about your daily life think about how you’d react, or what you’d do in certain situations – run scenarios thru your mind, even down to an actual attack.  

Your mind will start to remember your imagined responses even though you haven’t experienced the actual trauma. If you ever really do need it, you’re more likely to respond quickly and with less fear. Train your mind and body to protect you.  

The police, military, and even I practice something called the Cooper Code. This Code, created by a US Marine named Jeff Cooper, talks about the different levels of awareness and uses a color code to describe them. Cooper said awareness makes up 90% of self-defense, the remaining 10% being physical techniques. If you’re interested in going more in-depth on this check out this article.

#2. Be prepared! Basic, common sense actions can help you be prepared and keep you safe while traveling. For instance, if you’re taking a road trip or driving a rental car on your journey, keep your gas tank at least half full at all times.  

And always bring a portable battery charger for your mobile phone. Use it diligently, keeping your cell phone battery at least halfway to a full charge. Also, make sure you have extra money in case of an emergency. But hide your spare cash somewhere other than your purse – like in a travel belt, your bra, your shoe, etc.

#3. Self-Defense + Your Health + Etc. Hey, do you have any self-defense moves? No, you don’t need to know how to chop a board in half with your bare hands. But you do need to know some ways to defend against an attacker. Whether you’re traveling far away or in your home town – these skills might help save you and others.  

Plus, you should consider checking to see what medical facilities are available where you’re traveling. And how long will it take to access them? If help will be hours away, can you perform CPR or basic First Aid?

How are you at changing a tire? You might need to know how, but maybe not. Car rental companies in many countries advise not stopping to change a flat tire but to drive to safety for help instead.

And before you go – an excellent resource for checking how safe a country and its transportation is – as well as the current health conditions – is TravelRiskMap.  

From TravelRiskMap.com

#4.Copy Your Documents. Make a copy of your driver’s license, passport, and credit cards, before you leave on your trip. Take one copy with you (keep in a safe place), put a copy online in secure cloud storage (like Box or Dropbox), and leave a copy with someone at home.

Only carry the credit card(s) you plan to use for travel, along with a front/back copy of the card(s). These copies will allow you to easily contact the credit card company if it’s lost or stolen.

If a card is compromised having the front/back copy can be very helpful. I’ve had to use it more than for a compromised card when trying to reset a password or accessing an account linked to the stolen card. I needed the last four digits and the CVC of the card, but since I’d kept a copy – I had the answer!

#5. Practice Safe Social Media!!  (You didn’t think I was going to say practice safe sex, did you??  LOL, do that too!) Don’t post every detail about your life for the world to see – and don’t post from your current location.

Save the photo uploads for when you’re home, or keep the date/time of the picture purposely vague. Posting while traveling away from home has gotten many people robbed while on vacation. When you’re back home and posting, clear the location data from your photos before posting.

I use a program called EXF Data that scrubs the GPS location from your pictures. It’s quick and easy, taking only seconds to remove the data giving away details of your location or where you took the picture.  

I hope you know how important these five tactics are to keep you safe while traveling – or while at home. You may think “this isn’t important and maybe even paranoid!” But if you’re a woman traveling solo, or even with a travel companion, better to keep safe than experience the traumatic alternatives.

Here’s wishing you happy “safe” trails.

A business leader and COO for the last 8 years, Melanie has been an entrepreneur and business builder most of her life.  A Colorado native living in Alaska after falling in love with the state 30 years ago on vacation. Daughter of a German citizen and avid traveler most of her life.  Growing up in a less than desirable neighborhood forced her to learn ways to keep herself safe. Now her passion is to use her years of traveling, knowledge, and safety skills to empower women to stay safe while traveling. You can find her at 3gypsiesandapassport.com and on Instagram here.

Melanie also helped me write this article about checking your bag vs. carry-on. I’m team Bag Checking (of course!!) and she’s team Carry-on.

Safe Travels!