I am going to preface this article by saying that it’s super tongue-in-cheek and does depend on what sort of relationship you may have with your mother or mother-in-law. This is not for any souls with dysfunctional families that can’t be in the same room without an argument breaking out—leave that granny at home! But if you have a strong bond, consider the benefits of an intergenerational holiday.

Let's face it: women tend to live longer than men. With that as a given, it's quite often the grandmothers left alone, rattling around in a big house, who willingly babysit whenever asked and quite often give unsolicited advice.

Grannies and grandkids are a special mix of family generational dynamics that play out in hilarious ways when holidaying as one big ‘happy’ family. It could be a disaster if the wrong type of holiday is planned—hiking in the Himalayas is not on the agenda of any old person! But, if you plan a holiday that suits all ages, such as a bit of island bliss where swimming and morning walks on the sand are high on the agenda, you will have precious memories to hold onto when granny is no longer around.

Do make sure, pre-holiday, that granny has travel insurance, is mobile (even if a bit on the slow side), and has all her faculties (you don’t want her wandering off in a dementia-induced fugue).

The benefits of taking granny:

  • Rich grandmothers may pay for the family because you thought to include her—this may be a stretch of wishful thinking, but you never know. And you will get bonus points in the sibling-rivalry stakes, and maybe more in the will.
  • Granny is the perfect excuse to get a wheelchair at airports. The benefits are numerous: the 'bag trolley’ lets you hang all your backpacks on the back of the wheelchair, and you can also load bags onto granny’s lap or between her feet. She can be the ‘bag guard’ when the whole family needs to go to the toilet at the same time.
  • With granny in a wheelchair, you are likely to get priority boarding, security, and immigration because you are the nice family with an elderly mother. In the public eye, you get kudos for being a thoughtful and caring family. Also, using a wheelchair at airports can guarantee more personal space wherever you are—if anyone gets in the way, just run them over, they will get the hint.
  • While waiting to board, or if your flight is delayed, granny is the ‘game organizer’ (think travel scrabble, I Spy, or card games) to get snotty little noses out of playing tech games and frying their brains.
  • You can fib a little about the number of seats available at the luxurious pointy end of the plane up front, knowing that the kids are safely squished in economy with granny. She will love it!
  • You can have your own hotel room and put granny in a room with the kids—make sure you lock the interconnecting door.
  • You will have a built-in babysitter, like taking an au pair traveling with you, except granny won’t be a temptress in disguise for any male wandering eyes.
  • Grannies are great for watching the kids in the swimming pool, as they are usually in the kids' pool anyway. If the kids are in the big pool, put a margarita in her hand and prop her on a chair beside the hotel's lifesaver in case of an emergency.
  • Most grannies don’t eat a lot and are happy to get room service or to eat dinner at an early hour with the kids—maybe cocktail time for you, then you can eat with the other grown-ups at a reasonable hour.
  • Afternoon naps are a necessity for grannies, so you can do your own thing with the kids or make them nap with her as well while you go off with your partner for a couples’ massage at the spa.
  • Grannies chat as much as kids, so they can chat nonsense to each other – it won’t matter if granny keeps repeating herself, as kids always tune out after a while.

Grannies provide endless entertainment just by being themselves. We all do it, but somehow grannies do it best: trying to speak the local lingo with panache at a fancy restaurant, ordering a dish she can’t pronounce, then hilariously trying to eat it with a fork and knife, unaware that it’s meant to be eaten with your hands. And don’t forget the moments of accidental language mix-ups, like trying to compliment someone’s ‘beautiful eyes’ but instead saying they have ‘fried eggs.’ Language faux pas are always hilarious, especially when kids are listening in.

Traveling grannies also have a knack for humorous wardrobe mishaps—her favorite hat flies off in a gust of wind and lands in a fountain, creating a crush of kids to retrieve it for her when all they wanted to do was jump in the fountain to begin with. Or, mistakenly wearing two different shoes, thinking they’re a matching pair, and striding confidently through the streets, drawing amused glances, much to the delight of the kids in tow. Maybe you get her on a camel only to witness her downfall as she dangles sideways, yelling out, 'I'm fine.' The antics of a granny can amuse kids no end and make for hilarious post-travel family stories.

Funny family moments remind us that travel isn’t just about seeing new places; it’s about who we travel with and the stories we create along the way. Grannies with their resilience and humor turn every mishap into a cherished memory.

Gail Palethorpe, a self proclaimed Australian gypsy, is a freelance writer, photographer and eternal traveller. Check out her website Gail Palethorpe Photography and her Shutterstock profile.