If you know my mom and me, you already know that we don’t always see eye to eye. If you’ve ever traveled with us, I am so sorry LOL. We bicker to no end and have these attitudes we just won’t drop, but despite that, my mom is one of my favorite people to travel with and we always have the absolute best time.

A mother-daughter bond is something special and unique to each and every pair. No one will ever understand your relationship with your mom outside of the two of you. Honestly, 99% of the time, I bet your mom understands you better than you understand yourself.

I’ve traveled with my mom since my very first trip, and she’s the person who inspired my love for travel and exploring. (Read all about that here). As I’ve gotten older, we’ve taken less family trips as she’s been more focused on trips with just my dad, and we’ve both been taking lots of trips with our friends.

All things considered, we usually squeeze in some sort of trip each year for the two of us to spend some time together. Most recently, here’s what we’ve done:

2020 – Lots of local exploring! We’ve taken full days to explore new areas together all throughout Long Island, New York. We were supposed to go to Atlanta, Georgia but we rescheduled that for Fall 2021 (fingers crossed!).

2019 – Walt Disney World: Orlando, Florida. This was a mother-daughter trip we took with my best friend, Gina, and her mom, Toni. My mom and Toni are great friends, so it was also a friend-trip for all of us.

2018 – Cancun, Mexico. We went to a destination wedding together for my cousin, Stephanie. Ok, Dad was there too, BUT that’s only because of the wedding.

I won’t drone on and list everything, but you get the idea. It’s possible and always a fun time to plan and take trips with your mom. I hope you take the chance if you’re able!

Packing will be a breeze

Let’s start with the obvious one. We all know Moms know best, especially when it comes to being prepared. My mom starts thinking about what she is going to pack for a trip pretty much the minute she books it. For me, I tend to start packing much closer to my trip. (Sometimes I will start the packing process ridiculously early, but it’s usually for good reason).

Moms have this inner need to be prepared at all times for every situation. They think of absolutely everything you could possibly need for your trip that you probably would have forgotten. The “hey don’t forget this” texts might be annoying at first, but you’ll be thankful later when you do need that extra jacket you didn’t want to bring but she insisted.

When the two of us were in Disney with Gina and Toni, it started to rain, and this wonder woman pulled out 4 ponchos without thought. PREPARED.

She’ll always put you first

What mom out there is really putting her wants before her kids? None. Even at the ages of 29 and 26, my mom is constantly putting my brother and me before herself. She will always put aside what she would like to do if we want to do something else, and she’ll never say a peep about it. Sometimes I don’t even realize she’s doing this!

When you travel with your friends, and I say this in the nicest way possible, everyone is selfish. “I want…” “I’m in the mood for…” I I I ME ME ME. Listen, I am the same way. I want to do what I want to do. It’s a bit harder to compromise when making an itinerary with your friends, especially if you have different travel styles/interests.

When you travel with mom and you mention something you want to do, it’s almost guaranteed to be in your itinerary. For example, I am a huge Star Wars fan and my mom…not so much. She still spent a few hours with me in Disney’s Hollywood Studios waiting in those long ass lines to get pictures with all of the Star Wars characters. AND she did it with a smile on her face the entire time and just let me completely fangirl over Kylo Ren. Thanks, Ma.

Meals are never an argument

Like I said before, Mom knows you better than you know yourself sometimes, and that definitely applies to your appetite and tastes. You both know what you like and dislike, so there won’t be much argument when it comes to picking a restaurant to go to.

If you have any dietary restrictions, Mom will never forget those and always peep the menu beforehand to make sure it’s diet-friendly. Superheroes at work here, am I right?

Oh and I guarantee if you get a little hungry mid-day, she’ll whip some sort of snack out of her bag for you. Prepared and ready to feed us at all times.

You’ll have endless photos

Even if your mom is not a photographer, I guarantee she will take a million pictures of your travels together. Moms love documenting their kids’ lives, and the older I get, the more thankful I am for this. There will always be an array of memories because your mom will capture moments you won’t even think to.

Time together is priceless

We all take our moms for granted. I’m definitely guilty of this. Exploring the world and making irreplaceable memories together is something you will never regret or forget.

No one else in the world can make a trip quite as special as your mom can. I guarantee it.