Word: grandchild
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...tall princess doesn't have a name yet. (Emperor Akihito will bestow one this weekend.) But even before the Emperor sent his new grandchild a traditional sword, before the little princess had her first bath in a sacred cedar tub, and before she was outfitted with a hakama, or ceremonial skirt, the expectations for her were high. An economist estimated her birth could generate more than $1 billion worth of consumer spending, including grannies showering gifts on their grandkids. Doctors have predicted a mini baby boom, as parenting-resistant youth, who have given Japan one of the lowest birth rates...
Today's grandparents are more affluent, fit and travel-savvy than grandparents ever. Whether they live near their grandchildren or at a distance, they feel a need to get away with them one on one. Typically, one grandparent travels with one grandchild, or a couple takes one or two kids...
Other grandparents prefer the freedom and intimacy of traveling on their own, whether on a trip to Europe or a local vacation in the RV. When Joyce Hall, a Manhattan singing teacher and grandmother ("in my 60s"), travels independently, she takes one grandchild at a time. Planning her trips to mesh with the child's interests, she goes to cities and stays at hotels she's familiar with--to minimize snafus and unpleasant surprises...
...single or widowed grandparents, a grandchild can fill the need for a traveling companion. In recent years, Luella Kramer's husband has been too ill to travel with her. Last year the 76-year-old from Holden, Mass., considered a Kenya tour, she says, "but I thought, 'It's not much fun looking at the African moon with a bunch of ladies.' Then I thought, 'I could go with Jeff!'" Jeff, 12, of Ashland, Mass., jumped at the chance to see zebras and monkeys on the Grandtravel Safari. Luella enjoyed it so much that this past summer she took Jeff...
...closer ties formed by traveling with grandchildren extend forward in time. Grandparent and grandchild may speak more often on the phone or simply have more to talk about when they do speak--sharing their memories of people and places. For both young and old, these trips are a way to make connections--between generations past, present and to come. When Hall and Saya made a scrapbook together of their trip to France, Hall told her, "You will have these things forever, and you'll be able to show them to your children when I'm long gone...