10 Reasons Why You Should Take a Trip With Your Mom

Those who know me, knows how much I love Turkey. I don’t miss a chance to brag about it. Yes it is very beautiful, scenic and all that, but the best thing about it, was that I traveled to Turkey with my mom. Yes, you heard it right, just me and mum!! I had such a fabulous time, that I would recommend everyone (who are lucky enough to have their parents around) to travel with their mums, at least once.

Let’s see why your mum is the best travel companion you can ever have:

1. Mum and you have mutual interests – Those of you who have traveled with friends or family knows how many times you have to give in to their choice of food, places to visit, even time to wake up and go to bed. That really bothers me, since I’m not the most patient when it comes to compromising like that. With mum, it was a smooth sail. She would dine-in with me wherever I want and was super-excited about every place I selected to visit. The only drawback was that she wanted to come back to the hotel by 10 pm at max, but then again, you need someone to have a  tight leash on you, specially when you are travelling alone like that.
2. Great opportunity to connect – Let’s face it, how many times do we really sit with our mothers to just talk. Mostly it’s a superficial conversation, over tea, with our heads hovering over the screen of our laptops.  The one most-amazing thing in this trip was that I actually got time to do nothing but talk to my mom. Be it while taking the 10 hour long, all-night bus-trips between cities or while enjoying a lovely sunset in the Bosphorous cruise, sipping away the aromatic apple tea. Wherever we were, we got a whole lot of opportunity, to connect, share and get to know each other so much better.
3. You’ll see a whole new side of your mum – Seriously! It’s like nature telling you, “Meet your new mom, not the ever-yelling, shoving-food-in-your-mouth mom, but the crazy-adventurous one, who is up for challenge at any time of the day….wohooo!” I loved that about her. She traveled from city to city with me, climbing steep hills, walking in narrow caves, enjoying snow, exploring islands and finally, the most adventurous hot-air balloon ride, and that too at 5 in the morning, which I’m sure, hubby will also refuse to do if given the option.
4. A whole new perspective – You will learn so much more from her experience and knowledge. You will see the world through her eyes which makes it even more meaningful. My mum used to share with me popular anecdotes, historical facts, religious significance of the places we used to visit and her profound knowledge on Mediterranean cuisines makes the whole experience so much more interesting.
5. People will look up to you – Now this is what I can bet on; you walk in a group and you tell them, “here’s me with my mom”, and the next thing you know, you are everyone’s HERO. You can see the admiration and the respect for you in their eyes, takes your fan-following to a whole new level. It’s fine to be a show-off for a while, doesn’t hurt no one, does it?
6. Every penny you spend is worth it – I’ve had so many achievements in the past, but none hit me like this. It was like I could feel, touch, taste SUCCESS. I felt so proud that I was finally at a place where I can give something back to the parents who have dedicated their lives for my well being and happiness.
7. Nothing beats the joy of watching a smile on her face – It’s the most pleasurable feeling in the whole world, watching your mom all excited and happy, and all just because of a small thing you did for her. 
8. Lifetime supply of memories – The joy and the excitement is not over even after the trip. You come home with bag full of memories. You and mom will have your secret laughs, stories which only you two could relate to. Most of your sentences will start with, “you know that time when we were…..”. Good enough to annoy the other siblings with your I’m-the-best-kid-of-ya-all grin (at least for a while). Even now, when we look at the pictures, all the moments come rushing back to us, and our hearts are filled with joy of the most-amazing time we had in the most-amazing place in the world.
9. Mum is your best photographer – Well, in my case it is so true. Mum would look into tiny details and put in effort to take my pictures which no friend ever will. It was one of the pictures she took of me, which later got me my future hubby. If only you could relate to Pakistani arrange marriage system. Lolz
10. Mum deserves a vacation – …more then anyone else in the family. Because, mum is the one not going on corporate international trips. She is the one not hanging out with friends till late at night. She can’t afford to sit in parlors all day long to get pampered like we can. She has the responsibility to run the house, so that her family could have the comfortable life they want. 

Mum enjoying the early morning view from the room of our hotel in Kusadasi.

So lovelies! if you agree with me, post me, let me know of any memorable trip you have taken with your mom. And finally, make it your life-long goal to give something back to your parents, in whatever little way you can. Believe me, its the ultimate joy!! 🙂

Until we meet again…

Cheers!!