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May 11, 2020 • 4 min read
Whether it’s anxiety about the disease itself, the stress of home-schooling, worries over finances, or simply that you’ve all had enough of each other and the same four walls, life is pretty stressful for families right now. We’re all trying to find our way through this experience, and that means managing our collective mental health. For some families, group yoga sessions and regular bake-offs work. However, for others, it’s about relaxing those screen time rules and investing in upgraded Zoom.
Given that we can’t travel right now, it might seem counterintuitive to suggest that spending time as a family talking about past trips or planning new ones can help with stress levels. Surely, nothing is more frustrating than discussing all the things you did once but can’t do now? Perhaps, but there are significant advantages to reliving old trips.
While the trip itself is over in a matter of days or weeks, a substantial benefit of family travel is the long-lasting shared memories it creates. A British survey conducted in 2015 found that 55% of adults agreed that family holidays provide happy memories that stay with them for the rest of their lives.
For many children, the chance to hang out and unwind with their parents without school responsibilities, work, or daily life getting in the way is enough reason why holidays bring them joy. Moreover, holidays evoke a mix of other emotions. Think about that sense of excitement and nervousness when experiencing something new or that immense feeling of freedom from being somewhere unfamiliar and out of routine. Life feels more enjoyable, more relaxing, and more interesting when on holiday – and those are the feelings you associate with it once you are home.
Those emotions can lie dormant for months or even years, but by spending time actively reminiscing about the trip together, you can revisit places that hold positive associations for all. Consequently, those feelings of relaxation, fun, excitement, and, most importantly, happiness are good emotions to experience right now.
Begin by having everyone name their best holiday, create a list, and work through each one. Moreover, there are various ways you can retrace your steps:
Ask the kids (and be ready with your own answers) to share their best and worst memories, funniest moments, biggest ‘wow’ experiences, the place they wish to revisit, the place they never want to return to, and the best mom/dad moment.
Before you know it, you will be reliving a memorable meal, sharing laughs over a silly memory or someone’s humorous mistake, and remembering in-jokes, disasters, and valuable lessons learned from that particular trip. By transporting the family back to a past journey, you can unlock your collective memory bank and bring those joyful emotions from the past to the forefront.
At the other end of the spectrum, while actually traveling or even booking any travel seems a distant prospect for most of us, organizing a family travel planning session serves as another effective coping mechanism for stress (as well as something to occupy your time). Having a plan for a future family trip gives everyone the chance to dream of happier times, glimpse a light at the end of the Covid tunnel, and settle any debates about where to go while having the time to discuss it thoroughly. Although travel restrictions and the financial impact of COVID-19 may delay this trip, we all recognize that anticipation is half the fun of a journey.
The opportunity to engage in serious research through watching travelogues, films and documentaries, exploring websites and blogs, and devouring any relevant information you can find, while actively planning where to visit together, is pure escapism – and who doesn’t need that during challenging times?
