With Mother’s Day this Sunday (May 12th), we thought it would be the perfect time to introduce you to two of the most heartwarming mother-daughter stories we picked as two of the winning entries for the Trafalgar Unlocked Awards 2024.
Find out more: Meet the winners of the 2024 Trafalgar Unlocked Awards
Just one of the incredible things about travel is its power to bring people together. Many Trafalgar guests make new friends on tour, but travelling with family is another way to strengthen existing bonds, create shared memories, and – in some cases – remember lost loved ones. These powerful mother-daughter stories prove exactly this.
Kristina and her mom Diane
Having planned to take the trip of a lifetime with her husband, Allan, Diane and her daughter Kristina experienced a terrible loss after he was diagnosed with ALS. Diane chose to still take the trip and travel with Kristina instead in memory of Allan on our Italy Bellissimo tour, making new friends and sharing their celebration of Allan’s life with the group. An incredible story of family bonds and making the most of the time we have, we found Kristina and Diane’s story inspirational.
Hear this mother-daughter story in Kristina’s own words:
“In the summer, my mum and I went on a Trafalgar trip to Italy – a once-in-a-lifetime Bellissimo Italy experience. The only person missing was my dad. This trip was the kind of thing my mum and dad were planning on doing in his retirement, which was cut short when he was diagnosed with ALS two weeks after he retired.
“He passed away in October of 2017 after a difficult three and a half years with this terrible disease. My mum opted to go with me instead, and we had the time of our lives. Nothing makes you appreciate and savour the finer things in life more than the shortened life of a loved one being on your mind – and my dad was on both our minds for much of this trip.
“Our new found ‘bus friends’ probably got sick of us telling them “Allan would have LOVED this!” about every little detail of the cities we visited. Dad especially would have loved the people on the bus. We’ve made friends for life and appreciate the amount of love and life on that coach every day. We weren’t the only ones celebrating a life on this tour, and we all bonded over our shared experiences and love of travel.
“Thank you, Trafalgar, for offering what was one of the best experiences for my mum after what has to be one of the worst. Bellissimo Italy allowed us to celebrate Dad’s life while enjoying being in an adventure, together.”
You might also like: ‘I’m happy my daughter didn’t have to wait to see the world!’ – celebrate Mother’s Day with your travel stories
Edrea and her mom Vicky
From the Philippines, Edrea calls her mum Vicky her ‘travel buddy for life’. Their first trip together outside of Asia was our Best of Portugal tour, and Edrea takes on the role of Vicky’s own personal tour guide because when Vicky traveled alone, she got lost in a non-English speaking country. As a single mum Vicky has always prioritized travelling with her children, a gift Edrea wants to pay back by taking her to all her dream destinations – and now Costa Rica can be ticked off the bucket list!
Hear this mother-daughter story in Edrea’s own words:
“My travel buddy for life, my mom. We both had the loveliest time in our Best of Portugal Trafalgar trip last November-our first mother-daughter trip outside of Asia (our picture was taken by a friendly Singaporean tour mate with a professional camera). I am her tour guide, Yelp reader, Uber-booker, photographer, pastel de nata-finder, and compass all rolled into one because I’m the digitally-savvy one with the WiFi. I prioritize being with my senior citizen mom on trips abroad because the last recent time she travelled alone on tour, she got lost for an hour with no WiFi in a non-English speaking country.
“As a single parent, my mom had to give up a lot of luxuries in life to raise me and my brother. We saved where we could, but where my mom would prioritize the family expenses was on education and travel. Both in an effort to make us better individuals. My mom has always loved travelling. She’s had multiple dream destinations since I could remember. All of which she could have visited long ago if she had not prioritized going on trips with all three of us together, as a family.
“My mother just turned 67 years old this February, and is just beginning to check things off of her travel bucket list. I’m not sure how many more good years I have left with my mom. I’d love to be with her to complete them all, and I’d love to check off Costa Rica by sharing this trip with her as her late birthday gift.”
We’re happy to say that Vicky will get to celebrate her 67th birthday in Costa Rica, as Edrea’s entry was chosen as one of the lucky 15 winners of our Trafalgar Unlocked Awards 2024.
We’re so grateful that Kristina and Edrea chose to share their moving mother-daughter stories with us. Do you have any special family travel stories you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!