My mom and I took our first solo vacation as adults two years ago, and I admit I was nervous before committing to the trip. My mom is awesome, there's no doubt about that. But I'm the type of person who can only be around other people for so long before I just can't handle it anymore; this says more about me than the people I'm around. However, my mom and I went to New Orleans and had an amazing time, thus our yearly adventures were born.
Traveling with your mom as an adult is totally different from traveling with your significant other and much more closely related to traveling with your bestie. But as similar as it is to that, there's just nothing quite like going on vacation with Mom. Take a page out of my book, and check out these 13 reasons traveling with your mama is the best decision you can make — as told by GIFs of our favorite mother-daughter duo, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
Your mom spent a lot of time, energy, and money to raise you into the beautiful human you are today. Going on a fun or relaxing vacation together is a wonderful way to say thank you.
Got turned around in a foreign city and ran into some unsavory people? Mom's got your back. Taking a twilight stroll and someone starts hitting on you even though you clearly aren't interested? Mom's totally got your back.
It's that special mom thing where they always have the answers and always know how to fix something. If you get lost during your travels or forget something important, Mom will take care of it.
All right, listen: my favorite part of vacation is eating all the food. My mom is the first person to tell me it's OK, "because you're on vacation!"
Embarrassing things are a part of life. Your mom's not going to care if you're in a place where they speak a different language and you're trying to fumble through a conversation just to get some dinner. You might be embarrassed about your lack of language skills, but just know that Mom's behind you silently chuckling but giving you an A for effort all the same.
For some people, it comes down to traveling with your best friend or traveling with your family. For me, my mom is my best friend, so two birds with one stone right there.
I don't mean to criticize other tourists, but sometimes they're so obvious that it slips. Mom's always there with me, agreeing and feeling just a bit bad about it.
Gross things happen, even on vacation, OK? Mom's not going to care if my period comes a day early and stains my shorts and I beg her to clean them up for me. Thanks, Mom.
She spent long enough waking you up for school every day. Your wakeup call is no longer her responsibility, so if you want to sleep in before hitting the beach, Mom's definitely going to let you.
As a millennial, the time is now for me to travel with my mom. My mom is retired and itching to get out of the house. I have no family of my own (aside from my cats, who get to stay with my dad). We both have incomes that allow us to see new places, so we're taking full advantage while we can.
There's nothing like a vacation where you spend nonstop time together in an unknown place to bring two people closer together. You think your mom already knows everything about you? It's about to get next level.
At the end of the day, she's your mom, and no matter how much you annoy each other, she's still going to love you unconditionally.