Sonja Prokopec took her son on their first “solo” journey collectively when he was six years outdated.

They went to Rome, and it was so memorable that Prokopec mentioned she’s now planning their second journey this summer season.

“I actually take pleasure in one-on-one time which we have now when travelling alone,” she mentioned. “There aren’t any distractions, no arguments among the many siblings, time spent collectively is of top quality… My son nonetheless talks about our time in Rome and might’t anticipate [our] London journey this June.”

Prokopec and her husband have three youngsters — her son who’s now 10, plus two youthful daughters. They journey collectively, however time away with only one little one and one guardian has perks that household journeys do not usually present, she mentioned.

“Travelling with just one little one lets you deal with the wants of solely that little one,” she mentioned.  “Additionally, as I’m not stretched from managing completely different calls for, I really feel like I’m a greater guardian — extra affected person, extra playful and extra within the second.”

Plus, “my son loves all the eye and loves that we get to discover collectively, simply the 2 of us,” she mentioned.

Prokopec’s husband — who “all the time insisted on doing issues collectively, together with travelling” — is now a proponent too, she mentioned.

“My husband has additionally taken my son alone to Turkey and actually beloved it … even he sees the worth in it,” she informed CNBC Journey.

Prokopec hasn’t taken solo journeys together with her two youngest youngsters, principally due to Covid-19, she mentioned. However that will quickly change.

“I’ll positively do extra,” she mentioned.

The luxurious journey firm Scott Dunn named “parent-child bonding holidays” one in every of 2023’s prime journey tendencies.

Mom-and-daughter journeys particularly are on the rise, although father-and-child journeys are additionally gaining popularity, in response to the corporate.

“Father or mother-child duos usually decide locations and embody experiences primarily based on their mutual pursuits,” mentioned Scott Dunn’s Basic Supervisor Mike Harlow.

Harlow mentioned his firm just lately helped a father-son duo e book a visit to Cambodia that centered on the nation’s historical past and nationwide parks.

“We additionally had a mother-daughter duo who headed to South Korea for a visit themed round Ok- dramas and Ok-pop, whereas one other mother-son duo travelled to India to do the basic Golden Triangle collectively,” he mentioned.

Final yr, I made a decision to e book my very own mother-daughter journey with my oldest little one. (To fulfill cries of injustice from her youthful siblings, I promised everybody a “solo” journey at their tenth birthday, too.)

To resolve the place to go, I requested my daughter a collection of easy questions: seaside or mountains, chilly or heat climate, animals or journey sports activities?

Primarily based on her solutions, I introduced her with just a few concepts. She selected the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, outdoors of Chiang Rai, Thailand. We booked a number of nights in the principle resort, and one night time within the resort’s “Jungle Bubble” — a spherical tent with a king-sized mattress and toilet that overlooks a part of the resort’s 168-acre space the place its elephants can roam.

By day, we walked with the elephants by means of the fields and watched them bathe in a river alongside the Myanmar border. We ready meals for the elephants and fed them, however we didn’t experience them, a apply that’s neither allowed by the resort nor condoned by animal rights supporters.

Within the evenings, we swam within the resort’s pool and held a “spa night time” in our room, with facial masks from house and bathtub salts and lotions from the resort. At night time, we sat outdoors and appeared on the stars.

One morning, I recommended we e book a cooking class. However my daughter was adamant about making an attempt Muay Thai boxing as an alternative. Resisting the urge to inform her she would not prefer it (learn: I would not prefer it), I booked a session. She beloved each minute.

As for me, I cherished having a lot time with my daughter, with out having to are inclined to others’ wants. I discovered myself telling her tales from the previous — my very own and my husband’s — just because, with out competing voices round, I may.

The time additionally afforded many teachable moments — classes that had lengthy wanted to be taught. Whereas resting in our room at some point, I abruptly remembered that we would have liked to position lunch orders for my daughter’s subsequent faculty time period.

“Mother,” she mentioned, wanting up from her e book. “We are able to try this after we get house.”

As a bonus, my husband reported having a beautiful time at house with my different youngsters — having fun with their very own particular moments as a trio, with out the issues that may include a household of 5.

California native Madeline Austin additionally grew up with 5 folks in her household. She mentioned she vividly remembers the journeys she took as a baby together with her mom and grandmother.

The journeys “centered round one thing they knew I used to be curious about. For instance, I did a report on Yellowstone Nationwide Park in elementary faculty and have become obsessive about the geysers, so that they took me on an extended weekend journey to go to and see them in actual life,” she mentioned.

Austin mentioned her household did not journey usually, so it felt “extremely particular” to take journeys together with her mother.

“She was invested in my pursuits, and the undivided consideration I acquired from her that weekend — particularly because the forgotten center little one — was actually particular and one thing I am going to bear in mind endlessly,” she mentioned.

She recalled holding arms together with her mother and watching a geyser erupt. “I additionally bear in mind leaving the park drained from strolling, getting dinner collectively and having the ability to order soda — which we did not often have at house!”

Austin, 27, is not a guardian but, however she mentioned she would proceed the custom together with her personal youngsters at some point.

“It is such a particular time to attach one-on-one along with your little one in a approach you could’t replicate at house.”