A grands escape

Adventure vacations are tailored to bridge generations

In the summer of 2002, Pat Solan, now 66, found herself on a 37-mile rafting trip in the depths of the Grand Canyon. With a guide from Elderhostel, her husband and two of her grandchildren onboard, the raft took on the white waters of the Colorado River, and Solan took in the sights -- not of the scenery, but of her grandchildren's expressions.

"It was magical to see their faces, and I would have taken a picture if I had a free hand," she said, "but I was too busy hanging on."

This July, Solan and her husband, Jim, of Rockville, Md., took their third Elderhostel grandparent-grandchild trip (they have 12 grandchildren and take two on each trip), joining the growing number of older travelers -- and grandchildren -- seeking intergenerational quality time and adventure. A recent poll of 279 American Express travel agents revealed that nearly 70 percent of them are booking trips for grandparents traveling with their grandchildren.

Unlike the typical nuclear family travel of the past, the older and younger generations are leaving the sandwich generation behind, discovering that their time together is important. The reason, experts say, is largely due to a society where the generations often live far away from one another.

"Families are more geographically and emotionally separated than ever before, and the chance for these two generations to have any meaningful interaction is somewhat limited," said Tom Easthope, president and a founder of the Seattle-based Generations Touring Co.

An increased interest in legacy issues is another reason some grandparents choose to travel with their children's children. "There is a timeless need of family elders to share information about where the family came from, as well as having a say in where the family is heading," Easthope said.

In 2005, almost 4 of every 10 leisure travelers were grandparents, a significantly higher proportion compared with the previous year, according to a survey by YPBR/ Yankelovich Partners National Leisure Travel Monitor. Thirty-five percent reported taking one or more vacations with their grandchildren in the past 12 months.

"People are trying to find time with their grandchildren," said Steve Lembke, vice president for programs at Elderhostel, "and travel allows the two generations to separate from the rest of their busy lives and have that quality time together." Planning where to go is, for many, part of the fun -- and the bonding. Some grandparents, like Lenore Larson of Glenview, Ill., let the kids have a say in the destination. "I let them come up with ideas and we talk about it. I always want to go someplace different and have avoided trips where there will be other children because, selfishly, I want them all to myself," Larson said.

One-on-one time

Over the last 10 years, Larson, now 77, has traveled individually with all of her seven grandchildren. Four of Larson's trips were with Linblad Expeditions -- to Belize, the Galapagos, Alaska and Costa Rica, where activities included snorkeling, hiking, kayaking and flying in a tiny aircraft over a glacier. "I know that my relationship is very close with my grandchildren because of these trips. It's a bond that you can never establish when their parents are around," said Larson, known to her grandchildren as Mormor. Her youngest grandchild, 13-year-old Keith Larson, who traveled to the Galapagos with her last February, echoed her sentiment. "I don't get to see Mormor a lot and she's really fun to hang out with. She has a lot more energy than the average grandmother," he said.