Holidays with aging parents: pleasures, duties and constraints

Fun time, finite time: Temporal and emotional dimensions of grandtravel experiences

“…Thus, as a subject of study, family holidays open a window on what it means to be a family (McCabe, 2015), 'the relation between tourism, thick sociality and domesticity' (Obrador-Pons, 2012) and connections between tourism, interpersonal relationships and wellbeing (Lehto, Choi, Lin, & MacDermid, 2009;McCabe, 2009;Morgan, Pritchard, & Sedgley, 2015;Smith & Diekmann, 2017). Although the tourism literature has explored intergenerational relationships on family holidays, it has generally focused on parents with children, neglecting other family members and configurations (Heimtun, 2019;McCabe, 2015).…”

“…Critical tourism scholars have called for greater attention to subjectivities and to silent voices (Prichard & Morgan, 2007), not least in studies of intergenerational holidays (Heimtun, 2019). Although children are increasingly seen and heard in tourism research (Small, 2008;Rhoden, Hunter-Jones, & Miller, 2016), little is known about their tourist experiences as grandchildren.…”

“…Time is social and linear, subjectively experienced and externally controlled, and understood, synchronised, and negotiated by families (Adam, 1995). Much research has examined the idealized togetherness of 'family time' (Daly, 1996) and tensions arising during family holidays when parents and children disagree about appropriate amounts of 'together together time' or have different needs for 'own time' (Heimtun, 2019;Gram, Therkelsen, & Larsen, 2018;Schänzel & Smith, 2014). Given differing temporal needs and orientations between parents, grandparents and grandchildren (Adam, 2008), this raises questions about whether there may be distinctive time-related emotions and affective flows associated with grandtravel, and what their implications may be for intergenerational wellbeing.…”

“…We define grandtravel broadly as grandparents and grandchildren on holiday together, with or without the middle generation. Following Heimtun's (2019), we define holidays as travelling together for pleasure on day trips or taking longer trips together with overnight stays. Drawing on an interpretive study undertaken in New Zealand and Denmark, this paper explores how both generations experienced this form of together time.…”

Travel discontinuities, enforced holidaying-at-home and alternative leisure travel futures after COVID-19

“…In general, Easter gatherings in Norway have entailed lavish meals with relatives or friends, particularly on Easter Eve (Aktiv i Oslo, 2020). Domestic responsibilities other than cooking might also be included in holidaymaking, both for those who travel and for those who remain at home (Deem, 1996;Heimtun, 2019). Moreover, holidaymaking with children might be both blissful and fatiguing for parents and guardians (Gram, 2005;Larsen, 2013).…”