I am 24 years old and an only child and for the most part I have a best friend relationship with my parents. They have fueled my wanderlust by booking some memorable vacations but I am becoming increasingly unhappy not with the sights being seen but with the quality of the time that I have with my parents on my trips with them, especially my father or in situations where we go on road trips. My dad does not have a good temper while driving, so even when he doesn’t erupt often, he brings my mom and myself down when he has his moments due to our sensitivity to changing emotions. Most of the time he is enjoyable to be around but on our most recent trip to Hawaii after an off hand comment about a tailgating driver I couldn’t stand to be around him. Other vacations have been poorly planned, like shortly after my doctor parents have had stressful cases at work or when I’m still recovering from the last push to complete my final semesters of school. This stress is often amplified by our desire to see as much as we can on our vacations. It even led to the point of me turning down a couple of trips they invited me to attend with them. Again I have a more than adequate relationship with my parents so thankfully spats don’t happen too often on trips but I fell apart when that conflict on the road in Hawaii sprang up, when I threatened to cease family vacations if my dad couldn’t control his temper. These past couple of years quarrels have become more likely on trips with my parents prepping for retirement from stressful jobs and with me going through a round of toxic relationships and transitions. I’m at a loss though, because many of my friends who I could substitute for my parents have jobs now. When I’ve entertained the thought of romance for the sake of companionship both in general and on future trips, I’ve had no luck. However my parents have applauded my interest in camping and hiking trips which I’ve conducted solo.

I’ve asserted my bounds about random changing emotions from my father and stress arising from doing too much on trips when I’m already burned out but I’m pretty sure my newfound misery of family vacations will become a pattern, which I think already has. But I don’t know if it matters now. I just completed the last of my formal education and want to begin my career as soon as possible so time with my folks will be harder to come by anyway.

Is it time to ditch family vacations?