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FAMILIES
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the column as it appears in The Washington Post
Got a question about your RelationTrips? Submit a Question
Got
a question about your RelationTrips? Submit a Question
Want
to offer some tips and advice of your own? Go here.
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Keith, first tell us...what inspired you to write this column? Many things came together, but let me give you one example. I’m single dad, with a preadolescent daughter. I wanted to build a good relationship with her in ways that pre-teens need, to feel good about herself, to realize that life presents challenges and there can be great satisfaction in stretching yourself, that kind of thing. But guess what? There was no organized trip for fathers and daughters of that age out there. I looked and looked, and found no information, no organization. I'm an experienced journalist and investigative reporter, but I couldn't find anything. And despite all the concern in society for girls that age, books like "Raising Ophelia"! So I planned the trip myself. But I also realized -- and this is just one example, but I realized how many stories I'd heard from other people involving a host of varied problems, questions or issues that stemmed from travel with children, a spouse, brothers or sisters, a family, a grandparent, a romantic trip with a so-called "significant other," or a trip with a boss or friends or colleagues at work or classmates or a members of a church group or a large family reunion or a milestone celebration. And when I searched
all the current advice being offered, I found next to nothing that deals
regularly with the emotional and practical side of what I call relationship
travel. So I saw a need and a way to meet that need.
What kinds of issues do you expect to address? Just about everything -- romantic, sexual, family relationships,with your pets – the right places to go for one purpose or another, you name it -- and I'll rely on readers to tell me what issues to grapple with so I can make these trips really work. And the advice I
give will have a strong foundation -- I'll do research and use my reporting
skills to consult the right people, whether they are therapists; marriage
counselors, sociologists, travel specialists, to serve readers as best
I can.
Can travelling really be more stressful than people think? Absolutely. So much can go wrong. You can go to the wrong place, take the wrong transportation, connect with the wrong organization, travel with the wrong group, or the wrong companion. I know of good friends at home who became bitter combatants on a trip. I know of a couple -- they were very good friends for decades. And they had always talked about going on a trip together. Well, they did. The one couple always liked to get up early. The other slept in. The other couple loved hiking. The first couple hated it. The two couples were in misery. One of my main goals
will be to recommend ways to minimize the stress that, after all, is what
everyone wants to leave behind when they travel.
What are some of the basic lessons people need to remember when they travel? The travel guides and standard advice columns cover many of the practical things they need to know -- exchange rates, check-in times, what to pack, essential stuff like that. But you can know all that and still have a rotten time. So I'm going to try
to deal with the compatibilities and
or fax: 703.935.0064
email:
advice@relationtrips.com
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