Taking the Kids: Without kids
The friendly, English-speaking bus driver on the Greek island of Patmos points us toward a local beach taverna where we eat with our toes in the sand.
I checked another experience off this trip’s bucket list — eating moussaka (the Greek casserole with eggplant and meat) at a local island spot, surrounded by locals overlooking the sea.
We were sailing around the Greek islands on the Wind Star, one of Windstar Cruises sailing yachts that we had sailed some 22 years ago from Athens to Istanbul, our first “big” trip without kids, and we have fond memories of our adventures — spending the day on a traditional Turkish Gulet boat; riding motorbikes in Santorini, buying Turkish rugs for our home.
This trip, though during the pandemic a year ago, was shaping up to offer the same kind of spontaneous experiences not always doable with kids who need to eat and sleep on schedule — a candlelight dinner on board; a trek up a steep, narrow ancient street lined with tiny shops on the island of Monemvasia, avoiding the crowds of Santorini on a catamaran.
Family travel, I’ve come to realize, doesn’t always mean traveling with young kids. It might be Antarctica with grown kids; a Uniworld river cruise in Italy with siblings in their 70s; A fall trip to Cape Cod or to a Dude Ranch with adult-only weeks. On the Windstar trip, there were parents with a grown daughter and her partner; three couples who are close friends from Atlanta and a couple on their first trip without their toddler. Travelers can take advantage of two guests for the price of one fare across 20 of Uniworld’s luxury, all-inclusive itineraries on Europe’s top rivers through their 2022 Friends & Family Sale, including through Northern Italy. Book through Sept. 30.
Come fall, I always think about trips without the kids — whether, like the California couple we met, grandparents are babysitting, or the travelers are empty nesters, like the Atlanta couples.
You will find lots of good deals too. For example, Book a Windstar Cruise before Oct. 15, 2022 and receive an onboard credit of up to $1,000 per stateroom. And COVID protocols have been revised (no pre-cruise testing, though guests must show proof of vaccination.)
Certainly, you want options where you won’t be surrounded by other families with kids. Consider the adult-only Virgin Voyages. ( Book a Dreamy Getaway on the adult-only Virgin Voyages and save half off your partner’s fare. The offer includes a $100 Bar Tab Bonus (when you purchase a $300 bar tab.)
If your pals are active types, gather 12 and you can take over an itinerary from Backroads hiking, biking, exploring national parks or foreign climes.
Take a bucket list trip to the Galapagos Islands aboard a 20-passenger Ecoventura yacht where you can snorkel with sea lions, see the famed giant tortoises and blue-footed booby birds or swim with sea turtles. Empty nesters are one of their biggest markets.
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