Today we have a Q&A with Andy Gross, a travel writer I absolutely adore. She’s going to chat with us about her travels, grandchildren, endeavors and more, as she is certainly a Vacation Gal and has already claimed the moniker “Gramma Gal” for her “Gal” name.
1. Where do you live and what do you do for a living?
I live in Denver, CO. Why? Because my grandkids live here. My husband and I were living in Asheville, NC when our son and daughter-in-law invited us to move to Denver. “You guys write for a living,” they said. “We have internet connection here in Denver. Wouldn’t you rather live by your grandchildren?”
You bet we would! It took us less than two months to sell the house in North Carolina and find one about ten blocks from our son and his family. It was the best move we ever made.
Now, when we’re not actively involved with our family, we split our time between travel writing and our business, Legacy Prose, through which we help seniors tell their personal stories to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
We began this business because we saw how much documenting their past benefits seniors, a subject I explored in a Newsweek My Turn article. Now we know that it benefits children as much or even more. Research by Marshall Duke, Ph.D. at Emory University shows that children who know their family history are more likely to do better in school, avoid drugs, and have higher self-esteem. In short, says Duke, they are “better able to withstand the storms of life.”
This has strengthened our commitment to helping families get their stories down on paper. Our only problem is that we haven’t had time to get our own stories down!
2. How many grandchildren do you have? Do they enjoy traveling?
We have two grandchildren, but with four children, we’re likely to have more in the future. Meanwhile, the two we have are, of course, absolutely perfect! And they are terrific travelers.
3. Do you get to travel with them? If so, where and what have been your most memorable trips?
Absolutely! We travel with them all the time — day trips, weekend getaways, longer vacations. We travel in all combinations, sometimes taking both grandchildren, sometimes just one and sometimes going as a multi-generational clan.
Three years ago we spent a week at a ranch. Last year we all drove to South Dakota because then eight-year-old Jeremy had memorized the names of all the presidents and wanted to see Mt. Rushmore. This year some of us went to Quebec (Samantha’s first experience with a passport!), and we all went to Mesa Verde and the Four Corners.
Samantha touches four states at one time at the Four Corners National Monument — except that, as she reminds us, due to surveying errors, the marker is actually about 2.5 miles west of the actual intersection.
Next year? Who knows. Half the fun is in the planning — and the dreaming.
Best of all, because the kids keep journals of their trips, we get to relive these trips not only through photos, but also through our grandchildren’s on-the-spot observations.
These let us see the trip from our grandchildren’s perspective, right down to the fact that while seeing Mt. Rushmore was fun, the macaroni and cheese that we had afterwards was “totally crumby.” I wrote about kids’ journal keeping in an article for grandparents.com in an article called Keep the Kids Entertained on the Road.
4. What is your favorite destination (with or w/o kids) that would inspire other travelers?
My husband and I love Asia and Southeast Asia and, one of these days, we hope to go there with our grandkids. But meanwhile, we’ve found that there are plenty of places where we can explore the world without leaving the United States.
I currently write a column for Home & Away that focuses on places like Door County, Wisconsin where folks can get a glimpse of Scandinavia, the Kangaroo Conservation Center near Atlanta, Georgia, which has a distinctly Australian flavor, and the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, where they can see an exact replica of the famous building as it was back in the days of Plato and Socrates.
Otherwise, grandparents.com covered 5 of the ethnic communities in my story titled “Travel the World Without a Passport.” We’ve even found a way to travel the world without leaving the city of Denver. We took Samantha to a different ethnic restaurant every month, introducing her to the food and also the customs of various countries. This was detailed in yet another grandparents.com article, “Around the World (Without Leaving Home.”
5. Do you have any tips for other grandparents traveling with their grandkids?
While we love traveling with our grandchildren alone, we also savor the time that traveling lets us spend with our son and daughter-in-law. Most of the time they’re so busy with jobs and responsibilities that our conversations are hurried, but when we travel together, we have a chance to visit in a more relaxed manner.
And, by watching them parent their children, we can remember how much fun we had raising ours. Grandparenting is a chance to enjoy those years all over again — minus the stress!
So I guess my main tip is to relax and enjoy your children as well as your grandchildren. Thank you, Andy for telling us about your family, writing and of course, travels.
It’s always fun to get to know other travel writers!