Some stories just warm your heart, and Grandma Noreen’s decades-long travel tradition with her grandchildren is one of them.
Grandma Noreen’s 25-Year Travel Tradition Culminates In Hawaii Trip With Grandchildren
From 2000 to 2024, Grandma Noreen took her grandchildren–all 16 of them–one at a time on trips. What an incredible experience…and what an expense! She took each one after their eighth-grade graduation. But one destination was off limits: Hawaii. Noreen’s husband was stationed there and she would tell her grandkids, “You should go there with someone you love.”
Solo trips are very special…I took Augustine on two last year (the Caribbean cruise on Explora and the SAS round-the-world trip) and both were simply phenomenal. I can’t wait to take my daughter on solo trips as well. Solo trips are unique bonding experiences with time for extended conversation in a different environment without the normal stresses of being at home.
In 2025, her grandchildren (eight of them) repaid the favor by taking Grandma Noreen on a group trip to Hawaii. Listen to this onboard tribute on Hawaiian Airlines:
I love it…kudos to the flight attendant for the excellent delivery and for whatever grandchild(ren) crafted those beautiful words. It’s a beautiful tribute and a very special memory for everyone onboard.
And this cute video on TikTok:
@hejmammabat speaking of vacation… cousin + grandma trip ☀️ #cousintrip #honolulu #oahu #vacation #waikiki #alomoanabeach
During their time in Hawaii (they stayed in Oahu), they visited Kualoa Ranch (where the first “Jurassic Park” movie was filmed) and visited Schofield Barracks, where Noreen’s husband was stationed in Army during the Korean War.
I’m so thankful the final trip I took with my own grandparents and my father before they passed and I hope to take similar trips (many trips, for we do not think death is imminent…) with my uncle and mother. Travel is special. Traveling with someone you love is all the more special.
Noreen started traveling after losing her husband in 1996…the same year my grandmother lost her husband and started taking me and my brother across the country on airplane trips.
CONCLUSION
I’m sure that Grandma Noreen and her grandchildren had a beautiful time together in Hawaii.
I like ending the week on a high note and this is a dear story that make me smile becuase it helps me to recall how my grandmother took my brother and I traveling in our formative years and waht a different that made in cultivating a love of travel that I hope is reflected in my 16-year labor of love on this blog.
> Read More: Death Of A Queen. Death Of My Grandmother.
We invest in people by traveling with them. That’s a great thing…a wonderful thing.
Nice that she started traveling in 1996. My sibling also wanted to travel but there was always some event preventing it. As a result, the sibling traveled to Europe 6 times versus my traveling there about 30 times. (Most things can wait a week)
Do it now! Don’t wait until you are dead.
It would be even more heartwarming if you could write a single article without multiple spelling errors.
Sh*t Hsuan: It would be greatly appreciated if you would crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from you SHPOS.
Solo trips with my kids are beyond special. I cherish every moment
Thank you Matthew. It’s wonderful to have a peaceful post to remember all that is good and kind in this world.