• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » Family Travel » Travelling With My Dad, And Now, With My Daughter
Family Travel

Travelling With My Dad, And Now, With My Daughter

Kyle Stewart Posted onJune 21, 2020September 13, 2021 5 Comments
My dear readers, some links on this site pay us referral fees for sending business and sales. We value your time and money and will not waste it. For our complete advertising policy, click here. The content on this page is not provided by any companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone.

It’s Father’s Day in the US. My first major international trip was with my Dad, and I reflect on taking my own daughter on her first major international trip. 


If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.


If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.

My Dad and I Go To Brazil

It was almost two decades ago that I first left the continent and travelled internationally with my father. My father and I joined a church group serving an orphanage in Sao Paulo, Brazil. During that trip, we encountered a 24-hour mechanical delay on the outbound, I was too young and green to demand a bump to first class for our party (joking.) During that delay, however, I learned an important lesson that would help me as I travelled later in life: sometimes things happen, plans are disturbed, and you’re not always due a refund but it doesn’t have to ruin your trip.

I also gained a super-power from that trip. I realized that the limitations that I put forth in my mind as real barriers were, in fact, entirely imaginary. We didn’t speak Portuguese, had never eaten Brazilian food, and had no savings to support the trip (I worked and saved to pay.)

None of that mattered. And more importantly, none of it does matter.

We returned to the States with four souvenirs:

  1. My first passport stamp (my previous trip to Mexico didn’t require a passport at the time)
  2. An unrestricted approach to travel (no place off-limits, no destination unreachable)
  3. A desire to learn languages (my father has since taught himself Portuguese, loudly repeating phrases back to no one at all, listening while vacuuming the house)
  4. A nickname for me pronounced: Kee-lay, the phonetic pronunciation of “Kyle” in Portuguese by the kids at the orphanage. My daughter loves using this nickname after hearing it from her “Papa” and my wife.
Laughing in Mexico
Laughing in Mexico

Travelling With My Dad Has Evolved

We had the pleasure of bringing both of my parents to a favorite spot in Mexico two years ago. After my daughter playfully splashed water from the pool while his mouth was open, he spent a couple of unpleasant days sidelined from the trip. (If you read this Dad and you were wondering if I would mention this, you’re welcome.)

The Mexico incident
The Mexico incident

My dad was able to join my brother and me in Chicago for a football weekend. It was a rare trip in which we’ve been able to travel together, just the guys.

Football trip to Chicago
Football trip to Chicago

Now, when we are together in Florida we still have long walks and talks about business and life but it has changed some. Our travel together centers around Lucy and the rest of the family. We haven’t taken a trip with just the two of us since then Brazil, but perhaps someday it will happen again.

Entertaining Lucy in Florida
Entertaining Lucy in Florida

Travelling With My Daughter

That first trip to Brazil was very important to my personal development. It showed me that the world was a big place, full of diverse people, cultures, foods, and beauty. But it also shrunk the world for me. It showed me that there’s really no place more remote than a few hours on a plane. From my humble beginnings in the Midwest, we were just nine hours away from a completely different environment, filled with people who wanted the same things we did in life.

I wanted to show that to Lucy from the first moment we found out my wife and I were pregnant. Eight weeks after she was born we were on a plane with her to a wedding in Curaçao. Six months after that, she’d join us on an epic 16-hour journey to Hong Kong, then spend a couple of weeks in Thailand with us.

Lucy and I looking out at the Caribbean on her first international trip to Curacao.
Lucy and I looking out at the Caribbean on her first international trip to Curacao.

It was at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok where Lucy had her first steps. On that trip, my mother joined us. Just yesterday she mentioned wanting to go back to Thailand, a desire I share with her. She’s absolutely blessed to have been abroad and especially at such a young age. I’m still uncomfortable in high-end hotels feeling I don’t belong while Lucy is so at home she prances around in tutus.

Waldorf-Astoria BKK lobby
Waldorf-Astoria BKK lobby

Conclusion

Travel has never been restricted in the eyes of my daughter. For people I knew growing up, Paris was a poster on their wall, a place they would dream about always and maybe go “someday.” But for Lucy, it’s not a matter of whether or not a destination is someplace she’ll ever go, but rather how and when. That’s something my father taught me, that you can do anything you want to do with the will and a plan. And now it’s my pure joy to pass that on to my daughter. Happy Father’s Day. (The card is in the mail, Dad – I promise.)

What do you think? Did you have a memorable trip with your father? What about a trip you’ve taken with your own children? 

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article No LifeMiles Bonuses? Is The Sky Falling?
Next Article A Note To Fathers On Fortitude

About Author

Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

Follow us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter

Related Posts

  • flight attendant smuggler via Sri Lanka police

    Flight Attendant Faces 25 Years, Allegedly Smuggled “Human Bone” Drug

    June 1, 2025
  • mothers day rome colisseum

    Appreciation Of A Traveling Mother: My Wife

    May 11, 2025
  • bangkok earthquake

    Myanmar-Thailand Earthquake Devastation, Heartbreaking Video

    March 30, 2025

5 Comments

  1. MaKr Reply
    June 21, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    Good post… See what you’re capable of, Kyle? More of this and less of the clickbaity stuff

  2. Heather Reply
    June 21, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Every trip with my father was memorable! He was a WWII refugee that came to America in 1950. He was fearless and curious, never too tired to load us up in the car for ski trips, business trips or on a plane to visit the German relatives.

    I remember sleeping at a cleaning staff’s house when a guest house was overbooked, eating many a meal (bought at a local store) at the edge of a road and singing show tunes to stay awake.

    A day does not go by where I don’t miss him so much it makes my heart ache,

  3. Paolo Reply
    June 21, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Lovely..

  4. MeanMeosh Reply
    June 22, 2020 at 2:35 pm

    Nice post, Kyle.

    Ironically, my dad hated flying, but he’s the one that got me interested in it. When I was 8, we flew together from DFW to SFO to pick up my sister from college so that dad could help drive her home. My first flight, and I still fondly remember the Northwest Orient 747. My best friend at the time was a huge avgeek, and I can’t forget his reaction that I’d be getting to fly both Northwest Orient, and a 747. Otherwise, you can thank my dad for my obsession with road trips. His dislike of flying meant I’d hit 45 states by road before finishing high school.

    Cherish the moments he joins you and your daughter on your travels. Now that I travel with my son, it hurts just a little every time we pack up the car or get on a plane, because I just know how much joy dad would have taken in passing the travel bug to him that he passed on to me.

  5. emercycrite Reply
    June 22, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    Wow, Kyle doesn’t look anything like his byline picture.

Leave a Reply to emercycrite Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for July

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • a group of people sitting at tables in a restaurant
    Our Brunch And Bimble In Paris July 15, 2025
  • Eiffel Tower
    Eiffel Tower: A Tourist Trap You Must Climb At Least Once July 14, 2025
  • Air India Flight 171 Pilots
    Air India Flight 171: Profiles Of The Pilots Involved In 787 Crash July 14, 2025
  • Boeing 787 fuel cutoff switch
    FAA Defends Boeing 787 Fuel Cutoff Switch Design After Air India Crash July 14, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Favorite Airline Commercials
    My 10 Favorite Airline Commercials June 15, 2025
  • a blue passport on a black surface
    All The Patriotic Quotes In Your U.S. Passport July 4, 2025
  • a lobby with a marble counter and a wood ceiling
    Review: Korean Air KAL Business Lounge Los Angeles (LAX) July 1, 2025
  • a row of seats in an airplane
    If You Abuse Company Travel Policy, Expect To Be Fired! June 16, 2025

Archives

July 2025
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Jun    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.