In most parts of the world, May is a month for showering mothers with gifts, love and more. Understandably so, as Mothers Day falls annually on the second Sunday of May.
But expressing one’s love and appreciation to a mother or maternal figure doesn’t have to be limited to just a single special day. The older one grows, the more apparent this becomes.
Of the many ways to repay a mother’s love, travel is a particularly good option.
There are mothers who would sacrifice certain luxuries in life – such as going on vacations – to ensure that their children’s needs were met first.
Recognising this, women nowadays have begun to put emphasis on mother-daughter trips.
Adult daughters are taking the lead, planning and booking trips that cater to their mothers’ preferences.
Some take to social media to elatedly share these experiences, noting how rewarding such trips can be for both parties.
Nor Fadzlina Abd Rahman finds herself doing the same once she started taking her 77-year-old mother, Kasma Abu Bakar, on trips. Her online posts are fittingly labelled with the hashtag “#bawakmakjalan” (take Mum travelling).
“I started taking my mother on trips when I began working and became a little more financially stable,” says Nor Fadzlina, who is now in her late 40s and works as a senior manager at a utility company in Selangor.
It’s always been her dream to take both her parents to “see places and enjoy life a little” once she started earning her own money, she explains. Unfortunately, part of her dream was never fulfilled, as her father passed away within her first year of entering the workforce.
“So, the first time I took my mother travelling, it was very emotional,” Nor Fadzlina shares.
“We always think there will be more time, but life does not always wait for us,” she cautions.
Now every trip with her mother “... feels extra meaningful because I know memories are the only things we can build while we still have the chance,” she adds.
Making memories
For Felicia Koh, 28, she describes her first mother- daughter trip as something “truly eye-opening”. At the time, she was travelling in Vietnam with her twin sister Lavinia and their mother, Vicky Chua, 56.
“We often forget that as we grow up, our parents are growing old,” says Koh. She adds how the trip made her see her mother “not just as a mum”.
Her mother was simply someone navigating an unfamiliar environment in an unfamiliar country. In fact, the blazing Vietnamese summer revealed an amusing detail. “Heat is our mother’s greatest enemy!” Koh says in amusement.
“It was funny, but also such a genuine, small, new thing we learned about her. That’s what these trips give you, those little revelations,” she says.
Growing up in Kuching, Sarawak, annual family trips were the norm for Koh. But ones that include just the twins and their mother only started in 2024, after both sisters had begun earning their own incomes.
These mother-daughter trips are precious to the sisters, as they have lived away from their family for about a decade. Both are based in Kuala Lumpur now – Koh works as a baker and her sister is a digital consultant – while their mother runs a kindergarten in Kuching.
The trio’s first trip was to Danang and Hoi An in Vietnam.
Koh lauds her father for being fully supportive of their adventures.
She notes that there is a real difference between going on a family holiday and carving out time for just the three of them. She describes it as “... a new kind of closeness and intentionality”.
Spring in South Korea was the ladies’ most recent trip – Chua was much happier with the cool weather, Koh shares with a laugh.
Next, she and her sister hope to fulfil their mother’s wish of travelling in a caravan around New Zealand.
“At the end of the day, the destination is almost secondary. What she really wants is having everyone under the same roof – or in this case, the same caravan – with nowhere to rush off to,” says Koh.
To daughters out there planning their first mother-daughter trip, Koh shares a little tip: “Don’t go chasing a perfect trip.”
She says that things will go wrong, or not go according to expectations, so focus more on spending time together instead of wanting everything on the trip to be “perfect”.
Hope to inspire
Nor Fadzlina started small with her mother-daughter trips, testing the waters by taking her mother around Malaysia first, such as to Penang and Langkawi in Kedah.
Pahang’s Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands are among her mother’s favourite destinations because she loves the cool weather, sightseeing and food, Nor Fadzlina shares.
“Over the years I have managed to bring my mother to many places that she enjoys,” she reveals.
From there, she gradually began planning trips abroad. Among the places they’ve visited are Dalat in Vietnam and Bandung and Padang in Indonesia.
There’s a reason why whenever Nor Fadzlina shares her trips or outings with her mother online, she will use the hashtag #bawakmakjalan.
She does this in hopes of inspiring others to also bring their own mother – or father – travelling, even if locally.
“Our parents spent most of their lives fulfilling our needs,” she says.
“Maybe now it is our turn to fulfil some of their unspoken wishes.”
