A family holiday usually comes with a familiar checklist: where to go, what to see, where to eat and how many photographs to squeeze into a few days. But what if a family trip was not really about the destination at all?A new idea called a “matriarch trip” is putting the focus somewhere else- on the women who have held families together and the stories that might otherwise disappear with them.
28 Jul 2026 | 16:22
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A holiday where stories take centre stage
What makes a matriarch trip different from an ordinary multigenerational vacation is its intention. There is no pressure to visit every attraction or keep children entertained from morning to night. Instead, families can sit together, look through old photographs, cook, walk, play games or simply talk.
File Photo: Canva
According to Parents.com, the idea was popularised by Megan Pinckney Rutherford, who created the “Future Matriarch” movement after wanting to document her family history for her young son. Her inspiration was her grandmother, whose stories had shaped Rutherford’s understanding of where she came from. Rather than simply sitting down for an interview, she decided to bring several generations of women together for a short, intentional getaway.Rutherford’s own trip brought together her grandmother, mother, aunts, herself and her young son. The purpose was not an elaborate holiday. It was to create the space for conversations, memories and different versions of the family’s past.
Why this can be meaningful for children
For Rutherford, the idea was to hear family history from more than one generation. Imagine a child hearing that Grandma once had a favourite game, was mischievous at school or dreamed of becoming something completely different. Suddenly, the grandmother sitting beside them is no longer just “Grandma”. She becomes a young girl with her own childhood, ambitions and adventures.Family stories do something photographs alone cannot. They give children context. A child may know that their mother grew up in a particular city, for instance, but hearing her describe her childhood home, friendships, school days or relationship with her own parents helps them understand her as a person beyond the role of “Mum”.
It does not have to be an expensive holiday
Perhaps the best thing about the idea is that families do not need a fancy destination to recreate it. A two-day stay somewhere nearby can work. So can a Sunday afternoon at Grandma’s house.Parents could bring out old albums and ask grandparents to identify the people in forgotten photographs. Children can ask questions such as, “What were you like when you were my age?” or “What did you do during summer holidays?” Older family members could share stories about their first job, childhood friends, weddings, festivals or the house they grew up in. The important part is not how far the family travels. It is whether everyone has enough time to slow down.
File Photo: Canva
Sometimes the greatest family heirlooms are stories
Children eventually outgrow toys. Houses change. Old photographs fade. Even carefully preserved possessions can lose their meaning when nobody remembers the story behind them. Stories are different.A grandmother explaining why a particular recipe was made every festival, a mother recalling her first day at work, or an aunt remembering a family incident from decades ago can give children something much harder to replace: a sense of belonging. That may be the real appeal of the matriarch trip. It turns a family holiday into something more lasting than a collection of photographs on a phone.It gives children the chance to meet the people behind their family tree- while those stories are still being told by the people who lived them.
