This Mom Is Tripping The World With Her Son & Giving Us Major Travel Goals

Here’s a fabulous travel journey of a mom-son duo exploring the world holding each others’ hands and we just can’t stop drooling over them. 

Spending a starry night in a vineyard in Nashik. A bike ride oozing with adventures along the hilly terrains from Manali to Rohtang Pass. Attending a gala party on New Year’s Eve in a majestic fort in Rajasthan. Exploring the untamed beauty of the desert in Dubai. Camping in a woodhouse in the serene lap of the Valley of the Gods. Imagine doing all these with your 61-year-old mom. Sounds rare, isn’t it? At a time when millennials choose to travel solo or with a group of young amigos, here is Sarath Krishnan from Thrissur, Kerala who has taken the pledge of making his mom travel and see the world.

For Krishnan, however, travelling with his mom, Geethamma is not at all surprising. “Don’t you think it is obvious for everyone to take their mommies out for tripping once they grow old as they were the ones who used to hold our hands and take us out when we were young?” he asks while sharing with Silver Talkies how their son-mom duo trip began.

“In Kerala women of my mother’s age are expected to stay behind the closed doors, dedicate their entire life to household chores, raising children and taking care of everyone in the family. But nobody bothers about their likes and dislikes. My mom has always been a travel lover, even more than me. When others of her age would swallow the content of fashion magazine and cookbooks, my mom would get engrossed in travel magazines, look for new places, admire the pictures and visit them in her dreams until I decided to actually take her to all those places she wanted to visit,” adds Krishnan who believes it is his responsibility to fulfill his mother’s desire to travel.

Magnificent Maharashtra, their travel prelude

It all began back in 2015 when he successfully convinced his mom to travel with him to Mumbai to see a friend. “Initially my mom would hesitate to come along. But during that time, the magic happened and she agreed to visit my friend to see his new-born in Mumbai as it was supposed to be just a two-day-long trip,” says Krishnan who made a sudden plan to visit Nasik from Mumbai with his mother after that. Krishnan took his amma to the temples in Nasik that boasted of the rich Meraki architecture that blew her mind.

“She wowed at the intricate carvings and scintillating statues and did not want to leave. She particularly loved the golden Lingam at the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple. It is then when I realised that I should take her out more often,” says Krishnan. They spent a night in a vineyard in Nasik and Krishnan’s amma got a chance to know about wine, which she had never experienced earlier.

From Nasik, the mom-son duo visited Pune, Lonavla and returned to Mumbai to take the flight back to Kerala. What apparently happened to be just a two-day trip lasted for nine long days. Since then there has been no stopping the duo.

Varanasi and Himachal, the son’s Valentine’s Day gift to his mom

Four months after their Maharashtra trip, Krishnan had a strange dream where he woke up to the Shiva aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi holding his mom’s hands and that was his clarion call. He quickly booked two tickets, made his mom pack the bag in a hurry and left for the city of temples.

“We started our journey on February 14, Valentine’s Day. While most other men celebrate their spouses on this day, I decided to treat my amma,” says Krishnan. They had a fulfilling trip in Varanasi. Starting from the aarti, the Ganges, the Ghats, the temples, the ancient alleys, the pedas, they explored it all. On the scheduled date, they boarded a train to Delhi from where they would catch their flight back to Kerala.

“That’s when the twist in the story happened. The travelling ticket examiner on that train was also from Kerala and while chatting with him during the journey, we came to know that the final destination of our train was Shimla. Within a few minutes my mom and I decided to upgrade our tickets and cover Himachal which wasn’t planned at all. And it was so much fun,” says Krishnan.

The Himachal Blast

When they reached Shimla, they hardly had any woollens to wear and headed straight to the market to get some to keep themselves warm. They booked a woodhouse in a silent valley in Shimla and enjoyed the tranquil mountains and hot water springs.

“We headed to Manali the next day and enjoyed the captivating calm there. From Manali, I decided to book a bike and gift amma a bike ride all the way from Manali to the Rohtang Pass. It was the best decision ever I made in my life. While she was a little tense at the beginning, amma thoroughly enjoyed the ride. She was excited, singing out loud as we cut through the cold breeze, spreading out both her hands. At Rohtang Pass she was rolling on the snow. It was as if the sexagenarian became a teenager in the wink of an eye,” says Krishnan.

The Dubai Adventures

After Himachal, Krishnan took his mom to Agra, Mathura, Amritsar and Kathmandu. In 2018 December, they travelled to Dubai. “This trip was loaded with nostalgia for my mother as she had lived in Dubai with my dad 38 years back. Apart from visiting Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World, we revisited the colony where my parents used to live. That was amma’s wish. I had connected with one of their old neighbour’s daughters in Dubai on Instagram and when we reached there, my amma ran like a child to their old apartment. We visited my parents’ home in Dubai, met with old friends and it was a moment of reunion for mom.”

Krishnan loves travelling with his mom. “It feels amazing to give amma the taste of freedom after she has spent all her life raising three children,” he says.

Geethamma herself is the perfect example of active ageing. She keeps herself engaged in exercise, yoga and unique breathing techniques that help her keep steady when she travels at a higher altitude. “I teach amma these techniques as she needs to keep fit for being able to travel more. I am waiting for the Covid-19 crisis to get a little better. As soon as it settles down, we will plan for our next trip with adequate safety measures,” adds Krishnan.

Image Courtesy: Sarath Krishnan