Editor DAISY GAME Digital Editor MIA MUSA-GREEN Deputy Editor REBECCA PARDON
Mother-daughter moments In the approach to Mother’s Day, the Travel Team share their fave mother-daughter trips When I reflect, so many of my mother-daughter moments have been created while travelling. From day-to-day trips like going to watch a movie or grab a bite, to occasionally when my mum was a chaperone on a school trip and, eventually, to travels abroad. One of my favourite mother-daughter trips was way back in 2015 when my mum and I went to New York together to visit my Aunt who lived there (and to get some well-needed girl time!). Even though we experienced a major flight delay (it literally was delayed by 24 hours) and we went in February (it was icy cold!), my mum, ever the perfect planner, had concocted a thrilling itinerary. From a stunning view at the Rockefeller Centre to strolling down Brooklyn Bridge with a cosy hot chocolate to seeing Phantom of The Opera on Broadway, this trip could not have been more magical.
Photographs : Epigram / Rebecca Pardon
Rebecca
Sanjana
18
Mia
I will always cherish the weekend trip to London that my mum organised for my 15th birthday: we boarded the underground with pure terror, marvelled at the towering glossy buildings and their busy, bustling inhabitants, and spent the majority of our second day in the Oxford Street Topshop. However, somewhat appropriately for today, the trips with my mum that I treasure most are local and low-key. Routinely, our summers consist of packing water bottles, raincoats (“just in case”) and Polo mints for a trek down to Wembury Beach, where we embark on the same coastal path walks as previous years, and yet are always somehow pleasantly surprised when we find that the same daffodils and snowdrops have also returned. Although these trips have become habitual, and we now have seen every quirky cottage, eccentric-looking tree and charmingly-placed bench dotted along these routes, they are only more special to me for being so.
Some of my fondest mother-daughter trips have been the ones closest to home. Living in Birmingham means easy access to the city or the country. I remember taking trips into the city centre and spending the day being a tourist in my own hometown: shopping in the Bullring, going for lunch in Chinatown and charity shopping in Harborne. Equally, hiking in the Long Mynd or taking shorter walks in Clent Hills have made for some of my most favourite moments with my mum. Although it’s difficult knowing that travelling abroad is not possible at the moment, it’s nice knowing that some of the best memories can be made at home! Family summer trips to Wales are also some of the best times spent with my mum. We would take trips to our favourite nearby town – Tenby – to buy our favourite vegan fudge and watch the coast. .
Royal Hysteria Xander Brett Travel Columnist
W
hen the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they’re expecting a second child, my blood ran cold. I’m delighted for them, but the hysteria of a pregnancy alone sent Télématin into spirals. No doubt Paris Match will be plastered this weekend with endless photos of Meghan and Harry, thankfully exiled to Los Angeles, not Paris like the previous lot. In 1789, the French were given a choice. In fact, they were offered the same choice in 1830. Would they like a monarchy? Both times, they rolled out the guillotine and said ‘no’. There are two things Britain does better, according to France: music and royalty. Our Queen is adored, and she plays to their fascination by charming them in impeccable French. But France is also obsessed with members of the Royal Family that we’ve never heard of. Speaking to Adam Sage last week, the Times’ Paris Correspondent, I was told of the countless British journalists invited onto French television to discuss a royal birth, only to discover everyone else knows much more than they do. He gets calls for comments before he knows the baby was born. Adam can’t escape, but I certainly hope to be out of Paris by the time the next royal arrives.
