When people ask what generational travel actually looks like, I usually just want to show them photos from this trip. Our kids and grandkids flew into Phoenix, picked up a rental van big enough for seven, and we spent a week working our way north through Arizona together.
As a travel advisor, I plan multi-generational trips for other families - but living inside one for a week reminded me exactly why I love it. There's a difference between recommending an itinerary and living inside one — juggling nap schedules and teenager attention spans and everyone's differing idea of a "long enough" stop at a scenic overlook. This trip was a reminder of why I love planning this kind of travel, and I wanted to walk through it stop by stop, because I think it makes the case better than any pitch I could write.
Most people don't know that Prescott, AZ is at a bit of altitude. 5,367ft to be exact-ish. Our midwest flatlanders were not accustomed to altitude, so we took a day for everyone to acclimate before moving on to Flagstaff.
The soft landing found us the next day scrambling over the Dells' giant granite boulders, meandering around the Prescott town square where shops, restaurants, saloons with storied history, abound. And ice cream. What family doesn't love a stop for ice cream?! Prescott also boasts (in my opinion) one of the best meaderies I've ever experienced. An afternoon of unstructured outdoor play for the kids, then a wind-down for the adults - the generational travel sweet spot.
Our home base: spacious enough for seven to spread out after a day of sightseeing, with its own nature and hiking trail on the property for anyone who wanted to stretch their legs before dinner.
One of the trip's best "something for everyone" moments: the "Meet the Planets!" planetarium show for the youngest kids, telescope viewing for the adults, and an alien photo op that had all three generations posing at dusk by the observatory sign.
The Grand Canyon delivered exactly the kind of shared awe that makes multi-generational travel worth the logistics. We watched a red-tailed hawk ride the thermals below the rim, and there's a photo of the four kids sitting shoulder to shoulder at the Hance Rapid overlook that says more about why we travel together than any caption could.
You can't drive through Winslow, Arizona without stopping at the "Standin' on the Corner" park - a must for any Eagles fan. There's something for every generation here: the classic rock reference lands with the grandparents, while the kids just think it's a fun statue to take pictures with. Either way, everybody's standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona by the end of it.
From the awe of the Grand Canyon to the very different awe of Meteor Crater, a mile-wide hole in the ground left by a meteor impact 50,000 years ago. It's the kind of stop that quiets a van full of kids for a minute, which is its own kind of miracle.
On the drive back from Flagstaff toward Prescott, we stopped at Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon, a natural rock water slide framed by red canyon walls. After days of overlooks, observatories, and photo ops, this was the trip's built-in reset button: shoes off, into the creek, no itinerary required. It's the kind of stop that reminds you the best generational trips leave room for unstructured time too.