Irish families are increasingly travelling to Australia to visit their emigrated adult children, sharing heartfelt stories of reunions and cultural adjustments.
TRIPPERS is a term coined by the travel industry for the generation “Travelling In Parents’ Pockets and Eroding Retirement Savings”. Another buzzword Moddlers, refers to Mothers in their late 40s and 50s are increasingly taking road trips and adventures with their “modern adult” children (moddlers).
In Australia, where visiting and holidaying with adult children has become a major trend, often referred to by tourism operators as “grand-cations”. This shift is part of a broader rise in multigenerational travel, where parents, adult children, and grandchildren travel together to bond and share unique experiences.
Half of young adults (under 30) surveyed cited a desire to spend quality time with family as their primary motivator for vacationing with parents.
Post-Pandemic Shift: Multigenerational holidays are now one of the travel industry’s biggest post-pandemic trends as families seek to reconnect after periods of separation.
High housing costs and inflation have led many parents to play a role in helping their adult children save, study, and travel. About 51% of Australians aged 18–29 have gone on an all-expenses-paid holiday with their parents since turning 18.
The 12 months to April 2025 saw 13,500 people leave Ireland to go to Australia, according to the CSO , an increase of 27pc from 2024.
Parents joke about forming support groups for those with daughters down under, emphasising the emotional and logistical aspects of long-haul visits. These trips often include exploring Sydney or Melbourne, blending family time with sightseeing.
Surveys how 81pc of young adults who travelled with their parents were surprised by how much fun they had, and 91pc would do it again.
Experts note that while these trips strengthen bonds, it is important to balance “time together” with “time apart” to avoid the intensity of one-on-one travel. Parents are also advised to treat their adult children as independent peers rather than falling back into old adolescent-parenting roles.
