Every year, once a year, my daughter and I take off for a few days – just the two of us. When she was a toddler, we would travel with my sister (her godmother) and she christened this little get–together “The Girls’ Summer Club.”

Later, we went on our own and in between there would be other road trips with other family members and friends, but there was always a time during the year carved out for just the two of us.

It didn’t matter where we would go (often times, the destination was designated by the available budget promo airfare), it was the little unexpected things about getting there that was always the most fun.

That and the collection of memories after each journey. I now have so many.

There was the time when she was inconsolable because her Barney stuffed toy was put into the X-ray machine for a security check. Tears wouldn’t stop flowing from her rueful eyes even when airport personnel tried to explain that they just needed to make sure Barney wasn’t sick.

There were the many bloopers that turned into private “remember when” jokes. I still remember when we watched a dolphin show which turned out to be in Chinese—with no subtitles. We just looked at each other with an “uh-oh” look, laughed and made up our own script and imagining lines for what the dolphins might say if they could talk. Our “remember when” jokes come up during random conversations, long after the trip.

There are those little reminders that she’s growing up more and more every year. For one thing, I began having more space in my luggage for my things when bottles, diapers and a stroller were no longer needed. I so welcomed the time when she could carry her own luggage and how she surprised me when she took charge of checking in baggage and pulling them from the conveyor belt.

There were the other things I loved about being on the road, too; like learning how to read a map together, her enchanting the locals by always saying “hello” and “thank you” in their native language when asking for directions and how we would learn to compromise on our different travel itineraries. Me, being the power tourist who wants to see everything and her being the more chilled, laid-back traveler.

But mostly, I so relished in the time that it gave us to be just the two of us. Traveling gave us the opportunity to get away from the routine of being a parent and child. It liberated me from the responsibilities of setting boundaries and limits and it compelled her to lessen her dependency on me as the parent. On the road, we shared responsibilities and depended on each other.

When we started hitting the road “every year, once a year” was to be our time-honored ritual. I sometimes wonder how many more trips I’ll have left before I’ll have to fight my way into her schedule filled with school work and trips with her own friends. I won’t think about that now. Not while she’s sound asleep in the next bed (Did I tell you that on the road is also that time of year when we get to be “roomies”) and I can watch her in peaceful slumber just as I had when she was a baby.

Like I’ve always told her, each journey should be taken as an adventure. And as our travel boxes fill up with trip souvenirs, ticket stubs and boarding passes, I can also tell her that I may not be able to give her the world, but I promise to spend my lifetime showing her parts of it. – Rappler.com