Father & Son? Mother & Daughter?

As a father, I’m often conscious of the changes that have taken place during my lifetime in terms of technology, schooling and working life. In my own boyhood I spent a good deal of time with my Mum and Dad, and we had constant interaction through games, sport, reading, mealtimes, holidays etc. TV was a very small part of our lives, and computers, computer games, the Xbox, Wii, Smart-phones, Nintendos DS, Gameboys etc did not exist.

I’ve observed and commented on such changes many times, noticing in particular the obsession/addiction that my 14-year old son Joseph had with screen games etc. Also his lack of engagement with the outside world at times, and a lack of ability to concentrate on one thing at a time.

In May 2011, having thought long and hard about the need for more time together, I decided to take him on a real ‘boy’s own adventure’ to Slovakia; trekking and bear watching in the Tatra Mountains.

This holiday later became the first ‘Father and Son’ adventure developed by my company, Families Worldwide. These trips are being developed to help working parents bridge the gap with their children, to help overcome missing out on quality time together as they grow up.

In particular, I’d noticed that fathers feel the need to spend some quality time with their children when they’re in their teens.

“Most rights of passage have now disappeared from western culture.”

Sociologists and anthropologists have noticed that today, unlike in early civilisations and tribal cultures, most rights of passage, in which father and son or mother and daughter come together in some kind of initiation, have now disappeared from western culture.

These experiences, or ‘journeys’, help youngsters into adulthood and teach them to face and resolve wounds from the past, as well as inspiring, equipping and empowering them to lead successful lives as adults.

“You may get to see, in a new light, the amazing adult that your child is growing up to be.”

We highly recommend a ‘father and son’ or ‘mother and daughter’ holiday – you’ll be glad to get them away from the TV screen and the computer, and it’s likely that you’ll both return with a new-found respect and admiration of each other, thanks to the bonds that are inevitably formed from shared experiences. You may get to see, in a new light, the amazing adult that your child is growing up to be.

Mark Wright

Managing Director of Families Worldwide.

Click here to browse our family holidays or talk to our consultants today!

Family Activity Holiday to Turkey: New for 2012/13 - Turkey Sailing Week

Based on the edge of a village on the Datca Peninsula in southwest Turkey, this delightful beach front location offers a great setting for families wanting to spend some quality time together.  The main large bay forms a wonderful natural harbour, a perfect place to learn or improve your dinghy and windsurfing skills. There are some sessions designed specifically for the kids, and dinghy and windsurfing courses are available to children old enough to participate (generally 8 years and above). Perhaps  hire a car and take the opportunity to explore the attractive local area, or combine this  trip with a one-week flotilla hire on the Aegean coast.

You will stay in a small taverna-style hotel, with just 20 rooms, all with private facilities. There is a freshwater swimming pool, bar and restaurant serving a wide range of dishes. The beach is sand and shingle with a large wooden jetty perfect for the sailing activities. We also included a 2-day sailing or windsurfing course for two members of a family of four.

For more details of this exciting new family adventure holiday in Turkey - Click here

Family Activity Holiday to Italy. New for 2012/13 - Active Sicily

Enjoy walking through canyons and gorges, exploring ancient Roman ruins and discovering picturesque villages steeped in tradition. Children can spend a day on the farm, helping to feed the animals and sow crops, then walk on an active volcano, exploring crater rims and recent lava flows. Swim in crystal clear rivers, and enjoy fabulous Italian food and ice creams.


From £669 per person, this holiday offers a great combination of culture, activity and nature. 

For more information about this exciting new Family Adventure Holiday in Sicily - Click here. 

Family Activity Holiday to Italy. New for 2012/13 - Abruzzo and Rome

A week in the beautiful unspoilt Abruzzo region, one of the unknown treasures of Italy. Explore alpine meadows, beech forests and mountain streams  which trickle down deep limestone gorges. Paddle along the Tirino River in Canadian canoes, then spend a day trekking through a stunning gorge to find the hidden sanctuary of a Middle Ages rock hermit. Learn how to cook authentic Italian cuisine, and end the week on a high with two days in the ancient city of Rome and its spectacular sights.

From £979 per person, this holiday offers a combination of active and cultural interests whatever time of year you travel, with accommodation in comfortable hotels and many meals included in Abruzzo. In Rome the hotel is centrally located, close to famous highlights and only a short bus ride to the Vatican and Coliseum.

For more information about this exciting new Family Adventure Holiday in Italy - Click here.

Family Activity Holiday in Greece: Customer Testimonial

"Just wanted to dash off a quick email to say what a fantastic week we've just had at Nikiana.  The logistics went very smoothly, thank you for that, the beach club was in a brilliant spot, beautiful, traditionally Greek, Elina cooked lovely Greek food at very reasonable prices.  However what made it was the four guys running the club and sailing, Sam, Steve, Simon and Billy were brilliant, knowledgable sailors, great instructors, but laid back, nothing too much trouble and crucially fantastically patient with the kids.  My 6yr daughter was in tears on the way home at the thought of not seeing them again, and my 5yr old son hung off their every word and followed them around endlessly.  Cannot speak more highly of them.  I will shoot off an email to Seafarer singing their praises, but just wanted to let you know we all thought this was one of the best trips to Europe we've had and I look forward to booking with you again in the near future.

Thank you arranging things very seamlessly."

Justine W. June 2011.

For Family Activity Holiday in Greece at the Nikiana Beach Club - Click here

Slovakia: Projekt Medved

Maria's collar was programmed to drop off on 18th May which it duly did so she is now free again. The GPS position showed it to be in an area of fallen trees. It was obvious that Maria had rested up here for a number of days - maybe she was relishing her new found freedom. Around the flattened rest site was a large quantity of dung full of grass. On closer inspection there were two types of dung. Now bear dung is not something that can really be confused with much else, it is big, very big, and bluish/black at this time of year. However on one side of the rest site there were some small piles. At first we thought that these were fox droppings, but on closer inspection they proved to be the dung of a baby bear! This cub must be much bigger and stronger than the one that died as Maria was moving very quickly through the terrain when she left her little one - in fact we thought that due to the speed she was moving she could not possibly have still had cubs. It was good news that the drop-off technology worked and great news to see that she still had a cub. Although we will not be receiving data from her any more, both us here at Projekt Medved' (Project Bear) and the TANAP head ranger were quietly pleased that she can go off in peace now. She has done her bit for science and has provided us with some very good data.

Galina, caught in May, has stayed around the settlements. She lives in an area that was devastated by the storm of 2004. With the removal of the timber, much of the energy was removed from the ecosystem and also the natural barriers to deer browsing trees were taken away so the area is characterised by stunted trees and bushes interspersed by grassy patches. Although not looking too pretty this vegetation is great cover for bears and wild boar. The patches of grass are perfect for bears to graze on and pigs to dig up in peace. Galina has passed by several communities but there is no concrete evidence that she has entered any of them. In fact the relatively large village of Gerlachov is given a very wide berth on all sides. Maybe this is due to her capture and a fear that she has developed, or maybe this is support for the argument that most of these bears are not entering the area specifically to raid bins but that they live there and occasionally enter village environments. The fact that all bears look big and brown would mean that even if a different bears entered the same village it might appear that there was one particularly persistent 'problem' bear - this would be possible if there was a relatively healthy population of bears in this area. We know, from camera traps, that there are definitely 4 in the immediate vicinity as Galina had two adult cubs which were chased away by an amorous male.

We think that Viktor has also been getting amorous with a couple of forays outside his regular area away from the grass slopes that he has been feeding on. Last week he was accused of killing six sheep. We proved his innocence using the position data. Apart from that he is leading the life of a very settled bear.

We have had two cracking bear sightings. One of a pair of bears, male and female, from about 150 metres. We watched them for about 45 mins and slowly walked closer until they ambled off into the forest. We also saw a mother and two cubs from about 50 metres - these were watched for about an hour and were totally oblivious to our presence. On recent tour we did not have that much luck in terms of close sightings but we still saw a total of 6 bears in two days; we saw a mother with three cubs high up on the slopes, a large male a long distance away and a cheeky adolescent quickly crossing one of the avalanche slopes about 200 metres away.

We have also seen hares, wild boar, red and roe deer, beavers, sousliks, an adder and, of course, plenty of birds in the past few weeks

- busy times!

For family activity holidays in Slovakia - Click here

Mark Wright - Bear Watching in Slovakia

We've arrived at the ranger's cottage deep in the Tatras for two days.

Accommodation is ok, an old wood cottage straight out of Red Riding Hood. Although facilities are pretty simple it's a real privilege to be allowed up here in the midst of nature in the park - Projekt Medved (project Bear) works with the national park authorities to allow a select few tourists to stay and visit and see wildlife. There are NO other tourists up here and we have the entire park ourselves.

It's our first day and we have struck lucky. Observing the avalanche slopes between stands of fir trees we spot a solitary brown bear high on the upper slopes. Binoculars and telescope at the ready, we are delighted to see that three young cubs are in hot pursuit of their mother. We watch with fascination for a few minutes until the four figures lumber and toddle away into the dwarf pine and are then lost from view.

We walk through incredible mountain landscapes for the rest of the day, but see no more bears. Plenty of evidence on the trail of bear activity, but no more sightings today.

Tomorrow we'll be out at 5am to look for more.