Forget school fees: Here’s how I’m spending my ‘bank of nan and pop’

As a hands-on grandmother to three young boys, I do my best to keep ahead of the latest trends in raising children (though “lighthouse parenting” had me reaching for Google). But the recent trend making headlines – where the bank of nan and pop is footing the bill for private school fees – has this gran wondering if generosity (indulgence?) has gone too far.

Travel is never wasted on grandchildren.Credit: Jamie Brown

Don’t get me wrong – I’m more than willing to crack open the piggy bank for my grandkids’ education, but I’d rather do it by taking them travelling. They’ll grow in courage, compassion and curiosity; I’ll see parts of the world with a fresh perspective. And then we’ll all settle down for an afternoon nap.

Combine this with a flexible approach, unhurried itineraries, and a bucket for collecting shells rather than making lists, and you can see why grandparents and grandchildren make the perfect travelling companions. My advice for making it work? Leave the parents at home.

While the multi-generational model is popular with some, I’m here for the skip-gen trend (I’ve seen the big family reunions at the breakfast buffet, and let’s just say it’s not pretty).

With skip-gen trips, not only do the parents get a well-needed break, but I get quality, one-on-one time with my little ones. Nana Kez, can you teach me to snorkel? You betcha. Look for shark eggs? I know just the spot. Have a rest day? I thought you’d never ask.

Finally, when I am older and slower, will they remember me for having paid their school fees, or for taking them to sleep with lions?

For now, my future adventurers are aged just seven, four and three, so we’re keeping our travels close to home. An overnight Roar and Snore experience at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo was just the ticket for my then five-year-old lion king. As dawn broke, he slipped into my bed. “I can hear the lions,” he whispered, a shared moment we still talk about.

Before he started kindergarten it was a weekend away at Jervis Bay, on the NSW South Coast, where I watched with pride as he braved the ferocious winds and waves, gripping the outside rail of a whale-watching boat, determined not to miss a thing. Another time it was a long weekend in Sydney to visit the dinosaur exhibition at the Australian Museum.

I’m claiming it was this Jurassic adventure that prompted his public speaking topic: “When I grow up, I want to be a palaeontologist.” (Mind you, by the end of the term his ambitions had changed to becoming a YouTuber. But I’m not giving up just yet – a trip to Winton in outback Queensland to visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum should get us back on track.)

As the years pass, we may venture further afield; perhaps to the Netherlands to trace family history or Indonesia to find where their great-grandfather was interned during World War II. We might ride bikes across New Zealand or visit Japan to rekindle memories from a family holiday taken decades ago when my own sons were teenagers. An expedition cruise to the Galapagos Islands would be the ultimate adventure.

But wherever we go, the way we travel will be just as important; choosing trains over planes where possible, opting for tour companies that support conservation and social enterprises, and avoiding over-touristed destinations. To keep ourselves active and healthy we’ll incorporate hiking, biking and kayaking wherever we can. Bedtime rules may be bent, but nana naps will be strictly enforced.

Finally, when I am older and slower, will they remember me for having paid their school fees, or for taking them to sleep with lions?