I love my boomer parents, but I really wish they'd stop doing these 8 things while traveling

Look, I adore my parents. They raised four kids on middle-class salaries, taught us the value of hard work, and still make the drive from Sacramento to LA when I need them. But traveling with them? That's a whole different story.

Last year, we did a family trip to Portland, and within the first hour at the airport, I was already mentally cataloging all the things that make traveling with boomers its own unique adventure. Some endearing, some baffling, most just mildly exasperating.

If you've ever found yourself simultaneously grateful for and frustrated by your parents on a trip, you're not alone. Here are the things I wish mine would stop doing while we're on the road.

1) Printing every single confirmation email

My dad shows up to the airport with a manila folder. Inside that folder? Printed boarding passes, printed hotel confirmations, printed restaurant reservations, printed directions to places we're going three days from now, and printed backup copies of everything in case the originals get lost.

We have smartphones. We have apps. We have digital confirmations that update in real time.

But try explaining this to someone who lived through an era when "the computer ate my homework" was a legitimate excuse. To them, if it's not on paper, it doesn't exist.

The thing is, I get it. There's something reassuring about having a physical document you can hold. But when you're trying to pack light and your parent is lugging around what essentially amounts to a small filing cabinet, it gets old fast.

2) Arriving at the airport three hours early for a domestic flight

"We need to leave now or we'll miss our flight."

Our flight is in four hours. We live thirty minutes from the airport. TSA PreCheck exists.

But in boomer time, airports are mysterious labyrinths where anything can go wrong at any moment. Traffic could appear out of nowhere. Security lines could stretch to infinity. The plane might leave early just to spite us.

So we end up sitting at the gate for two and a half hours, watching my mom nervously check the departure board every five minutes as if our flight might suddenly vanish from existence.

I've learned to just bring a book and accept that we'll be early. Fighting it only makes everyone stressed.

3) Refusing to use food delivery apps or ride-sharing services

"We should just walk to find a restaurant."

It's raining. We're in an unfamiliar city. There's a highly-rated Thai place that delivers in twenty minutes.

But suggesting we use DoorDash or Uber Eats is somehow equivalent to suggesting we abandon all sense of adventure and exploration. Never mind that we've been walking all day and everyone's exhausted.

The same goes for Uber or Lyft. My parents would rather stand on a street corner trying to hail a cab like it's 1987 than open an app that shows exactly where the driver is, how much it'll cost, and when they'll arrive.

It's frustrating, I know, but people do tend to stick with familiar systems even when objectively better options exist. It's not about the technology itself but about the comfort of known routines.

4) Taking photos with an actual camera instead of their phone

My dad still travels with a digital camera from 2008. Not a fancy DSLR, mind you. Just a regular point-and-shoot that takes objectively worse photos than his iPhone.

Why? Because "that's the camera."

Never mind that his phone has better resolution, connects to the cloud automatically, and doesn't require him to fumble with memory cards and USB cables when we get home. The camera is for trips. That's just how it is.

I get nostalgic about this one sometimes. As someone who actually does photography as a hobby, I appreciate the ritual of using a dedicated device. But watching him struggle to find the camera in his bag while missing the moment he's trying to capture? That's just painful.

5) Asking strangers for directions instead of using GPS

We're standing on a street corner. My phone knows exactly where we are and exactly how to get where we're going. It can even show us real-time transit information and warn us about delays.

But my mom sees a stranger walking by and decides this is the perfect opportunity to ask for directions. Which would be fine, except the person has no idea where our destination is, gives us vague guidance involving landmarks that no longer exist, and now we're more lost than when we started.

"People are more reliable than computers," she says, as we walk in completely the wrong direction.

There's something both admirable and maddening about this. Yes, talking to locals can lead to unexpected discoveries and genuine human connection. But there's also a time and place for just following the blue dot on the screen.

6) Insisting on eating at chain restaurants in new cities

We're in a city known for its incredible food scene. There are James Beard Award winners within walking distance. Food bloggers from around the world come here specifically for the culinary experiences.

And my parents want to eat at Olive Garden.

"We know what we're getting," they explain, as if that's the point of traveling.

This one genuinely baffles me. Even before I went vegan eight years ago, I was always the person seeking out local spots and hole-in-the-wall places that locals actually frequent. The whole point of being somewhere new is experiencing what makes it different.

But I've learned that for some people, travel is stressful enough without adding food uncertainty into the mix. They want one familiar anchor in an unfamiliar place. I don't agree with it, but I understand it.

Though I still make them try at least one local spot per trip.

7) Calling instead of texting for every small update

I'm exploring a neighborhood on my own while my parents rest at the hotel. My phone buzzes. It's my dad calling.

"Just wanted to let you know we're going down to the lobby."

Cool. That could have been a text. Or, honestly, just nothing, because I'll see them when I get back.

Five minutes later, another call. "We're in the lobby now."

Great. Still didn't need to know this in real time via voice call.

Texting exists for exactly these situations. Quick, non-urgent information that doesn't require a full conversation. But to boomers, texting is for young people, and phone calls are how real communication happens.

The irony is that I actually like phone calls for meaningful conversations. But when you call me six times a day to convey information that could fit in a single sentence, it loses its impact.

8) Packing like they're preparing for the apocalypse

We're going for a long weekend. My parents pack like we're moving to a remote location with no access to civilization for six months.

Multiple outfit options for every possible weather scenario. Backup shoes. Emergency snacks. A full pharmacy's worth of medications "just in case." Guidebooks for cities we're not even visiting.

Meanwhile, I'm over here with my carry-on and a backpack, having perfected the art of packing light through years of traveling for music blogging gigs and photography assignments.

"What if you need something and don't have it?" my mom asks, eyeing my minimal luggage with concern.

Then I'll buy it. That's the beauty of traveling in the modern world. Almost everything is available almost everywhere.

But suggesting this to someone who grew up in an era when you couldn't just Amazon Prime something to your hotel is like speaking a foreign language.

Conclusion

Here's the thing, though. As much as these habits drive me slightly crazy, they also come from a place of care and caution. My parents aren't trying to be difficult. They're navigating a world that changed faster than their travel habits could adapt.

And honestly, ten years from now, I'll probably be the one insisting on using apps that Gen Alpha has moved beyond, refusing to adopt whatever brain-computer interface becomes standard, and generally being the outdated traveler who frustrates my nephew.

Travel friction aside, I'm grateful my parents still want to take trips together. So yeah, I wish they'd adapt to some modern travel conveniences, but I also know that one day I'll miss these quirks more than they currently annoy me.

For now, I'll keep gently suggesting they try the GPS. And they'll keep printing their boarding passes. And somehow, we'll keep making memories together.