A trip to Egypt — the first trip my brother and I took as adults with our parents — quickly went off the rails.
After spending Christmas in the Sinai Peninsula, we returned our rental car to Cairo. At the hotel, a well-dressed man, whom my father mistook for a hotel valet, offered to move our car. “Thanks,” my father said with a smile, handing over the keys. The only thing the crook left behind was a 10-foot skid mark.
That carjacking unleashes a series of shocking encounters. First, we had to convince the car rental agency that we were not trying to scam Toyota from the company. Then we had to contend with the police – who came to the hotel at 3am – armed with dusty books full of thousands of mug shots – demanding baksheesh or a small bribe before they would file a crime report.
Then our luggage was stolen along with the car so we had to arrange bare necessities like buying underwear. At least we can get comfortable Egyptian cotton.
We considered going home, but instead we accelerated our visit to Kenya, the second destination of our journey. I will never forget the surprised reaction of the Kenya Airways staff when the four of us produced a small plastic bag of clothes as our only check-in “luggage”.
Photo taken in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in 1999, Todd Miller said it was his family’s first trip to Asia.
Source: Todd Miller
That first African adventure became the template for two decades of globetrotting with my parents.
We went to unfamiliar places at least once every year – often twice. Significant others, friends and later my son, joined in on some of these vacations, which eventually spanned more than 40 countries.
The rule we followed was to do something new every time. In doing so, we soon noticed a pattern: We Millers are accident magnets.
Stairway to heaven
Our second African adventure was even more disastrous.
In Zimbabwe, we decided to raft the mighty Zambezi below Victoria Falls. This area is considered the biggest and worst whitewater rafting World destinations, multiple Class V rapids With names like “The Mother” and “Oblivion”.
We hung on with white knuckles and clenched teeth as our raft navigated a nasty section called the “Stairway to Heaven,” which drops 30 feet over 50 feet.
Then our raft capsized. Worse than going down the stairs to heaven in a raft is going through them without one. My stepmother and I were swept down the river. I was too busy avoiding the rocks scattered along the river to care about the crocodiles that populated the water.
The moment the Miller family’s raft sank in the Zambezi.
Source: Todd Miller
Then it became hyper real. Pulled into a powerful whirlwind, I gasped for air and struggled to stay afloat in the swirling vortex. I didn’t think death was inevitable, but I immediately accepted it as a possibility.
Somehow I don’t know but somehow the vortex spat me out. I then swam into the calm water and found the raft and the rest of my family.
That incident happened 25 years ago. The memory of my father on the overturned raft is seared into my brain, his angelic white buttocks glistening above the water, which removed him to his ankles.
Best investment
That disastrous rafting trip was an accident, but none of those family adventures happen without purpose.
Every vacation requires serious planning and scheduling. I have a demanding corporate career at a major Hollywood studio that involves frequent business travel. So sometimes I’ve piggybacked family trips on top of work trips; Other times I forced a gap in an otherwise crowded calendar.
Millers horseback riding in Guatemala. “My parents live on a horse farm in Kentucky, and we often incorporate horseback riding into our travels,” Miller told CNBC Travel.
Source: Todd Miller
Usually, I plan a year in advance, making sure to block time for family first. We are meant to travel together. This quality time with my parents is, by far, the best investment I’ve ever made.
These shared experiences enriched our lives immensely and strengthened our relationships. After a road trip across Central America you become a different family, a tight-knit family. The joy, laughter and tears that emanated from our trip are vital to the fabric of our family.
We still laugh about Cairo. We may have lost our things, but we have gained something more valuable.
Mayan Misadventures
Trips have a way of upending family dynamics and hierarchies. At home, it is easy to fall into familiar patterns, many set in childhood. But on the road? It’s a whole new world. Role reversal between parents and children is common.
Todd Miller (right) swims in the thermal waters of Iceland’s Blue Lagoon with his son and parents.
Source: Todd Miller
Usually, I proposed travel ideas – and my parents were open to any adventure. Conversations usually go like this:
Me: Have you been to the camel fair?
Parents: In Kentucky they don’t have.
Me: If you visit only one, ask me Pushkar location.
Parents: When do we go?”
Then we switch to planning mode. We favor offbeat and remote destinations, combining multiple countries and authentic experiences into one trip.
Before I went to bed that night I covered every surface area of my body from head to toe with cloth.
Todd Miller
Media Executive
But sometimes things are too authentic.
We booked a jungle lodge near ancient Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala. We were stunned when we opened the door to a sparse room with two metal frame beds, dirty concrete floors and a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
The bed linens were dark beige and sweat rings adorned the pillows. It was decadent – a shock amplified by our last hotel, Lux Blancaniux Lodge A retreat in the Belize rainforest and film director Francis Ford Coppola’s past.
Before I went to bed that night I covered every surface area on my body, head to toe, with a cloth – watch out for another Miller misadventure in the making.
A road trip to nowhere
We still laugh about the road trip in Cuba where our attempt to drive the length of the island — from Havana to Santiago de Cuba near Guantanamo — resulted in hours of driving in circles.
These were the pre-GPS days. There were no road signs, and everyone pointed us in different directions. We drove around looking for the then two-lane “National Highway”. The humor in it nurtured our resilience to keep going.
Then there are all the camel fairs, a celebration held every November in the small town of Pushkar in Rajasthan, India. Every year, temporary but impressive tents are erected to accommodate tourists.
Todd Miller’s parents with their driver in India. “We toured Rajasthan, including the Pushkar Camel Fair, in a vintage Ambassador car,” he said, referring to the Indian-made car produced by manufacturer Hindustan Motors in 1957.
Source: Todd Miller
We stayed in luxurious royal tents with bathrooms and butlers and enjoyed sumptuous meals in the royal tented dining halls. Pushkar was an unusual trip for us because everything went right for once.
Limited window
We started this family when I was in my mid 20’s and my parents were in their 50’s. As the decades passed, the adventures became less bold, less frequent, and closer to home.
Then the adventures stopped.
Thank goodness we tried to explore the world together when we did. The reality is: there is a limited window of opportunity, and that window usually closes sooner than we think.
Phang Nga, Thailand, was the Miller family’s “last big international trip with the whole family, including my parents, my immediate family and my brother’s immediate family.”
Source: Todd Miller
This holiday season, if your family’s rhythms drift to the default setting and you’re curious about the world, here’s a thought:
Mix it up.
Make life interesting.
Go out with your loved ones.
Go beyond your comfort zone.
It doesn’t happen by chance, and it takes some effort. But if you do you will be forever grateful.
