Travelling with one's parents is so special. As kids, they used to take us out and show the world, and as we mature, the role slightly reverses as we would now make plans and itinerary to take them out and show them the best of the world. There is no bigger feeling of happiness than travelling with parents and seeing their joy when they see something for the first time. Isn't it?
My father has travelled places, but my mom hadn't so, I wanted to take her to an easy-going destination for her first international trip.
Considering all the plus points and minus points - I decided to take my mom and dad to Dubai.
Super easy Visa process: Getting a Dubai visa is super easy and doesn't require many documents. Also, no physical presence needed for any documentation, which was comforting and saved them the trouble of back and forth embassy rounds.
Short flight and direct flights: My mother wanted to travel to a place that doesn't have a long flight as it was her first time. Flights to Dubai aren't as long, and from India, one can reach in less than 3 hours. Also, there aren't changeovers. So, it's ideal for parents travelling for the first time.
Seamless travel: Dubai is one destination where booking a taxi or travel around doesn't seem like a task. Drivers are friendly, and most of them can converse and understand what the person is trying to say. Also, lots of them talk in Hindi V/s Hong Kong, where taking a taxi is a task because of the huge language barrier, and most of them don't even converse even in English.
Things to see - Dubai has many unique places to visit, and for five to six days, it's a perfect place. There are easy day trips plus places which you can cover in half a day, which gave my parents a lot of time to relax in between as well.
Food: For my parents, food is greater stress since they don't eat out most of the times because they are vegetarian and avoid eating even onion and garlic. But Dubai has an array of vegetarian options, and finding food to suit everyone's pallete is not so difficult.
Cost - Dubai is one destination that is an excellent place for every kind of traveller. Whether you want to go all lavish or want to keep the overall budget on a lower side, it caters to all kind of travellers.
Weather: We chose February for our travel and were pleasantly surprised by the pleasant climate throughout our trip.
(Best time to travel to Dubai is between December to February)
My parents, especially my mom, had a gala time. I still remember how she was looking at the big wide roads or her expressions at the top of Burj Khalifa. Now, after many years and many countries, she still finds Dubai as one of the best places she has ever visited, and I am so glad that It was with me as I could see her expressions and capture the beautiful images of my parents having a grand time.