Why Traveling with a Sister Feels Like Coming Home
Paige and Her Sister in 1979 and 2016.
When new Morocco departures were added, AdventureWomen President Paige Davis didn’t hesitate to sign up. She’d been dreaming about visiting the iconic cerulean Chefchaouen, meeting female artisans in Sefrou, and spending a night under the stars in the Erg Chebbi Dunes.
As soon as she signed up for this life-changing destination, she knew exactly who to call: her sister, her favorite travel companion, to join the adventure.
At AdventureWomen, we witness the power of all-women travel every day. Paige shared with us below how sharing these journeys with a sibling can make them even more meaningful.
“Traveling with a sibling as an adult carries a special weight that feels very different from those childhood road trips full of bickering and backseat negotiations. There’s an unspoken comfort in traveling with someone who knows not just the surface details of your life, but its history and texture — who remembers the same vacations, the same arguments, the same inside jokes. As adults, we bring more of ourselves to the experience: our independence, our distinct tastes, and our ability to choose to share time together. That choice, made freely, deepens the meaning of the journey.
What I’ve come to appreciate is that traveling with my sister has been one of the few ways we can carve out uninterrupted time together, away from the responsibilities of careers, partners, and children. A trip becomes more than a vacation — it’s a chance to reconnect with the shared roots of our story, to laugh at our younger selves, and to witness how far we’ve both come.
“When I travel with my sister, we’re carrying both our past and our present into every adventure. Having her with me makes even the farthest flung destinations feel a little bit closer to home.” – Paige Davis
Our Sales Director, Emily Vaden, also shared her experiences traveling with her sister on an AdventureWomen trip.
When I signed up for the Baja Day of the Dead trip a few years ago, my sister immediately started teasing me. She swore she was going to tag along just to witness whether I actually got into the ocean — because she knows my lifelong fear of swimming in open water has kept me firmly on shore for most of our family beach vacations. While everyone else splashed around during our annual family vacation to Florida or the Outer Banks, I was the one happily curled up on a beach towel with a book avoiding the water as much as possible.
But that’s one of the reasons I love traveling with AdventureWomen: every trip is a chance to try new things and gently push past your comfort zone. And that was my goal for this adventure. Having my sister join me made the trip even more special. With her busy life as a working mom, it felt like such a gift to take our first-ever vacation together, just the two of us. From the moment we touched down in Cabo and hopped into the van to Todos Santos, we unplugged, set our phones aside, and fully immersed ourselves in the experience.
I loved watching my sister come alive in ways I hadn’t seen in years — laughing as she danced with Chef Iker while making margaritas, staying out in the surf longer than anyone else while snorkeling and surfing, and eagerly volunteering to try stand-up paddleboarding. And me? I finally got into the ocean. With my sister by my side, I snorkeled with sea lions and conquered a fear that had followed me my whole life.
This trip wasn’t just about Baja’s beauty or its adventures (though it had plenty of both). It was about reconnecting with my sister, cheering each other on, and discovering what we’re capable of when we say “yes” to new experiences. I cherish the memories from this trip, and we still talk about how special it was to experience this together.” – Emily Vaden
Emily’s sister, Lucy, gave us her perspective on traveling to Baja.
“When I think about the trip I took to Baja with Adventure Women, I am transported to a time that I was able to fully live in the present and embrace a true sense of adventure. The fact that I got to do it with my sister, made it even more special. Being in a new place, with new people, and not having to worry about the usual day-to-day stressors allowed me and Emily to truly reconnect. It wasn’t just that we were sharing a room again (or a bathroom without a door lol), but we were able to experience each other in the full glory of our adulthoods. To this day, in my 40 years of having a little sister, I have only seen her enter the ocean on that trip – and we were a “beach vacation family” growing up!
I have endless admiration for my sister and her ability to have translated her wanderlust into a career. I am so grateful that she convinced me to share a moment of that with her. And she really did have to convince me. I was skeptical of using my precious time off of work for a trip that didn’t prioritize or even include my family. But it was the gift I didn’t know I needed! Since that trip, I longingly daydream over every AdventureWomen catalog I receive in the mail and tell every single woman who will listen how amazing a trip just for you really is.” — Lucy B.
Where will you and your sister travel this year? Explore some of our favorite destinations for sister travels!
- Camino: Hiking the Portuguese Way in Spain
- Egypt: A Luxurious Nile Journey Through Timeless Treasures
- Tanzania: Serengeti Wildlife Safari
Have you and your sister traveled with AdventureWomen? Send your experience to [email protected]. We’d love to hear about it!
