Should the grandparents travel to their adult children and grandchildren, or should the children travel to their parents?

That is the question that has plagued families for generations, and there is no clear and easy answer. Many grandparents are unable to travel far to visit their adult children because they’re aging and their bodies cannot handle long-distance travel. On the other hand, many adult children are not in a financial position to spend $300 on plane tickets each time they visit their parents. Not to mention, travel can be very difficult if you have young children who cannot tolerate discomfort for hours on end. 

IMHO, you can’t complain about your family not visiting you if you live somewhere extremely hard to get to. You can’t expect a young family with little kids to travel 10 hours to see you multiple times a year if you don’t make any effort to travel and see them. 

Sometimes, it doesn’t even matter if you live far apart. Some families live in the same town as their in-laws, and still only see them a couple of times per year. Whether you see your family or not really comes down to how much effort you’re willing to put into your relationship with them. Some grandparents are a joy to spend time with, and others are a chore, and whether you are a joy or a chore is often a choice. The grandparents in this story are a bona fide chore.