5 Commemorative Travel Ideas

By: Allison Gilbert

As I write this post, travel restrictions and mask mandates are popping back up. Yet being at home makes me fantasize about travel. Specialized travel allows us to build entire trips around particular needs and interests — caring for endangered animals, jumping out of airplanes, building schools in developing countries. Why not plan a vacation around honoring our connections to the past?

What do we call a trip that speaks to the desire to celebrate loved ones in the company of like-minded people? Let’s call it Commemorative Travel. 

Nearly every culture has a unique way to remember and celebrate loved ones who have passed away. Below are my top five travel destinations where you can weave acts of remembrance into an already awesome vacation. (Check the latest Covid guidelines before you go!) You may, of course, just borrow some of these ideas without ever leaving home. 

Mexico

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is celebrated in Mexico and throughout Latin America (and many cities in the USA) on November 1 and 2. Despite its name, the festival is fun-filled and family-friendly. It is a national holiday marked by an entire population breaking away from its normal routine to honor the dead. Communities host parades, amusement parks put on events, and children eat all sorts of candy — skulls and coffins made out of sugar, and lollipops in the shape of skeletons. There are reflective aspects to the celebration, too. Families routinely create small altars in their homes with offerings to those they’ve lost. Items vary, but generally include food, photos, and mementos. Large altars are often erected in public squares.

Japan

Celebrated as a three-day festival in summer, Obon is one of the most spectacular rituals you’ll see. Thousands of candle lit lanterns are set adrift onto rivers and lakes across the country. It’s believed the spirits of the dead return home during Obon; when the celebration ends, the flames guide them back to the afterlife. While it is a time to honor the dead, it is not a wholly sad occasion: there are street fairs, carnivals, and plenty of traditional music and dancing.

Hawaii

Every year on Memorial Day, the island of Oahu welcomes more than forty thousand people for Lantern Floating Hawaii. Started in 1999, this massive gathering began as a means of introducing Americans to the Japanese custom of floating paper lanterns. Organizers say Memorial Day was chosen because Americans were already in the mindset of honoring their dead. The celebration is a chance for anyone who has ever lost a loved one to remember and honor that relationship in the presence of community. 

Israel

The Western Wall in Jerusalem is considered by many to be Judaism’s most sacred place. It’s also one of the most important cultural sites in the world, one where tourists of every nationality and faith engage in a private spiritual expression: writing a prayer on a piece of paper and tucking it in between the Wall’s ancient stones. It’s estimated that more than one million notes are placed in the cracks and crevices of the Western Wall every year. The slips of paper contain messages asking for virtually anything — peace, love, health, forgiveness, and strength. Prayers can be for yourself or others.

The Bahamas

Junkanoo (also known as Jonkonnu or Jankunu) is a mammoth cultural celebration that roars through many Caribbean countries. Its biggest, loudest, and grandest manifestation takes place in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. There, the Junkanoo parade winds through city streets throbbing with participants dancing, beating drums, playing trumpets and trombones — all wearing elaborate costumes and headdresses in a riot of feathers and colors. The parade takes place overnight on December 26 (Boxing Day), on New Year’s Day, and on other small holidays throughout the year. While the roots of Junkanoo are debated, it is largely viewed as being steeped in African tradition, having been kept alive — indeed, having flourished, on slave plantations in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Today, Junkanoo is an adrenaline-charged expression of folk culture and a major tourist attraction.

Do you have another suggestion for this Commemorative Travel list? Share it on the For Grief Community Facebook page!

Allison Gilbert is one of the most thought-provoking and influential writers on grief and resilience. She is the author of numerous books including, Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Grieving Children and the Advisory Board of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Watch Gilbert’s Google Author Talk, How to Harness Loss to Drive Happiness, here.