How to Plan a Family Trip When Everyone Lives in Different Cities

Your daughter just moved to London for a study-abroad semester. You and your partner are back home in Seattle. You miss her, you want to visit — and the obvious move is to book a flight to Heathrow. Makes total sense for the first trip.

But what about the second one? And the third?

The London loop gets old fast

That first visit is great. You see the flat, walk through the neighborhood, grab dinner with her friends. The second time, you’ve already done all that. She has midterms. You end up wandering around the same area while she’s in class, waiting for the weekend to actually do something together.

Meanwhile, she’s been living there for months. She doesn’t need you to show her London — she needs a break from it.

Pick a place that’s new for everyone

A different approach: instead of one person always flying to the other, you both fly somewhere in the middle. A city that neither of you knows, reachable by direct flight from both Seattle and London.

Nobody is a host. Nobody is a guest. You’re exploring together.

Midway was built for exactly this. Enter Seattle and London, and it shows every destination with direct flights from both — no spreadsheet required.

Where Seattle and London overlap

Having a family member based in Europe opens up a lot. She hops on a 2-hour flight; you cross the Atlantic. Here are a few cities that work well:

Barcelona. Architecture, food, the Mediterranean. A long weekend here feels like a proper trip. Your student can get there for under €50 on a budget carrier.

Istanbul. This one surprises people. Direct flights from both London and several US cities. Genuinely different from anything in Western Europe — the food alone is worth the trip. And it’s significantly cheaper once you’re there.

Lisbon. Walkable, relaxed, affordable. Several US airlines now fly nonstop, and London connections are everywhere. Good for a family that wants to slow down rather than check boxes.

Rome. Works for every generation. History for the parents, nightlife and aperitivo culture for the student. Direct flights from London are frequent.

The practical benefits

• She doesn’t lose a week. A 2-hour flight to Barcelona fits around a class schedule better than hosting visitors for five days.
• You share the travel effort instead of one person always making the long-haul trek.
• Each trip is different. Over a year abroad, you could meet in three or four cities — that’s a collection of shared experiences, not just repeated visits to the same place.
• Budget-friendly for the student. Short-haul flights in Europe are cheap, and Southern European cities stretch a dollar further than London does.

Go see the flat first. Then start exploring.

There’s no reason trip one can’t be London. Go see her place, take the awkward Big Ben photo. But for trip two, try meeting somewhere neither of you has been. You might find that the best part of having family abroad isn’t visiting them — it’s discovering new places together.