Family vacations are one of my favorite things to do; it’s one of the few times we can all interrupt our daily lives to explore and learn and adventure together. Over the years, we have learned – and continue to learn – a few things that have helped us find our groove on vacation. Incorporating the following tips has helped us build happy memories on our family trips.
Our kids have always functioned best with at least a general idea of what to expect when we travel. We talk about the trip before we go: where are we going, how long will it take to get there, what modes of transportation will we take, where are we staying, and so on.
We have one kid who can roll with the punches pretty well, and another who really prefers the things he is used to. He can be flexible, but we’ve learned over the years that things tend to go better for him on vacation if we pick one hotel and stick with it, and find (or bring) familiar food items. On our recent trip to Puerto Rico, we failed to properly prepare him for the fact that Spanish is the predominant language and hadn’t done much research on the type of food he might encounter. This lead to one pretty epic meltdown the first day, but after a cheeseburger for dinner and some ice cream, he seemed to get into the swing of things. It was a good reminder to me, though, to follow my own advice!
If you have people in your travel party who get “hangry,” you’ll understand the importance of this point.
I am generally the planner in the family (shocking!), but the rest of my family really does not enjoy having a schedule while on vacation. However, when they’re finally ready to get going for the day, they all look at me and say “what are we doing today?”
As a result, I have learned to have a mental or written list of 5-7 different options of things to do in our destination prior to the trip. Using said list, I come up with a loose plan for each day the night before, but have backup plans in case of rain, tiredness, or just general lack of enthusiasm. When leaving the hotel for the day, we ALWAYS throw in swimsuits and extra pairs of shoes, “just in case.” I try also to have a plan for meals, whether that means having a restaurant picked out or stopping to grab sandwiches along the way.
Finally, it’s important to know what needs to be booked ahead of time on your vacation. Coming out of the pandemic, many destinations are requiring you to reserve a timeslot ahead of time to visit; even some National Parks are operating on this principle! In some locations, tickets go pretty quickly – so it’s critical that you know the systems and adhere to the timelines so you don’t miss the one thing you really wanted to do on vacation.
Even the shortest of trips needs some downtime. It’s tempting when traveling to try and cram as many new experiences into a day as possible; resist the urge! Especially when traveling with kids, too much scheduling can lead to disappointment, overstimulation or trip fatigue. We have learned that our kids are good for about four hours of sightseeing/theme park touring/insert destination-focused thing here before they need a mental break. Sometimes, that break comes in the form of a trip to the hotel pool; other times, it might be a nap or an ice cream break or a stop at a miniature golf course.
Even better than a midday break is a mid-vacation break. We always try to plan one day in the middle of a trip where the kids can sleep in (if they want to), watch tv, laze by the pool, or generally just enjoy the location that we traveled so far to see.
When asked why they enjoy vacations, many people will respond with some version of “spending time with my family.” In fact, that is one of the things that I enjoy about family trips. However, even the closest family needs a break from each other once in a while, and travel has a way of intensifying relationships. Plus, in any group of people, there are a variety of interests, preferences, habits, and needs.
The way we have chosen to handle this is to plan to split up some while on vacation. In some instances, the older kid and my husband will go off to do some extreme sports activity like ziplining while the younger child and I enjoy a more low-key day by the pool. In other situations, we have left the kids alone in the hotel room with room service dinner while we have an adults-only meal at the hotel restaurant. Being an early riser, I often find myself with a couple of hours in the morning to myself; I frequently will use this time to walk, sit outside with a coffee, or just generally enjoy some solo time before the day begins.
I used to be the person who wanted to squeeze every single minute out of my vacation time. I would leave work on a Friday afternoon and return home Sunday evening a week later in time to tip my laundry into the washer and head to bed.
In recent years, I’ve changed my approach to returning on Saturday instead. Even if we get home late, we still have a full day to do laundry, put things away, run errands or generally relax before we go back to the typical weekday routine. We all return to our normal week feeling more rested and relaxed.
One other added benefit of a buffer day is more time to figure out alternatives if a flight gets delayed or canceled. It is much easier to be flexible with travel plans if you are not stressed about getting somewhere on time!
Over the years, we’ve honed our family vacation skills by including these tips when we travel. What are your favorite family vacation tips that you’ve learned? Let me know in the comments below!