A family vacation can include a wide variety of age groups from toddlers to teenagers to grandparents. Traveling with multiple generations can create many treasured family memories, but it can also be a challenge to plan a great trip that everyone will enjoy. Here are five tips for planning a fantastic family vacation.
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Skip the Hotel
Instead of booking a hotel, choose a fun vacation rental that offers amenities. Grandparents, parents, teens, and toddlers all have different wake times, bedtimes, and eating times. A big space with several bedrooms, bathrooms, and entertainment areas will allow for more space and for everyone to go about their more typical routines. Vacation home amenities can include pools, hot tubs, balconies or porches, or spacious yards to play in. The more there is to do, the more options everyone will have at their home away from home.
Make Your Own Itinerary
Of course, everyone has different interests and hobbies they want to explore during vacation, but not every activity is sure to be a crowd pleaser. If you have several smaller family units staying under one roof, then allow each unit to make their own itinerary during the day. A toddler will still need a daytime nap and an earlier bedtime, so all-day excursions may not be the best idea for them. Grandparents may prefer more leisurely activities and they can take advantage of senior discounts. Let everyone decide how they want to spend their vacation; it will make everyone happier.
Choose Family Activities Wisely
No family vacation would be complete without at least one all-family activity. Choose these carefully. Consider a theme park with a variety of attractions; visit an interactive museum; take a haunted tour through an old city. Think about the whole family’s activity level and choose one to enhance the joy of the trip, not add to the stress of planning it.
Reserve Dinner
No matter what everyone in the family wants to do throughout the day, make dinner time a sacred family event. This way if everyone is off doing their own things throughout the day, the family will always gather around the table to talk, share stories, and laugh together. Dinner could be at the home rental, a special restaurant, or a fast food joint. As long as you are all together, then the memories will be especially meaningful.
Make Screen Time Meaningful
We do live in a world of technology, and screen time takes up a lot of our time. During a family vacation, try to limit the amount of time the younger generations spend on phones, using the Internet, or watching television. Instead, choose a night or two for a family movie night. You could set up a screening room outside using a sheet and a projector or gather in the sitting room. Sharing a favorite movie or television show can be a bonding experience. You may even see something you’ve never heard of.
Big family vacations can be a daunting task to plan. Allow everyone the freedom to do what they like, but leave plenty of room for family time, and your vacation is sure to be a great success.
