Tips for Planning Your Family Vacation

Last updated on May 5th, 2024 at 09:22 pm

When your kids are infants or toddlers, it’s easy enough to plan the family vacation. While you generally plan with them in mind, making sure there are activities they will enjoy wherever you go, you probably didn’t encounter much pushback or ask them for a lot of input. As they start to get a little older, however, everyone might start to develop their own ideas about what they’d like to do. This can be particularly true by the time they reach their teens. It is possible to plan a vacation that will be truly enjoyable for everyone even if it takes a little more work.

Brainstorm

Throughout the year, keep a wish list that everyone adds to. This could simply be a regular list, or you could make a collage, save photos online that inspire, or use any other approach that works for you and your family. Don’t reject anyone’s ideas out of hand; you might be surprised at what you can integrate into a vacation even if it’s not exactly what someone comes up with first. You might not be able to arrange for your 10-year-old to take a trip to the moon, but you could take them to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. or to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Have a Budget

Creating a budget for the trip is necessary so that you know what is possible, but this can also be a great activity for kids to participate in to learn more about money. They can see that you might be able to take a longer vacation or visit more places if you are camping than if you go to a theme park. They might ultimately choose the theme park anyway, but this gives them the opportunity to weight up various criteria and make a choice. 

If you’ve fallen short on having all the funds that you need and you really want to take the family on a vacation soon, this may be the only time everyone’s work and school schedules align, a personal loan is always an option. If, like most people, you’re more familiar with credit cards, you may wonder what is a personal loan and you can review a guide that will answer this and other questions and help you determine if this is the right choice for you.

Narrow it Down

With the budget and the amount of time that you have for your vacation in mind, it’s time to start narrowing down that wish list. Do some research alongside it; you may find that it’s possible to find kid friendly travel destinations that fulfill everyone’s wishes if you are flexible. Encourage children to try new activities buthave a backup plan if it turns out that they genuinely don’t enjoy something. Be sure to build in down time as well if your vacation doesn’t largely consist of relaxing activities like lying on a beach. Family vacations can be surprisingly stressful, and making sure that everyone doesn’t feel driven to accomplish the next thing on the itinerary can prevent meltdowns.

*collaboration

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