Planning A Fun-Filled Family Vacation

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

When planning a family vacation, there are several steps you should take in order to give your special retreat the best chances of being a memorable and fun experience for everyone involved.

First, be certain to include the entire family in the planning process. This will help get the children more involved and excited about the upcoming adventure while also helping them to feel as if they are important members of the family. In addition, it will make them more vested in the trip. In other words, they will be less likely to complain about the itinerary because they know they had a hand in planning it.

You should also be certain to plan a variety of activities throughout the trip so the children do not become bored with a specific aspect. For example, if your plans involve visiting a few different museums, try to spread them out over a few days rather than hitting them all at once. Visiting many museums on the same day can be very tiring for children.

Similarly, if you are planning several physical activities, spread those out as well. Hiking trails at National Parks is a wonderful experience, but trying to cram them all into one day will lead to cranky children and a bad experience for everyone.

Finally, be certain to plan activities for the children to enjoy while on the road or in the air. Allow them to bring their handheld gaming systems if they are into video games. If you can, purchase a DVD player for the children to watch movies while on the road as well. Even if you are not a big fan of allowing children to watch television, this is one time when the rules should be bent. The same is true for brining food, as children tend to get hungry quickly and you don?t wan to have to pull over every hour for a snack.