Planing a family vacation? Don’t forget the golden rules for quality plan.
When planning a family vacation, make sure to get input from every family member. As a group, decide where the destination will be. If there is a tie on the location, pick one of the places for this year, and then you can go to the other location the following year.
There are some parameters that you should consider before beginning the location discussion:
- Length of vacation
- Budget of vacation
- Type of vacation (car, plane, or cruise)
- Age of children going on vacation
The Length of Your Family Vacation
As you select the destination, also consider the safety and the stability of the country you wish to visit in your family vacation. Unstable and violent countries are no place to take a family. Those destination names can be put back into the bucket list and revisited at another time.
The length of the vacation often can determine the vacation spot. If you plan on staying at a beach house for ten days, will the children begin to get restless after day four? Is a two-week vacation too long for a toddler to be away from his home and his routine? Ask yourself questions like these.
What About Your Budget?
What is your budget? Be realistic when you answer this question. By simply budgeting and coming up with a number, you may eliminate some of the choices on your desired vacation list. If money is no issue, then the sky is the limit. When you make the budget consider all travel fare, connecting transportation, attraction and ticket costs, tips, food cost, emergency buffer amount, and free spending money.
Have You Thought About The Type Of Your Family Vacation?
The type of vacation you chose could hold some hidden budget costs and as well as some surprises. On a cruise, meals are included, however sodas and alcoholic beverages are extra. Some cruise packages will include free activities. But again some cruise lines require payment for all extra attractions. Also, a cruise line will have a kiddie club that may or may not cost you. Tipping the porter, room attendant, and servers are factors on a cruise.
If traveling by car, you need to think about gas and possible maintenance or emergency needs along the way. As you can see, each mode of vacation includes benefits and drawbacks.
The Age Of Your Children
The age of your children does matter greatly. There are cities and hotels that are simply not kid friendly. Some of the older villages and hamlets of Europe have no sturdy walking or baby carriage paths. Do you want to carry the child for the entire trip, and is it safe to carry a baby over treacherous terrain? Is the locale heavy on events that might easily bore children? And look at the maturity of your children.
Whether your child is old enough to sit through and enjoy an opera is a determination you must make. If you are on a boat, will you spend the entire vacation worrying about your toddler getting away from you? Think of the safety, maturity, and age of each child as you consider the location spot for your trip.
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