How to Choose A Family Vacation Destination

How to Choose a Family Vacation Destination
In my house we have kids of all ages. I know the struggle of finding a family vacation destination that works for everyone. Whether you have toddlers and teenagers or babies and toddlers, you want everyone to enjoy the family time. When it comes to finding a family vacation destination, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself when you choose! How do you Want to Feel When You Get Back?
Of course, you want everyone to have a nice vacation, but some vacations you need a vacation from the vacation. I call those a relocation vacation because really you just relocate all of your motherhood duties to another place for a week. So, it is important to know what you want before you choose a destination so everyone can be happy.

Do you want experiences to share with your Friends and Family? If you want to have experiences to share, activities such as zip lining or hiking through the State Park could be a fun adventure for everyone. Hiking is generally free or a very nominal fee to be admitted into a state or national park just remember that if  you go back to a camp site instead of a hotel or resort that it’ll still be quite a bit of work on your part. I’m not against camping, actually I love it, however I have camped enough to know that it does take work on moms part.

Do you want to come back feeling relaxed and refreshed? If you don’t find physical activity exhilarating or fun, you may not want to do anything where you have to chase kid’s around or hike up mountains with a baby on your back. Choose a destination like a cruise or all-inclusive resort.  I just recently took a cruise on the Adonia and had a fabulous trip! Now on that cruise I also did some humanitarian work in the Dominican Republic but I still felt rejuvenated and rested when I returned. So cruising is an option where don’t have to cook OR clean up any meals!!

What do the Kids Like to Do?
Although you may want to sit by the beach soaking up the sun, this may not be exactly what your kids want to do. Ask your kids individually and together what kind of things they like to do to have fun. If they can’t come up with anything out of their head, give some ideas such as:

• Swimming
• Riding on rides
• Riding their bike on the trails
• Going to the park

Do You Want to Cook or Eat out?
One thing many parents forget to think about when they are choosing a family vacation destination is how they are going to eat. Where you eat has to be made a part of the budget or the vacation itself is going to be more stressful than it is fun. If you don’t want to have to cook on your vacation, all-inclusive resorts or a place with a variety of restaurants may be what you should look into. Remember, eating out can come with a price tag depending on where you go.  Now, if you don’t mind cooking while on vacation, consider getting a campsite with a grill or a suite with a kitchen. Whenever we head to Walt Disney World we get a kitchen suite and love it. We generally drive to Disney World and I cook in advance of the trip.  So, I’m mostly just using the kitchen to heat up food – not exactly cook the food (hey I don’t wanna spend all of my vacation in the kitchen either). Then, I make food in disposable pans and freeze them. I then take them down frozen in a cooler and then just pull out a pan each night for dinner. Here are some easy ideas for foods to make ahead of time and freeze;

• baked ziti
• lasagna
• taco meat
• soup

How Long Will the Vacation Be?
Do you want to have a day trip, weekend trip, or a weeklong trip? Deciding on the length of the vacation will help you to determine where you will go. Decide how long you want to be gone. If you want to just get away for a day, you may want to look into a children’s museum in your area or a day trip exploring the state. If you want to be gone for a weekend or longer, you can consider traveling to different states or top destination.

What other tips do you have for choosing a family vacation destination? One of my favorite tips is getting fun luggage for everyone in the family so there are no complaints getting kids to pack their own bags.  We have fun Marvel luggage along with a Mickey Mouse suitcase all thanks to American Tourister! They have the best luggage at an affordable price that is still a really good quality which is really important since kids are known to stuff suitcases and be hard on zippers etc!  See my article on How to Teach Kids to Be Responsible Packers