A family holiday is supposed to be a trip away from your usual environment where you can have fun and spend quality time together. This can be difficult when you have family members who all have different interests. That’s why it is always important to plan your holiday in advance, so you can consider everyone’s needs and plan the best trip.
Whether you are going away with stubborn teenagers or noisy little ones, there is a lot you need to consider when booking your dream family vacation.
Unfortunately, planning can feel stressful and overwhelming. To help you plan a holiday that your whole family can enjoy, here are some top tips to get you started.
#1 Create a list
To cover all your bases, it can be a great idea to create a list of all the potential activities and choices that are available. You should set up a family meeting to discuss the different activities that everyone would like to do, and write them all down. Alternatively, you can create a collaborative document that you can send around to all family members so they can add to the list in their own time. The activities can include anything from beach days, snorkeling and fishing to lessons at Aqua Surf School. Some families enjoy learning a new skill on holiday, as it is a great way to try something new and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Not every activity will be chosen, but this will give you a good idea of what activities are most popular, and what everyone would like to do. This creates a good starting point to help with your research, your budget allocation, and creating an itinerary.
You may wish to categorize these under each family member’s name, so that when it comes to narrowing down the activities for the holiday, you can try to make it as fair as possible by choosing at least one activity off each list.
#2 Do your research
You must research each activity. This will ensure it is available at your holiday destination and give you a better idea of the times and days the activity is available to do, and how much it is going to cost you. This will make it easier when it comes to picking activities, organizing the travel, and creating your itinerary. When conducting your research, you want to make sure you are choosing the activity providers that offer the best value for money, and are reputable in the location. This will ensure you have fun and can rest knowing that your family is in safe hands, especially if you are going to part ways for some activities.
You can then update your document that lists activities according to their price (free, cheap, expensive) so you can easily pick ones within your budget and remove any activities from the list that are not possible.
#3 Create an itinerary
You should share the updated list of activities with your family, and ask them all to vote. There might be instances where everyone wants to get involved with a particular activity, in which case, you can move to the top of the priority list. There may also be circumstances where family members will go off separately to the activity they want to do. Although you are not doing it together, it means everyone gets a chance to do what they enjoy, and you can all meet up at the end of the day for dinner and spend time sharing your experiences. Make sure you include at least 1-2 activities you can all do together.
To ensure you plan the best holiday, it is important that you speak to your family to get a good idea of what fun means to them, learn about the activities, and then create an itinerary with the most popular and most suitable activities.