Maybe you’ve been thinking of having a great family vacay all this time. You’ve always wanted to shop with your mom in Seoul, visit Disneyland Tokyo with your kids, or explore Yosemite National Park in the United States with your extended family.
Planning for a great family vacay is not as easy as it seems, especially if you’re going with a large group. Making everyone happy can be a daunting task, isn’t that right?
Now, how can you pull of a successful family vacation with your extended family? Here are tiket.com essential tips to guide you on your travels. Read on!
8 Tips for a Stress-Free Family Trip
Spending your precious time by gathering with a large family is going to be a rewarding experience. However, to ensure you can have a great family vacation, you need to plan ahead. Here are some tips for you, t-mates:
1. Plan Your Itinerary and Activities
First things first. Pick the trip organizer for your family trip. Let’s say you’re going with 10 people in your family for a week, choose one person to be the leader of the trip. He or she can create an itinerary of what activities the whole family plans to do every day.
In the current era of technology, it is easier to communicate by using our smartphone. The trip organizer can create a WhatsApp Group and invite anyone who wants to give ideas to join the group.
Wherever you plan to go, it is better not to pack too many activities in one day, especially if you’re going with elderly or kids because they would need more time to rest. Scheduling free time is a good idea so you and your family can have more quality time together.
2. Choose Suitable Destination
Kiddos love to play on the beach. Daddy loves trekking. Grandma wants to cook. You love to sip a cocktail. Where is the right destination for the family?
Yes, there is no right or wrong destination for a large family vacay. It all depends on your family’s preferences. However, if there are choices available, going for a vacay to the mountains or beaches can be ideal for large groups because y’all can do many outdoor activities.
Crystal clear water, white sand, and bright sun are truly ingredients for a perfect family vacation. Imagine that the kids can swim in the waves, collect seashells, or build a sandcastle. The elderly can relax while sipping a fresh coconut on the beach.
Regardless of where you wanna go, when choosing a destination for a large family vacay, it is important to consider several aspects. For instance, what kind of activities are available at the destination, how far is the place from your hometown and how is the accessibility.
International destination that require a long duration of air travel may be troublesome, particularly if you go with babies or elderly.
3. Choose Family Accommodations
Booking an accommodation for two people is an easy task. Everywhere you search online, many hotels provide a room for a maximum of two people with additional beds for kids.
But, things may get more complicated when you start to look for an accommodation for five or more people at a time. Before deciding to book which type of accommodation for your family, you must determine the available budget. Determining how many rooms you will need and the costs each family member wants to pay should be done upfront to avoid misunderstandings later.
If you prefer to stay in a hotel, you can select the hotel rooms for large families by requesting for connecting rooms or adjoining rooms. Suites are another option for families. Two-bedroom suites generally offer space up to six guests. Better yet, you can book a villa or a service apartment.
4. Know the Transportation Options
How do you plan to get around the city during the vacation? If you’re going for a road trip, booking vans or buses can be a viable option. It is better if two or three people in the car can share the driving so each person will have time to rest in between stretches.
If you go for a family vacation overseas and prefer to take public transportation, research beforehand about what kind of transport passes you’ll need, and the price that you have to pay. In certain countries, there would be special passes for tourists with affordable costs.
5. Document Your Family Vacay with Photographs
Documenting a trip with your extended family is important because such a vacation may not happen often. Bring your cameras or your latest smartphone to document your family travels!
Either you keep the photos in the digital documents printed it out, taking lots of pictures can help you keep your memories in place.
Love to share your experience with friends? You can post pictures on social media. Imagine 5 or 10 years later, you can look back at these pictures and remember that you’ve been to those amazing destinations with your big family! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
6. Plan for Meals
Depending on where you stay at when going on a trip, it may be a hassle to prepare large meals for many people. If you rent an apartment or villa that has a kitchen, you and your family members can cook your own meals.
However, if your accommodation doesn’t provide a kitchen, you can order food to the hotel or eat at the restaurants. Before visiting a restaurant, check their high traffic hours. By doing this, you can avoid long waiting time. It is better if you can book the restaurant in advance.
7. Bring Entertainment Items
Going on a large family vacation must be fun because you can chat with your family all day long and share about your life. Sometimes, long drives or long haul flights can lead to boredom.
It would be nice to bring entertainment items both for kids and adults. When having a vacation with a large group, you can bring board games, card games, books or electronics.
For kids, bringing crayons, coloring pages, or small figurines can keep them occupied. Bring a variety of items to keep the kids’ interest throughout the trip.
8. Communication
Communication. Communication. Communication. What can be more important than communication?
If you feel like there are some activities that you might want to do, but have not been included in the itinerary, just say it to the trip organizer.
Being active in terms of communicating with your family about your preference is important. Remember to keep the lines of communication open as well if other family members want to give some recommendations.
Enjoy Your Big Family Trip Together
A family vacation is a rewarding experience because you can strengthen the bond between each other. This holiday season, remember to spend time with those you love the most. Interested to spend time with your family to your dream destination? Book your ticket now at tiket.com.
Planning for a great big family trip can be troublesome. That’s why, it is better to plan ahead to make sure everything turns out perfectly. Follow the tips that we have explained above and hopefully your vacation will turn out just fine!
Summer can be a great time for family vacation because you don’t have to bring many things on your luggage. There are so many reasons why you should take a break on summer, t-mates.