Easy and Effortless Family Travel: Tips for Stressed Parents
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Have you ever returned home from a family trip feeling like you need a vacation? Most parents are all too familiar with this experience. Family vacations are often stressful, expensive, and far from relaxing. But what if you could enjoy your travels just as much as your kids? Believe it or not, traveling as a family can be enjoyable for everyone, parents included!
Here are some of our best tips to plan a family getaway that everyone in your family is bound to enjoy!
Why You Should Travel with Your Kids
Travel can be incredibly beneficial for kids and parents. According to World Nomads, travel can break down stereotypes and make us more open-minded. It can also make us more compassionate to the struggles of others. Experiencing other cultures nurtures creativity, confidence, and greater awareness. Plus, traveling as a family is an incredible bonding experience!
For working parents, travel can also improve work-life balance and offer some respite from long, stressful days on the job. Taking time off work is important to giving your body a break from the damaging effects of chronic stress. Just be sure to warn clients and coworkers when you’re taking off so you’ll be able to enjoy your trip without interruption.
Entertainment on the Go
Keeping the kids entertained is one of the hardest parts of traveling. While travel in itself is entertaining, there are always a few lulls that can make kids bored and restless—think a long stretch of driving, an airport layover, or a rainy day stuck inside a hotel room. Parents might worry about how to fill this free time and keep their kids busy.
Fortunately, technology has made this a lot easier. Teenagers might enjoy audiobooks, podcasts, and music. Younger kids can use electronics to play educational games or watch cartoons.
Even if you restrict screen time at home, you may consider giving your kids a little more leeway during your travels. Teenagers, in particular, feel better about traveling when they can stay in touch with their friends, so give them some time to text and chat online.
Choosing Activities
Many parents think that their family vacations have to revolve around their kids. But filling your holidays with activities for the kids will leave you wanting more. Be sure to schedule some activities for yourself as well! Visit a museum that interests you, spend some time relaxing on a beach, or go on a hike. Your children will have to endure your activities just as you endure theirs. Let each member of your family pick a few things they want to do on your trip so that everyone enjoys the vacation equally.
Setting Your Pace
A fast-paced vacation is anything but rejuvenating. Try to slow down so you can get the most out of your family adventure. While this might mean skipping out on a few attractions or sights, you’ll have a much more enriching experience overall. Book longer stays in one or two places instead of hopping around between destinations. Instead of creating a travel plan that revolves around visiting as many tourist attractions as you can, focus on immersion and experience. Look for ways to connect with the local culture!
Slow travel will relieve a lot of the stress parents associate with vacation. Not only that but taking things easy can also save you money! Slow travel will save on transportation costs, accommodation, and food. By staying in local areas and eating from local restaurants, you will get to avoid marked-up tourist pricing while enjoying an enriching travel experience.
Traveling During the Off-Peak Season
Looking for more ways to travel on a budget? Head out during the off-peak season. Prices for accommodation, transportation, and popular tourist attractions tend to drop during the fall and spring. While this can be difficult when your kids are in school, certain cities and destinations experience their off-peak season during school breaks. For example, spring break is an excellent opportunity to visit New Zealand or Greece!
If you must travel during the busy summer months, stick to destinations that most travelers overlook. For example, a trip to Morocco, Moldova, Cambodia, or Canada’s Haida Gwaii Islands will mean fewer crowds, lower prices, and an overall more relaxing travel experience for you and your family.
Embracing the Open Road
Hopping on a plane isn’t the only way to travel. If you want to get out of town with your family but you’re hesitant about an overseas voyage, consider embarking on a road trip! The beauty of a road trip is that you have complete control over your itinerary, destination, and any stops along the way. You never have to rush to make a flight or wander around an unfamiliar city while you wait for your hotel check-in time. A road trip also tends to be more flexible. You can alter your travel plans whenever you want, making it easy to stay somewhere longer than originally planned or skip over a stop you decide not to visit.
When it comes to road trips destinations, you have several options. You could head up north and explore Canada. You could stay in the U.S. and travel to a popular destination like Yosemite, the Florida Keys, Zion National Park, or the Grand Canyon. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you could even head down south and take a road trip through Mexico. Just make sure you heed travel advisories and stick to areas of the country that are generally safe for tourists.
Travel doesn’t have to be stressful. Whether you’re toting toddlers or teens, good planning will ensure your whole family can enjoy a fun and relaxing vacation. Let everyone have a say in your itinerary, pack plenty of entertainment, and try to take it slow. Most importantly, acknowledge that things won’t always go smoothly—and that’s okay!