Is it really a family trip if everyone is not having fun? There are so many parents that force their children along on family trips regardless if the children are having fun. The entire trip is filled with bickering and complaining instead of laughter and fun. So, how does someone fix that problem? Simple. There are just a few things one needs to know when planning a family trip. These things are the guidelines for having a fun and friendly family trip!
The first thing one needs to do when planning a family trip is to establish the location where the family is traveling. The place that the family chooses needs to have a wide range of activities for everyone of all ages. Kasetta Brownlee, mother of two and experienced family trip planner says, “Panama City Beach is an excellent place to take the family. Panama has so many things to do for all my children and my husband. In Panama, even when there’s nothing to do the beach will always be there!” The activities in Panama City Beach are endless. For example, there are water parks, scuba diving, boat rides, jet skies, walking the script, etc. Brownlee says, “The beach is such a great idea for a vacation because my family and I do not live near one. So, when we come to Panama soaking in the beach is always a must!”
For those families who really like to relax on their family vacations, Florida is a common place for relaxation. What’s better than relaxing at the beach or beside a beautiful pool? Florida is always a nice place to go to for good weather because it is warm year-round. According to Holiday Weather, July is the hottest month in Florida with a temperature around 82 degrees Fahrenheit and January is the coldest month with a temperature around 61 degrees Fahrenheit. In January, 61 degrees Fahrenheit could be a good or bad thing depending on where you live, but I think going to a water park in the winter is pretty cool. Last year, I spent my Christmas at a water park with my family and it was amazing, but I wish my family would have planned it better. If my family had of planned it better, we would have avoided things like trying to find the water park’s hours, bickering about how long we should stay at the water park, and even deciding on the different prices of the water park. Niyah Johnson, student at Brenau, has two younger brothers and she also shared a similar experience at the water park during winter. She agrees that going on a family trip to a water park in the winter is the best! Johnson says, “Going to the water park in the winter is the best because it is not something that I get to experience often. I love the fact that I can wear sandals to a water park instead of a peak coat.”
The next thing to do after your family has established a great place for the trip is to decide where your family is going to stay. Some people like to stay in condos, an air BnB, hotels, resorts, etc. If you’re going to stay somewhere like a hotel, for example, you need to make sure that the hotel is family friendly with activities for your children. Imagine what a family vacation would be like while you’re relaxing by the poolside while your children are enjoying the safe activities around the hotel. You get to have a good eye on your children while also having no worries. The hotels should have safe activities such as a video game room for the kids, different restaurants that cater to children like taste buds, and poolside games for kids.
When booking a hotel or condo for the family trip, there are certain amenities that are mandatory such as child care, room service and most importantly a pool. When I was 16 years old, my mother made me go on a family vacation with my younger step-brothers. She let me bring my best friend, but we were way older than them. I truly thought we were going to be bored the entire time. But in fact, the family vacation was better than I expected and it was because of the resort’s pool. We vacationed at The Shores of Panama, which was family oriented. I highly recommend this resort to any family staying in Panama City Beach.
For families who would rather stay at an air BnB, there are some tips for finding amenities that cater to the entire family. If you are going to stay at an air BnB, you should definitely make sure it’s really close to the beach and to restaurants. Johnson expresses how important being close to the beach is for her and her family on their vacations. She says, “When my family and I are deciding where we’re going to stay on vacation, our number one factor is that the condo has to be close to the beach.”
Before your family arrives on the vacation, there is one thing that all families try to avoid and that’s bickering. One way to stop bickering on a trip is to keep everyone happy. But, many may ask, “How does someone do that?” The most common thing that all families bicker about on a trip is what they’re going to do. The way to keep everyone happy is to let the family gather together and everyone is given the opportunity to pick one or two activities for the trip. Depending on the length of the trip, the location of the trip, and also the number of family members attending will determine the activities for the vacation.
You have those family members who want to only take part in their activities and suddenly disappear for other family member activities. Those family members are usually the younger siblings. Johnson stresses how her parents never include what she wants to do on the family vacation because they’re always trying to keep her younger siblings happy. Remember parents, family trips are about the entire family’s happiness, both young and older siblings! Older siblings should have the independence to do their own activities and still be included in the family activities. Luckily, there may be a family member who is grateful to be around family rather than worried about activities. Breyona Mangham, an experienced family trip goer says, “I never really care about how my activities are never included because I’m just happy to be around the family I never get to see.” But, regardless parents should accommodate all parties when planning a vacation.
There are other reasons why it’s important to plan out activities beforehand because you don’t want to begin the family vacation not having a set itinerary. A fellow student from Brenau Keiara Lyons, describes a horror story of when there wasn’t a set itinerary. We never want to end up like Keiara. Lyons says, “One family trip my stepdad planned the entire thing, but forget to incorporate activities to do. We got off the cruise ship and everyone’s first question was, “So, what are we going to do?” Lyons also says, “My mom was the one who ended up making all the decisions because everyone was indecisive and irritated, so we just went shopping the whole entire time and it was not fun!” Families should want to avoid this type of scenario at all cost.
Next, the most important thing that you want to remember while planning a family trip is to stay organized while having fun. There are some “go with the flow” families and there are some structured families. Cierra Franklin, a student at Brenau says, “I have one of those structured families. Although it may seem to others that we’re not having fun because we’re too uptight, structure is how we always have such success on our family trips.” People may think having structure is too uptight because you’re too busy following the rules to have fun. Surprisingly, other children around Franklin’s age like Keiara Lyons wish her family would be more structured on their family vacations. There are others like Ricoriya Clark, who thinks structure and being too organized feels more like a school trip than a family trip. Clark, 19-year-old sister of six says, “You’re supposed to be adventurous and spontaneous with your family, not follow a daily planner with rules.” So you see, families have to find that balance in between both structure and fun. A way to do that is to make a planner for the family trip, but if another activity comes up that is not included in the planner, try to do the activity anyway if everyone wants to. Also, make sure the balance accommodates your family so you will have a successful trip.
The final thing to do while planning a family trip is to make sure that everyone is eating good food. The family should all agree on the restaurant because there is nothing worse than someone who does not want to eat wherever everyone else does. All the person does is whine and bicker with everyone. But, if your family decides on one place to eat, everyone is enjoying their meal and having fun while eating it. Brownlee says, “The way my family picks a place to eat is by taking a vote. The voting method seems to always work and leave everyone satisfied.” Food is one thing that always brings everyone together because obviously everyone loves food! As long as everyone is eating good and deciding where to eat together, your family will be satisfied.
You have all been given the blueprint to planning a successful and fun family trip. Hopefully, there will be no more bickering and everyone will be able to have an input on the decisions. Now, your family will have a great time with no worries and the parents might be able to relax for once. Families pack your worries away and prepare for nothing but fun. Moms won’t have to make all the hard decisions anymore and kids you have a voice. The next family trip you take will be completely different from all the others because you now have the ideal cheat sheet.