Travel is an amazing opportunity for everyone. If you bring a family into the mix you can give them an enriching experience and create lifelong memories. You can show your children that there is more to the world and how they can experience it safely. It will broaden their horizons, give them the motivation to do great in life and show them that the world is a big place to explore.

However, traveling with a family brings a whole new set of challenges compared to traveling alone. You now have the responsibility of getting your family ready for a trip not just yourself. If this is the first time you have planned a family trip you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Don’t worry, that is completely normal. Many parents have been there are there right now. This short guide will help you to make sure your family trip is well-planned and goes off with no trouble. 

So, what does it take to make sure your family trip goes off without a hitch? Let’s take a look in more detail below: 

Choosing Where To Travel 

This is often the first thing that needs to be considered. It can help you to choose your budget and also plan everything that you will need to take with you. Without your destination, you aren’t going to successfully plan or prepare for a trip away. You also need to think about choosing somewhere that is going to be suitable and interesting to everyone.

Think about things like your budget, the distance you want to travel, what activities you want, what sort of weather you want, whether is it a family-friendly location, what activities are on offer, and more. The best way to do this is to write a list of everything you need and what you want from your destination, and then you can start to narrow it down.

If you are on a budget you might want to search for low-cost or budget breaks to give you an idea of the destination that could be an option first. For example, if you are traveling abroad Turkey can be a cheaper option than the Bahamas.

Your Entire Budget 

Once you have an idea of where you want to travel you need to think about your budget. This budget needs to include absolutely everything. You should include: 

• Travel – how are you traveling?
• Accommodation – Where are you going to stay?
• Food/drinks – How much will it cost to feed your family for the week?
• Spending money – How much do you plan on spending? Do you need to get your money exchanged into a different currency?
• Excursions – Can you prebook any trips?
• Holiday clothes 
• Vaccinations – Do you need to contact the doctor before yout travel?
• Visas – Do you need entry visas?
• Passports – Are they all in date?
• Toiletries – Do you need conditioner for dry curly hair?
• Airport transfers – how are you getting to your accommodation?
• Luggage – do you need extra luggage or to buy new cases?
• And more

If you consider everything rather than just the cost of the holiday you should feel more prepared and won’t be left with any nasty surprises or damages to your finances. It can be too easy to book a holiday when you see a good deal, especially a self-catering one abroad. But you need to think about the clothing you will need, how much it will cost to eat while you are there, and how much it will cost to get to the airport. As long as you consider the above in your budget you should be in a good position.

Some people find it useful to lay their entire budget and then work out how they can get everything within that budget others prefer to split their budget. 

Planning Your Trip With Young Children

If you are traveling with young children then you need to be extra prepared. It can make it more stressful and you will regret not planning properly if you just try to wing it.

If you are traveling by plane think about booking an overnight flight, this way young children can sleep( hopefully) on the journey, and bring plenty of entertainment like coloring books, travel games, cards, books, tablets, and headphones.

You should also make sure you have plenty of snacks, hungry children are unhappy children. Often giving your kids a few extra snacks on a flight can help to keep them quiet for a little bit longer. It also means you haven’t got to rely on plane meals. 

When you are at your destination you need to try and stay in a routine as best as you can, it’s not always easy but staying in a similar routine can help you to adjust to the new environment better.

Older kids might be a bit more adaptable, however, if you notice they are struggling you might want to think about reintroducing elements of a routine before you head home. It’s a good idea to run through the accommodation before you give your children free roam.

Safety needs to be looked at the make sure there are no or little hazards. For example, do the doors to the balcony lock? Are there any protective covers on the plugs or are there glasses left out in reach? Do a quick walk-through before you start to relax. If there are any different hazards that they’re not familiar with make sure you have a conversation with them to let them know. It could be about not running next to the pool or not going onto the balcony without an adult. 

Planning Activities 

When you travel with your family, it is always going to be easier to preplan activities than it is to try and figure them out while you are there. You risk not doing anything if you try to sort it out in the morning around the excitement of the kids.

Have a look at what there is to do in the area before you travel and write them all down, including the price. You can then have a family night where you pick things that everyone wants to do when you are away. This will not only help with your budget but also your routine. You will have a good idea of what you are doing on some of the days and reduce the risk of feeling stressed out. Remember this is a breakaway for you too, so you need to do whatever you can to make sure you aren’t stressed or rushed. 

You can either book activities at home before you go and take your confirmation with you or you can plan what you want to do and book it when you are there. You may want to see what the weather is like before you go, or there might be a few other options. Either way, go armed with your list of activities and things should run smoothly. 

Be Prepared For An Emergency 

You don’t want to think about emergencies when you travel, however, they could happen so it is best to be prepared for it. It is especially important when you are traveling with your family. Everyone needs to know what to do.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have a list of emergency contacts such as the local emergency numbers, know where the nearest embassy is, and contact for people at home. You need to arrange a meeting point just in case anyone gets split up. This is a great way to help you find children who may have wandered off.

A great tip with children is to tell them to say where they are too, that way you can retrace your steps and find them. If they are continuously moving, they risk getting lost further. Practicing is a great way to make your children aware of what they need to do if they get lost. Run through it at home before you travel and also run through it when you arrive. Point out places where they can wait if they do get lost. You could also think about getting them a watch or tracker to put in their shoe or jacket. 

Keep A Diary And Take Pictures 

One of the best ways you can help your children remember their holidays and breaks away is to get them to document them. Get them a notepad each and get them to write down what they have been doing each day. If you have younger kids you could get them to draw a picture for each day. It will be a great thing for them to look back on when they are older and help them to form memories. You can also learn about what their favorite things about them are. You could discover a new hobby that they would like to continue when they get home. Don’t forget to take plenty of pictures too! You could even print some of these off when you’re back and stick them in the diaries that they’ve written. 

This short guide should help you to plan a stress-free family trip away. Do you have any other tips that could help? Please share them in the comments below.