Easy Ways to Make Your Family Travels Low-Stress and Fun
This week’s episode is a little different than usual! This week Lisa shares her interview conducted by Jamie Kelley, all about creating stress-free travel experiences with families.
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Traveling can be stressful, but it’s always fun! Here are some thoughts and tips to make the travel experience more enjoyable and fun for families.
Thoughts on traveling with teenagers?
I really like to involve my kids in the travel planning process! I like to get ideas about where they want to go, and then have them help me pick out activities and things to do.
Once kids get a little bit older, they can pack their own bags and carry their own luggage! This is a game-changer!
Why should families make time to travel?
So many memories are made when you travel. When you step away from your everyday tasks, you have more time to spend together and really connect.
Traveling helps you to bond and grow together as a family.
Benefits of taking your family on vacation?
You get to learn and grow as you go outside of your comfort zone. Push yourself to try new things!
Since everything won’t always go as planned on vacation, this is a great opportunity for you to teach your kids about patience and flexibility. Have grace and kindness with other people that you run into. It also allows for problem-solving experiences!
Biggest tips to plan a stress-free vacation?
Remember to take planning step-by-step. Don’t try to plan everything all at once.
Depending on the trip, the level of planning necessary will fluctuate. For example, a beach trip is a lot easier to plan than a week to NYC. Be patient with yourself and plan a little bit at a time.
I love to use spreadsheets when planning trips. I feel more comfortable and confident when I have a plan with everything in one place.
I will list flights, hotels, addresses, ticket info, etc. all on this sheet.
I usually book my flights first so that we have dates locked in for when we will be traveling.
Next, I book accommodations. I like to spend a lot of time choosing a place to stay so that there’s no stress once we arrive.
I personally like to look for apartments or homes on Airbnb or Vrbo so that we have more space. I also love to have a kitchen so that we don’t have to eat out for every meal.
Separate bedrooms in the same house also allow for more flexibility with bedtimes and personal space.
Be sure to read reviews before booking a home/apartment/hotel!
Also, having a place to stay helps you to plan where to go from there.
How do you choose where to travel next?
Our family kind of has an unspoken travel bucketlist, and we all have places that we know we want to visit.
There are also last-minute trips that just pop up, either with friends or family or through a great travel deal.
Sometimes our tips revolve around family reunions or trips that my parents or siblings want to take their families on as well.
“Have you ever had any travel mishaps?”
Yes! But looking back, they can make for funny memories or learning experiences.