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10 Things to Think About When Planning Your Next Family Trip

Are you planning on heading out on a family trip anytime soon? It doesn’t matter if you are a family of two, three, or four, or you’re a much larger family, you may find that planning the finer details can take a long time. After all, when you have young children or you have a lot of different personality types, it’s really important that you can find something that everybody will enjoy. If you tend to head on the same type of trips and everybody’s getting a little bit tired of things being the same, this may even present you with new challenges. However, when it comes to making sure that your next family trip is absolutely perfect, there are ten key things that you need to think about. Let’s take a look at what they are.

1. Where You’d Like to Visit

When it comes to getting things underway, the best place to start is by focusing on where you’d like to visit. If you don’t yet have a travel bucket list, you may find that starting one can really help you. Because when you’re faced with different ideas of where to go, it’s like looking at a blank canvas. Yet when you have a sense of what it is that you’d like to see and do in the world, it gets easier. You can even ask every member of the family where they would like to go too.

2. What Kind of Trip You’d Like It to Be

At the same time, it’s also important for you to think about what type of trip you’d like it to be. Do you want it to be a relaxing beach vacation? Should it be something more adventurous? Or maybe you’d like to explore a city? When you start to focus on the kind of trip, it makes it easier for you to break things down.

3. How Long to Go For

Then we have the idea of the duration. It can be quite difficult sometimes to figure out how long you need in a certain destination. Many people believe that a beach vacation should be one to two weeks, and a city break a couple of days. But it depends on where you’re going, how far the travel is, and what you plan on doing when you’re there. So it’s important that you figure this out during the planning process. 

4. Where to Stay

From here, it’s important to think about where you might like to stay. Choosing your accommodation isn’t always that easy. Again, it can really vary based on the location that you’re heading to. When trying to come up with the right option, make sure that you focus on the different facilities available in the different types of accommodation. That way, you can make sure you have everything you nee,d and it will help you to narrow things down.

5. Activities That Everyone Will Enjoy

There are also the different activities that you might like to plan when you are away. You’ll want to think of things that everybody in the family will enjoy, but that also feel fitting for the area. A great example of this is something such as Oasis Alaska Charters, which gives you a taste of local life, enables you to explore the climate, and have fun! It’s all about finding a balance for everyone in the family.

6. Whether to Do Multiple Locations

Another thing for you to think about when planning your trip is whether you want to head to one location or several. Depending on the kind of trip you are planning, you may find that heading to multiple locations makes a lot of sense. For example, if you’re going on a long-haul flight that is several hours away, making sure that you get to see some of the key locations while you’re there, rather than coming back another time, makes more sense.

7. What Food Options There Are

If you’re flying somewhere far away and the culture is very different from your own, it’s important to make sure that you are aware of what food options there are. This is very much the case if you have any picky eaters or you need to be aware of any specific dietary requirements for any of your guests. Just bear this in mind and make sure you do your research before you leave.

8. Whether to Book Transport in Advance

Then there’s the idea of any transport that you may possibly need. If you are planning on getting around between different locations, you may want to consider getting organised and planning this in advance. Or there could be the option of hiring a car so that you can get around easily. Either way, it’s important to think this through. 

9. Who to Invite

But there’s also the idea of thinking about who you would like to go with. Of course, most of the time, this will very much mean your immediate family. However, you may also consider inviting your parents along or even heading to certain locations with siblings or friends. There are some types of travel that you might want to do as larger groups or with your extended family. It very much depends on what kind of trip it is and what sort of experience you’re looking to have.

10. How to Make the Best Memories

Above all else, you will want to make sure that you can focus on having a great time on the trip. Even if you’re someone who tends to find trip planning quite stressful, when you have got everything ironed out, you’ll then be able to focus on enjoying yourself when you’re there. Once you’ve set off and you’ve arrived safely at your location, it’s important to relax and let yourself enjoy the experience. After all, you are likely to be in a situation where you get to take in a new location or culture and really explore all that the place has to offer. When that’s the case, make sure that you take it all in and aim to make lasting memories with your family.

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Karen LeBlanc

Karen LeBlanc is an award-winning travel journalist and storyteller, honored with two Telly Awards and four North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) awards for The Design Tourist travel show. As the show’s host, producer, and writer, Karen takes viewers beyond the guidebooks to explore the culture, craft, cuisine, and creativity that define the world’s most fascinating destinations.

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