If you're looking for some bonding time with your family, a great way to welcome in 2020 is by planning a family vacation that you'll be talking about for years to come. There are very few things that bond people together than enjoying a fun and memorable trip together. Here are some helpful tips to start planning that family vacation. Get ready to have some fun!
1. Decide Where You Want to Go
First things first, when you're planning a vacation, you need to pick the location that you are going to. This is important because without the location you cannot book your flights or accommodations or make any plans for your vacation. When deciding on a location, make sure that you pick a place that you can afford to go to. Also, make sure to pick a location that everyone in your family will likely enjoy spending time at.
2. Figure Out Which Family Members Are Going with You
Before you can make any detailed plans about your family trip, you need to know for sure who is going. Thus, make sure to ask every family member if they are for sure committing to going on the family trip or not.
3. Choose a Range of Dates for the Vacation that Everyone Can Agree On
To ensure that everyone that plans on going on your family vacation does go, make sure to pick a range of dates for the trip that everyone agrees on early on. That way everyone can move their plans around and take off the necessary time off of work and/or school for the trip.
4. Come up with a Budget
Once you know where you are going for your vacation and how many family members will be going with you, you need to come up with a reasonable budget for the maximum amount of money you want to spend on the trip. You should also come up with a budget for how much money each individual family member will need to spend to make the trip happen and let them know. That way, there will be no surprises when it comes to the costs of things while on vacation.
There are plus and minuses to having numerous family members going on the same vacation. On the one hand, the more people on the trip, the more things will cost. On the other hand, the more people on the trip, the more people you will have to divide those costs with.
For example, the cost of the accommodations for a vacation for family of 4 will be greater than that of a family of 3, but if some members of your family are adults, there will be more people to split the cost of the accommodations with. If you have mostly children on your family vacation, do not be discouraged about the costs of the vacation. If you have multiple children going on your family vacation, you may be able to get kid discounts on activities.
If you plan on going to Universal Disney, you may even be able to get your hands on Universal VIP Tours while on your vacation.
5. Book Your Accommodations
When preparing for a family vacation, you should book accommodations as early as possible. This is especially true if you are traveling to a place where there is a major event going on at the time that you will be going there. Also, make sure to book your accommodations early if you are traveling during a busy time of year, like the holidays.
6. Book Your Flights
If your trip will require you to fly, book your flights as early as possible. The earlier you book your flights the cheaper the costs that the flights will likely be. If you are going on a cruise, make sure to book your cruise as early as possible as well. Like with flights, cruise ship ticket costs increase if you wait until the last minute to book your tickets. If you are driving to your family vacation, make sure that you have a reliable car that is full of gas and ready to go before the day of the trip.
7. Get Passports if Necessary
If your family vacation is out of the country, make sure that everyone going has their passport. Make sure the people getting their passports for the first time get them as soon as possible. This is because passports can sometimes take a long time to come in.
8. Plan/Pay for Activities That You Plan to Do on the Trip
If you plan on going on a tour, going to the spa, or doing some other activity as a family while on your trip, make sure you call the place ahead of time and book for your family’s spot for the activity. There is nothing worse than everyone being excited to do an activity together, only to get their hopes crushed when they can’t because you did not book ahead of time for them to do so. Also, as a note, make sure to take family vacation pictures while partaking on your family vacation activities. Trust us, those are the moment that you’ll want to remember forever.
9. Get Ready to Have a Good Time! Once you’ve booked your way of travel, accommodations, and any necessary vacation activities, all that is left to do is go on the vacation itself! With all the stress of planning and budgeting out of the way, you and your family are sure to have a good time!
