My Top Ten Vacation Tips
February 9, 2010 by Caryn
When I was a child, my family took a lot of “mini vacations.” We never went anywhere extravagant until I was in high school, but I still have fond memories of those trips. TwitterMoms is launching a brand new travel channel and want your (and my) top ten tips for a fun, distraction-free vacation. So without further ado, here are mine:
1. While it’s impossible to leave cell phones and computers at home, try to limit time on them until the evening when the children are asleep.
2. Car rides can get long, particularly for small children. Try to limit DVDs and video games to road trips, rather than during family time.
3. Try to plan at least one “educational” activity such as a fun museum or historical monument. My parents did this and I loved it.
4. Make it a point to eat all meals together.
5. If you have older children, they may want to do things “away” from the parents. Set aside time for them to do this so that there is still plenty of family “together time.”
6. Make it a point to balance activities with rest time.
7. Try to limit the amount of “travel” time. Rather than planning trips to a variety of places, stay in one place to maximize the amount of time enjoying that location together.
8. Include the children (if old enough to do this) in the planning of the vacation (sightseeing, etc.)
9. Bring educational activities (books, etc.) as opposed to video games for those “down” times
10. Leave the “stress” of daily life behind. Try to avoid talking about work, etc. on vacation
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by rockinmama: My top ten tips for family travel http://rockinmama.net/2010/02/09/my-top-ten-vacation-tips/ #DriveHappy…
I especially like #7 – it is a very important consideration when traveling with small children.
I have to disagree with #10 though. Tim and I absolutely love talking about work when we are on vacation – the goods, the bads, our dreams, our goals, etc.