By Evan McElligott
Families now more than ever, are looking to family adventure vacations as a way to reconnect, engage and educate their children while experiencing different corners of the world.
According to a recent survey carried out by the National Leisure Travel Monitor, 70 percent of Americans said they felt more introspective since 9/11; 71 percent said they wish they had more time to spend with family, and 69 percent said they wish that that they had more time to talk with their kids. Kids polled the following results; 48 percent said their “most awesome vacation” was when they participated in family activities that they did not normally do at home, such as “share a meal together”.
With todays fast paced society families barely have time to breathe, let alone try to spend quality time with one another. Each day brings with it challenges; get to work,bring the kids back and forth to practices or other social events, prepare dinner, maintain the house, on top of that, maybe a little work follows us home. With all this going on its easy to get caught up in the day to day business of just staying afloat. The kids have also adopted some of the symptoms of a busy schedule. The latest games, text messaging, instant messaging and updating their My Space page in order to stay connected with friends. In the few short weeks we have managed to hang onto, we find ourselves wanting more than anything to spend quality time with family and friends. This, it would seem, is the perfect formula for a boom in family travel.
To make the family vacation a successful bonding experience it is vital to plan ahead and fully research the trip, up to a year in advance for most destinations.Determine the family needs, make sure that the trip is not only family orientated but also age appropriate. One size does not fit all, and talking to your travel consultant will help you find the right match for you.
Babies and Toddlers
Before you go anywhere, make sure your flights are as direct as possible. Now is defiantly not the time to pick the cheapest fare, with long, awkward layovers.You should be looking at ways to make this as simple as you can. One great way of doing this is to rent a vacation house at your destination. Picture it, a place for all the gear, a kitchen for preparing your own food, a washer and dryer and maybe even a spare room for Grammy and Grampy! Some services in Europe will even stock the house with toys, snacks and puts you in touch with “Super Nannies” for a little extra help.
Another option is the all inclusive resort. Some resorts offer microwaves and fridges in rooms for those late night wake up calls along with cribs, strollers and infant tubs. The less you need to bring with you the better, particularly with all the new airline restrictions currently in place.
One web site worth looking into is www.jetsetbabies.com This service will have baby food, diapers and other necessities waiting at your rental house or hotel. A great resource for making your vacation truly hassle free.
Children in Grade School
Things should be getting a bit easier by this stage, but you are not off the hook yet. Now they want to do stuff and they want it now! The general consensus is that 5 year olds are ready for Disney, so if you decide to head to see Mickey, make sure you have a plan of attack. The work you put in before you go will pay off, and you will enjoy an organized trip filled with all the things important to your family, rather than running around in chaos trying to cram it all in. I would suggest contacting a certified Disney travel consultant to help you get through it all.
Go on an adventure! sure Disney World is great, but its man made. There are a number of tour operators specializing in family travel to a number of destinations worldwide and sometimes a good old fashioned family adventure out in the great wide open is a whole lot of fun. Whether its our very own Acadia National Park, a visit to the Rockies or exploring other countries cultures. Opening up your children to less fortunate kids will help them gain invaluable perspective.
Teenagers
This one calls for a bit of discussing specific interests of your teen. This way they feel that they have a stake in the vacation and thus, will be more likely to actively participate and enjoy themselves. Offering to bring a friend if possible can be a great way to keep your teen engaged also.
This is the age group that the travel industry has seen the most growth in and your choice of destinations are getting more and more diverse. Europe is fantastic and really offers an authentic sense of times past, but definitely not forgotten. Asia has seen the biggest increase, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia all have so much on offer that you will experience nowhere else, the friendly locals, ancient traditions and customs all give a curious mind a lot to think about. This is the kind of adventure and life altering experience that will stay with your kids long after they return.
One particular niche that has griped the industry is “grandtravel”perhaps this year your time off is limited and funds are not available. Why not give your parents the opportunity to take your kids away and get to know their grand kids and vice versa. Grandparents and grandkids are able to spend time, and this is also a vacation of sorts for the parents, everyone wins! As long as a few ground rules are set in place. In a recent University of Florida study this phenomenon of grand travel has increased 60 percent since 1996 and accounts for at least one fifth of all vacations taken with kids each year.
No matter where your family decides on where to go, the most important thing is that you spend time together and have fun as a family and of course get some embarrassing photos of each other for the scrapbook.
10 places every kid (and adult) should visit
1. Ellis Island, NY
2. Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC
3. Colonial Williamsburg, VA
4. USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor
5. Grand Canyon, Arizona/Nevada
6. National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis
7. Redwood National Park CA
8. Gettysburg
9. Ground Zero, Nyc
10. Walt Disney World Resort, Flordia
10 Quick Travel Tips for an easier travel life
1. Consider shipping your luggage ahead to save you the hassle.
2. Travel early in the day to avoid the domino affect of delayed flights.
3. Know what you can and cannot take on board www.tsa.com
4. Carry a well stocked back pack, with many distractions.
5. Everyone use the bathroom before boarding, if your flight is delayed on the tarmac, toilets are often off limits until after take off.
6. Prepare the kids for what’s ahead, its confusing for the best of us!!
7. Split up the kids items into different bags and be sure to put contact details inside, should they get delayed.
8. Take advantage of off peak times whenever possible.
9.Anticipate ear problems, particularly when landing, have a bottle / Lolly pop on stand by.
10. Keep smiling, things may go wrong and your vacation will depend on you staying positive!
