Family is all sorts of things; they’re loud, confusing, sometimes noisy, but regardless of all the madness, we adore them. Going on a vacation together is a great way to connect with your family members and have a blast together. There is, however, a long journey to get from the point you decide to do something fun with them during the holidays to the point when you put the plan into action.
In theory, planning a fun vacation with your family seems pretty easy, while in reality, it’s a lot more challenging than you may think. To be able to smoothly decide on where to go and what to do, while you ensure everyone can have a great time, there are some things you must keep in mind to avoid a lot of hassle throughout the process. To help you enjoy every minute of your holiday, we bring you this article with the most important things you need to be prepared for during the planning and the actual vacation.
Choose the Decision Makers
If you leave things up to everyone, you’ll spend the whole holiday at home arguing about what to do. These arguments usually blow out of proportion, leading to people fighting about things that happened as far as decades ago. This eventually leads to doors slamming after people storm out, swearing to never talk to some of the ones in the house again. Obviously, these feuds are forgotten in a couple of hours, but why go through that at all when it can be avoided? Choose about 3 people, including one of the elders because they usually have magical ways to cut off disagreements, and they have authority that they earned by being old. Ensure that one of the decision-makers is a young adult; a teenager, because they would know what their age group would enjoy. There should also be a member between the ages of 25 to 40 for balance.
Road Safety
Now that the hassle is settled, it’s time to think about the more serious part of the journey, which is everyone’s safety. Family trips usually require a lot of luggage and sometimes one vehicle isn’t enough. Sometimes people take two cars or go in a big van. The people driving must be extremely careful on the road because there are many lives at stake. Unfortunately, accidents can still happen for reasons beyond your control.
For minimal losses, ensure that the vehicles you’re using are perfectly enhanced with all required safety measures, including good seatbelts, fully functional brakes, well-equipped airbags, and any other safety option available. In case of any accidents, after you confirm everyone’s fine, you must contact an accident lawyer right away. According to clients who have experience working with an Ann Arbor motor vehicle accident lawyer, contacting an attorney immediately guarantees you get full compensation for medical bills and any damages that happened to the car. Your attorney will tell you what needs to be done, which is better done as early as possible. There’s no assurance that nothing will happen as you go on with the trip but still, keep an accident attorney’s number on your phone.
Make Sure There’s Something for Everyone
Back to the fun part. When you finally decide on a place, ensure that everyone will find something to enjoy. It’s not just about age, but each person has their own hobbies and activities that they enjoy doing, and since you’re going as a group, there needs to be something for everyone. Some people like to relax on vacation, others like things to be a little more active or adventurous, and then there are kids who mostly want to play. It is important that you have activities that all the group does together, but there should also be space for everyone to have their own fun.
What to Pack and What Not to Pack
Many people like to overpack on vacations out of fear of needing something and not being able to find it. It is good thinking, but to what extent do you need to go? There are things that you should definitely bring with you like clothes, bathing suits if you’ll need them, extra phone chargers, an extra jacket or sweater in case it gets too cold, a power bank, and other emergency gadgets. If you enjoy reading, maybe bring along a book or two, but you definitely don’t need all your books with you. You should also bring enough clothes so that unpacking and repacking doesn’t become too much work.
Even though planning a family vacation can be hectic at some point where you may feel discouraged, remember that it’s all worth it. You’ll always remember the fun you had together and laugh at the pictures you took. Even the disagreements will turn into something you all laugh about later. Plan an awesome vacation and have a wonderful time with your loved ones.
