Planning a vacation that your entire family will enjoy and sticking to a budget may seem impossible. You can do it if you get input from each family member, ask others for suggestions, look for deals and are flexible with your plans.
Ask Family Members for Ideas
Start by asking your spouse and kids where they would like to go on vacation. You might get answers that include both specific destinations and general locations, such as “the beach.”
Talk about what you would like to do while on vacation. If several family members are focused on general criteria, such as spending time outdoors, but don’t have a particular destination in mind, that can give you plenty of options. If someone else is eager to participate in another activity, you can look for a location that will make everyone happy.
Get Help From Other Parents
Ask relatives and friends with kids to suggest locations, activities, modes of transportation, hotels and ways to get discounts. Blogs and online discussion groups can also provide valuable insight. It can be particularly helpful to learn from mistakes that fellow parents have made.
Search for Deals
If you have some flexibility in terms of when to go on vacation, avoid peak times when prices are generally higher. If you have to travel at a time when kids across the country are out of school, choose a less popular destination and make your reservations far in advance to get affordable rates.
There are a number of websites that offer good deals on airfare, hotels, short-term rental properties and other things you will need on a vacation. If you can stay with relatives or friends, that can eliminate the cost of a hotel and leave more room in your budget for fun activities. You might want to rent a house or apartment so you can cook meals instead of eating at restaurants.
State parks and campgrounds are generally affordable. Theme parks and other attractions typically offer discounted prices for kids or families.
Be Flexible and Realistic
If you decide to stay in one location for several days, do some research beforehand and create a list of fun things to do. You don’t necessarily have to do all of them, but it’s better to have more activities than you can possibly get to than to have your kids get bored.
If you want to visit two or more destinations, consider your kids’ ages and everyone’s ability to cope with stress. You don’t want your family to get bored staying in one place with nothing to do, but you also don’t want to move around so much and cram so many things into the trip that you, your spouse or your kids feel overwhelmed and exhausted.
Don’t get too detailed when planning your vacation. Your kids might get tired, someone might get sick or you might discover a local attraction that’s more appealing than what you had planned. Go with the flow and focus on having fun as a family.
