5 Essential Family Travel Tips to Avoid Holiday Vacation Burnout
Make This Vacation One to Remember
The holiday season has begun, and with it comes the best part of the year for many families: time for vacation! This season should be a gift, not a chore, but there’s no arguing with the fact that too much time together can begin to wear on you and your loved ones.
But whether you’re setting off to one of LocalVR’s destinations or some other far-flung spot for your winter family vacation, we’ve come up with a few ways to help your family avoid burnout this holiday season and make the most of your time spent together.
Tip 1: Involve the Kids in Planning
Our first tip for helping you and your family avoid burnout during the holiday season is to keep everyone involved in planning your trip. If you’d like your whole family to be engaged and committed to all of the activities you plan to enjoy, why not allow them to have a say in it?
Allow your family members to collaborate and create a fun and memorable holiday experience that the whole family will remember for years to come. Even if the activities they chose are not something you would normally be interested in, try to engage with your family as much as possible to ensure that everyone has a good time on vacation this holiday season.
Tip 2: Accept That Things May Not Go As Planned
Let’s face it: traveling with kids of any age can be challenging. Even if everything does go smoothly and according to plan, there will still be hiccups and bumps along the way, whether that comes from dealing with moody toddlers or angsty teenagers.
The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to learn to accept that things may not always go as planned, and that’s okay. Prepare yourself in advance, as you may have to make adjustments on the fly depending upon the circumstances and the people around you, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Tip 3: Try to Learn Something Together
Family time is not just time to get to know each other–it’s also a great opportunity to learn something new as a family. No matter where your vacation takes you, there’s always something to learn more about in the area, and learning as a family is one memory that you and your kids will never forget for the rest of your lives.
Whether that’s taking a tour of a historic site or spending a day learning to snowmobile together, these are the kinds of activities that you will be talking about for years to come.
Tip 4: Do High-Energy Activities Early on in the Day
Vacation burnout comes at the worst times, especially if you have a full day’s itinerary planned and scheduled activities to get to. The best way to avoid burnout is to plan out your high-energy activities for the beginning of the day, when everyone is fresh, rested, and full of energy to take on the day.
Not only does this strategy help to eliminate the probability of mood swings and temper tantrums in your younger ones, it also helps you to be at your best when you’re engaging in the things that you find the most fun. Parenthood can be tiring, especially when you have to manage multiple ages and personalities, and it can get taxing. Give yourself a break and plan out those high-energy activities earlier on so that everyone can enjoy them to the fullest.
Tip 5: Build in Some “Me” Time
No matter how much fun you’re having on your family vacation, there will always come that inevitable moment when you need some alone time to decompress your mind. Instead of waiting for the worst to happen and for vacation burnout to take over, it’s a good idea to plan some pockets of “me” time for each of your family members.
Planning some alone time into your itinerary for you and your kids is essential to ensure that all that time you’ve invested so much in together is well-spent rather than a chore. When you are trying to make memories, give some space for moments in between, and allow yourselves to have a break from so much family time to give more meaning to the time spent together.
Avoid Vacation Burnout and Make Memories this Holiday Season
No matter where you are headed for the holiday season, make it one to remember by following just a few of the tips we outlined above to help you and your family avoid holiday burnout this vacation. Every family is different, so plan out your next trip according to your needs as a family. We hope that you treasure the memories that you make forever.