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There are more benefits to a happy family vacation than giving you a short respite from work to recharge. Researchers and psychologists say that family holidays do not only help relieve stress, which is a health boost by itself, but also literally promote brain development in kids (The Telegraph). Another set of studies also proves that traveling together helps improve and strengthen family relationships. It even goes as far as reduce the risk of a divorce, thus making a family vacation trip the best family-saving tool ever.
But of course, traveling as a family is a challenge in many ways. And if you don’t take the necessary steps to ensure that trip is a success, you run the risk of giving your kids trauma instead of a mental health boost. Luckily, a bit of clever planning will prevent that.
4 Tips to Help You Organize a Happy Family Vacation
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Make memories
To have a happy family vacation you need to not only enjoy fun activities but also take pictures and videos of them, as well as get some souvenirs. A study published by the American Psychological Association shows that taking photos boosts the enjoyment of the experience itself.
And don’t forget about how you’ll be able to re-experience this joy when looking through those photos after a hard week at work. That’s why you should always have reminders like beautiful photo albums. Souvenirs can be used to enhance the story told by pictures, so pick up something that will be directly connected to your adventures, not just a generic bric-a-brac from local artisans.
2. Be prepared to discard your plans
It’s essential to have a detailed plan for your trip before you set off. You need it to be sure your vacation is filled with fun activities for the entire family. For that reason, you need to work on it together so everyone can have some input into outlining the perfect adventure.
However, you also need to remember that this plan is not set in stone. Sometimes you might discover something more interesting to do when you arrive at the destination, or your kids might love some activity so much, they’ll want to spend an afternoon on it instead of an hour. The situation might also be the opposite or some of you might get sick or otherwise unable to do some of the things you planned.
You need to have the right mindset to adapt to these changes and not let them bring you down. Trying to stick to the plan and forcing this onto the others might ruin the vacation. Never forget that your sole goal here is to have fun.
3. Plan for some family bonding time
A happy family vacation can benefit your relationships only if you allow it to. If you are busy every day learning new interesting facts through tours and museum visits, how will you bond with your kids and spouse?
Set aside some time in your plan for doing just that. Note that ‘bonding time’ doesn’t just mean going to those tours and museums together. No, you need to choose activities that will make you interact with each other. For example, this can be a fishing trip where you teach your kids how to fish and cook their catch. This can even be a few hours in the park spent throwing a Frisbee and rating all the local ice-cream flavors.
4. Respect everyone’s opinions
A happy family vacation is the ultimate exercise in compromise. It’s true that your family is made up of independent and unique individuals with widely different tastes. One of the main relationship-strengthening benefits of traveling together is building a plan everyone likes and negotiating it in a way that every single person has a say.
Start planning well in advance, as you’ll have many things to discuss.
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