Planning a trip is stressful at the best of times, but when you throw group travel into the mix, be prepared for even more stress and chaos - think Home Alone! But with some organization and some useful advice, you can enjoy planning your special family trip.
Plan your next family adventure with these tips for planning the perfect big family trip.
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Choose the ideal weekend
Getting a large group of people together isn’t always easy. People have different work patterns, different commitments, and there’s always the occasional one-off event like a wedding that can cause problems finding a date for everyone. Try to plan at least six months in advance, and confirm a date with everybody so that they can keep it free. If there’s one date that tends to suit everyone each year, you can make it an annual weekend that will make it easier to arrange year after year.
To help save one person from always being the organizer, each family could take it in turns to help ease the burden and to share the work fairly.
Pick a great place
While spending time with your family can be enjoyed wherever you are, picking a good destination can help make sure that everyone has a great time. It’s a way to tick destinations off your bucket list and gives you a chance to get away from home and all of the distractions that can usually affect your time together. There are plenty of amazing city destinations to visit as a group, while popular places like LA, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston also make some fantastic destinations for your trip.
Make the journey fun and affordable
A trip away can be a treat, but with everyone’s budgets being different, it’s better to keep things as affordable as possible. A charter service from US Coachways allows you to travel as a group in style, which can work out to be very affordable between you all. Plan some activities for the journey - some games and a brilliant playlist can get your weekend off to the best start.
If you’re only going away for the weekend, try to choose somewhere that isn’t too far for everyone to get to. You’ll want to spend time with each other, not on the road, so try to find places that are within easy reach of your home.
Create an entertaining and flexible itinerary
With weekends together being as rare as they are, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got enough planned to make the most of your time together. A fun and flexible itinerary can help make sure there’s enough time for family activities, while also making sure everyone gets some time to themselves. Activities can include tours, trips to theme parks, etc. or you can spend time together playing games in the park or on the beach! Keep things flexible so that you can change plans depending on the weather or the mood on the day!
Finding things to do as a family can be difficult when everyone is a different age. But trying to find some common ground is important to ensure everyone has a nice time. Food is something that can bring everyone together - everyone’s got to eat. Split responsibility for food between you all, some easy dishes that will feed a crowd can be a crowd pleaser and will help keep costs down on your trip too.
A group photo is a must
A family photo is the perfect way to capture the memories of your weekend together. It can be very rare to have your family in one place, so taking the opportunity to take a photo is a must. As these opportunities are rare, you’ll need to learn how to take a great group photo to help you get the ideal shot.
Spending time with your family is important, and big group getaways can be full of fun and excitement that helps keep a family close together. With some good planning and plenty of family travel tips to follow, you can arrange a memorable family trip. Many families take a trip as an annual family tradition, so why not make this the year you start yours? Now all you need to do is decide where you want to go!