Top 10 Expert Secrets For Travelling With Your Family

By Chinelo Ngene

Whether you have a family of two or twelve, your travel needs will always be centered around making sure that they have a great time. Most families take at least one trip together in a year giving themselves some quality time to spend touring a new city and getting familiar with the wider world far from home. Some take it a step further and travel every few weeks.

It might sound scary to consider taking your whole family with you on a trip but you can too because gathered here are 10 expert secrets to help you make the most of your adventures when travelling your family.

Secret 1: Budget, Budget, Budget

Travelling is one of the best ways to invest money. You get to see the world and add new insights to your bucket full of experiences but what holds most people back from a lifetime worth of experiences is the lack of a healthy travel budget. We recommend setting aside some amount of money from your income periodically, like every month or two and adding it to your travel budget. Within a few months you’ll be surprised by how much you were able to gather especially if everyone at home chips in.

Secret 2: Ask for Everyone’s Opinion

Deciding on a location that everybody wants to go to can be tedious. Even if the location was already set in stone, some might want to stop by at a fun spot before continuing to the destination while others might want to get there as soon as possible. Satisfying everybody is not an easy task but the best way to deal with that is to sit down together with your family and plan ahead of your trip, gathering everybody’s thoughts then planning your itinerary ahead of time.

Secret 3: Double Down and Save More

You can save more on hotel bookings when you travel together. Parents can share a room as well as children around the same age. Most family vacations are not usually spur of the moment decisions so you can take your time to book ahead of the check-in date and grab some cool discounts in the process. Visit hotel booking sites like Jovago.com for amazing hotel discounts for every season.

Secret 4: Stop and Take a Breather

Different people have varying degrees of tolerance. After jumping from one airport terminal to another, you may not feel the strain of the journey but other members of your family might. Make sure to take breaks and naps if possible between major stops. This way, nobody will get tired too fast and the trip would be one to look forward to.

Secret 5: Stay Light On Your Feet

One trip to the airport just wouldn’t complete the trip. You have to get out there and see different places, roam the streets of the new city and explore it how best you know how. The secret to doing this all day long is to pack as light as you can. If you’ll be staying long in this new destination, pack what you want but leave most of your luggage at the hotel to leave you nimble so you can see as much of the city as you can.

Secret 6: Don’t Let Kids Get Bored

As an adult, your mind is already trained to handle monotonous tasks and hours on end of the same view of green vegetation. This isn’t so for little children. They need stimulation and beautiful trees and white clouds are sadly not enough to keep your regular pre-teen occupied for several hours on a long trip. The best way to keep children from whining all day long is to provide them with mobile entertainment like a phone, music player or gaming device.

Secret 7: Spend a Little More Time

Most cities have more than a few tourist attractions to explore. When travelling with family, you want to give everyone time to see the city from their own perspective. When planning your trip, add one extra day to the time you had planned initially for every member of your family, this way, you’re sure that you can visit the places that everyone wants to go.

Secret 8: Pack What Everyone Needs

You don’t want to get out in the middle of the safari and have your family complaining about allergies. Ask every member of your family everything they might need on the trip, from drugs to toys and clothes. You may have to pack items that are unique to one member of the family just to make the trip worthwhile for them.

Secret 9: Grab Discounts for All

Travelling with your family means cheaper rates on many travel activities. Several travel sites have discounts for different age groups, like for children, teens, students and even retired folks. Do your research and take advantage of discounts at movie theatres, amusement parks, hotels and other fun places for you to visit with your family.

Secret 10: Get Some Time to Yourself

The moments you spend with your family will probably be your most memorable ones, but you’ll also have good times on your own. Take some time out from your loved ones and venture out into the cities you visit on your trip. To give yourself some time, add in a family activity to your itinerary that allows each person some time alone. Kids can play in the amusement park and teens can shop at the mall. This will give everyone a chance to discover the city on their own.


Chinelo Ngene writes for Jovago.com