Family summer vacation tips
By Del Sol
Travel Tips
Make your summer with the kids unforgettable with these travel tips. (Flickr: Donnie Ray Jones)
Whether it’s a road trip, staycation, or air travel, the pressure to make your trip the best ever is real.
Especially during the summer months, your goal as a parent is to plan the ultimate trip for your family. Whether you’re traveling on a budget or not, here are a few family vacation tips to make yours a truly memorable experience for everyone.
(MORE: Seven European Beach Cities to Escape to this Summer)
Don’t Overhaul Your Schedule
Give yourself some free time to explore or check out a restaurant or fun spot you didn’t find in your frenzied trip planning research. Let your kids pick where to go for dinner or what to do for a day. If you don’t want to give them free reign, narrow it down and let them pick from a few options and they will feel like they have a say in their trip. It is sure to make a meaningful difference in your time together.
Variety is the Spice of Life
Going to the beach? Who doesn’t love a day at the beach, but more than a day might be a bit much. Try to keep your activities varied and spaced out. If you spend a day at the theme park, plan to spend the next day relaxing at the pool, or casually strolling the streets and experiencing local culture. After all, the best trips have a good balance of hard play and relaxing down time. If you go too hard for too long, you’ll need a vacation from your vacation when you get home.
New Never Gets Old
You can go to the movies any time you want to back home, but while you’re on a trip, try any of the myriads of things that you just can’t do at home. Maybe you try the mini go-kart racing track or go biking on the boardwalk. Whatever it is, make it fresh and your kids are sure to remember.
Kill Time the Old-Fashioned Way
Sometimes it’s nice to put in a movie or let the kids enjoy a game on the iPad to avoid the all too common, “Are we there yet?” question. But you can always mix things up by putting away the electronics and enjoying a fun word game to pass the time between activities. Try playing Going on a Picnic, Shiratori, or the classic ABC game and watch the time fly by.
(MORE: How to Go on a Family Vacation Minus the Stress)
Break the Rules
Before you think we’re encouraging you to drive like a maniac or ignore posted signs, hear us out. How often do you let your kids have ice cream before dinner? When do they get to have cake for breakfast? Not all rules are meant to be broken, but some are more flexible than others. Suggest taking a detour from the rules – not the dangerous ones of course – once or twice and watch your kids’ eyes light up.
If you’re trying to work in one last trip to the beach for the year, you can find some great beach related, color-changing travel accessories at Del Sol. Del Sol has made it their goal to be the fun-in-the-sun experts! For a limited time, they are offering MiniTime readers a 20% discount on any of their products. Simply enter in the promo code minitime with your order to receive the product discount. This promotion is valid through August 17, 2015.
Check out Del Sol’s line of color-changing sunglasses, flip-flops, T-shirts and more at delsol.com.
Take advantage of your trip to enjoy some time in the sun and let the good memories stack up!
By Del Sol
