What if the kids aren't having fun on your vacations?

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Hello Friends!

Imagine this: You’re told you’re going on a trip. You don’t know where. You don’t know for how long. You’re expected to leave the comforts of home and your friends. You may have to change time zones. Maybe not. And you’re expected to be on your best behavior. No matter what.

I mean, for me, this sounds like a dream.

But for kids—it can be disruptive and anxiety-inducing.

And sometimes the result isn’t fun, adventurous, fantastic family travel time. 

It’s exhausting and laden with over-tired children and tantrums.

We’ve all been there. And it’s not fun.

So, how do you make sure your kids are actually going to have a good time on vacation?

You involve them in the planning process.

Sometimes, this means letting the kids pick a destination on their own. For example, right now, we’re in Dallas. My son wanted to come to a Minecraft Live event for his birthday. So, here we are.

But let’s be real. We don’t always (or ever) want to go to Minecraft or Disney events on vacations.

And kids don’t always have a full glimpse of what the world has to offer.

So, how do you hype them up when you pick the location?

You teach them about where you’re going and involve them in the planning process.

For example, when we went to Greece, we sat the kids down and showed them pictures of Greece. They got to see the beautiful blue water, the architecture, the dishes we would be eating, and the sailboats they would learn to sail. 

Once they had a vision of where they were going, they were excited about Greece. Now, we can’t get them to stop talking about Syros. 🙂

Another idea is to involve them in the planning and navigation. When we travel, we let our kids pick activities the want to do. We also teach our kids how to:

• Check-in at the airport

• Read arrival/departure maps

• Find the gate

• Navigate subway systems

• Read train tickets

• Navigate bus systems

• Read a museum map

• Check-in at the cloakroom

• Etc.

The last fun idea (for this newsletter, anyway) is to always check in at information desks and ask them what kid activities they have. Most museums have fun, educational activities kids can complete as they walk through the museum.

When kids have autonomy—instead of getting dragged around—family travel is a party.

-Ashley

You know what is the best? When you get a text from friends that just has a location to an awesome Airbnb, and all you have to do is show up for fun.

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

And do you want to see the house my friends sent me?

You do: check it out here.

Or here:

travelwithashley

View more on Instagram

We had an awesome few days:

• Making wands and potions

• Eating delicious food and snacks

• Watching Harry Potter movies together

• Playing games

• Being awesome in general

If you’re looking for a cool place to geek out, this is a good place to do it.

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