Twelve Spring Breaks, twelve summer vacations, twelve holidays. That’s about all we have as parents before our children are off to college and family travel changes forever. Those precious twelve years between six and eighteen are prime real estate for memory building. We can’t reproduce time, so something as valuable as this deserves an intentional mindset.
One of the most rewarding things that I do as an advisor is to help parents be more mindful of their trip planning and think more contextually about how they choose to spend the balance of their family’s time account…Their Big 12.
It is important to ask questions like, “What’s your family’s style? Interests? How about your children? What will the conversation be 5/10 years from now when you are all talking about these trips around the Thanksgiving table? I always challenge parents and children to envision a trip from the perspective of the other. Indeed, you are the ultimate decision-maker, but a trip can only be as fun as the least happy person on it.
One common pitfall I advise families to be aware of is choosing a destination based on what others have done, what you feel you should do, or what may interest you alone. If your teenager would rather lose an arm than do something even faintly reminiscent of an AP Western Civ class, it may be wise to opt-out of a summer trip to Paris or Italy. Perhaps Provence or the Riviera would be a better fit this go ‘round. Conversely, if the best vacation your family ever had was in The Hamptons, then Paris with a weekend spent in Deauville would be sublime! Either way, Paris, Provence, and Italy aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon, and their time at the top of the list will come.
Another thing I also advise is to put thought into the timing of more complex family trips or trips that entail site seeing in seasonal areas. For instance, if you want to witness the Great Migration on safari, you’ll need to go in the summer months. BUT, if you want to see baby wild animals during the cutest “Emerald Season”, you’ll want to plan on a winter safari after Christmas. Similarly, Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest closed a month early in September this year due to snow, which can make it an iffy choice for a family Oktoberfest, Dachau, WWII history trip. Again, when you go often goes back to understanding what is most important.
For those of us with young children, it’s all about keeping it simple. Splurge on a luxury brand with robust family programming. I often suggest going with familiar names like the Four Seasons, Ritz, or Peninsula, which all do a marvelous job with families. Renting homes is often the first thing that we think of as parents, but remember how special staying in a hotel felt when you were little? Remember “Home Alone: Lost in New York”? Our kids need a break from us and the routine of a house just as much as we do.
So consider going a little deeper than simply the dream of a destination. Roll with flexibility, open-mindedness, and purpose. Because after all, you’ve only got twelve, and sometimes, for any of us, the quickest fix can be something as simple as a hotel room with a giant ice cream cart.
-Rachel Hoppes
