*This family travel article was contributed by Emma Johnson from Beaches All-Inclusive Resorts*
It’s one of the unfortunate realities of real life that you don’t always get around to doing all the things you want. You have all these great ideas, but because you have that work thing and other annoying obligations taking up all your time, many of those terrific ideas never quite come to fruition.
One of the most common awesome ideas people never get around to is the family vacation. There’s probably plenty of legitimate reasons you’ve been putting it off, but there are plenty of even more valid reasons you should take a family trip that will be good for both your mental and physical well being.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most compelling reasons to start planning your next family trip…
It allows you to get away from the stresses of your regular routine.
Think about all the stuff you have to deal with on a typical day: work, deadlines, getting the kids where they need to go, shopping, cooking, cleaning, bills, and who knows what else. The kids also deal with their own stress in the form of schoolwork, grades, other kids, extracurriculars, sports, and the like.
Even though all the stress isn’t necessarily bad stress, everybody needs a break now and then. Also if you love your job, you’ll be more effective if you take some time just to relax every now and then. Stress is well-known to cause a variety of other health problems, and a break from it certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing.
It’s a great chance to show your kids how to handle problems and adapt.
Kids are kids, and one of the things that come with the territory as a parent is that you have to spend a lot of time managing their affairs. In general, for most of the early years, they are subject to no expectations that they make their own decisions, and when your plans go awry, your efforts to correct the situation are often transparent to them.
Vacations usually provide at least a couple of excellent opportunities for them to see your problem-solving skills in person. Flights get delayed, the weather might not cooperate with your plans, and people might just not feel like going out on a given day, so when they see you change plans on the fly, it provides a model for them to learn how to do it themselves, a skill which will make your life a lot easier once mastered.
It’s a chance for the family to reconnect with one another.
Do you ever get to feeling stressed because it feels like your family isn’t so much of a family as it is a bunch of related people living together? Hey, everyone has their own things going on, so, naturally, the bonafide family bonding time can sometimes fall by the wayside, but having a solid block of uninterrupted family time is a great chance to get everyone together and interacting where they usually wouldn’t, and rekindle some of that family feeling you’ve been missing.
It can serve as a learning experience for your family.
People have a habit of getting trapped in something of a bubble in their day-to-day lives, where your perception of the world is limited to your daily activities and interactions with other people in more or less the same bubble as you. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it puts a more relentless focus on some aspects of your life than they necessarily warrant.
Taking your family outside that bubble can be a really eye-opening experience, and put your everyday adventures in perspective. Also, it can expose them to new things or give them the chance to see things they might find interesting or have only heard about from school, especially if we’re talking about international travel.
It creates memories you’ll treasure forever.
You always remember the good times, but you need to have good times before you can remember them, and family vacations are one of the best ways to do that. Sharing experiences that you will look back on and smile is one of the best things you can do for your family, and also for yourself because of all the warm moments you will be able to remember with fondness.
Conclusion
Now that you know all the reasons a family vacation is suitable for everyone involved, what are you waiting for? There’s plenty of family deals and getaways available for every kind of family vacation you can think of, so get started planning yours today!