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Just returned this week from an another awesome family vacation; hence, very few blog posts lately. We’re still basking in the afterglow. While vacationing is still on my mind, here are a few recommendations for making your own great family vacation memories.

1. Name your vacation early on during the planning stages and select a Vacation Cry.
2. Make the vacation planning a family activity. It’s part of the fun. It builds anticipation and cooperation. Weeks or months before the vacation, set aside one night of the week as a family night and make part of the agenda vacation planning. Include everyone in travel plans, budget, researching where staying, sites to see, activities to do. Don’t make the mistake of planning alone with your spouse then just packing the kids along with the suitcases.
3. Make annual vacations happen with whatever budget you have available. We’ve seen too many families postpone family vacations until someday when they can afford it. When is that someday? How much money is enough? It’s kind of like saying, “We’re waiting to start a family when we can afford it.” Baloney. Make it happen. A great family vacation doesn’t have to be the Disney experience of a lifetime. A couple of great options to stretch the vacation budget:
4. Camping. Not for everybody but I can honestly say it was once of the best decisions we made as a family. Really builds togetherness - setting up and tearing down camp; close living quarters; rallying the troops during inclement weather, etc.
5. At-home vacations. Some of our best vacations have been stay-at-home vacations, especially when everyone we know thinks we left town. Nice to plan day trips or just make up the day’s activities on the spur of the moment. Very relaxing.
6. Plan time to do what everyone enjoys. Obviously, it’s great to find activities you can do together. But if individuals really enjoy something that perhaps is no big deal to others, try to make a way for them to enjoy it, with or without everyone. Sometimes having the whole family involved in something for the enjoyment of another is a great way to build family unity - “all for one, one for all” is healthy for building a close family.
7. Document your vacation. Pictures, videos, scrapbooks - whatever to preserve memories. We keep a journal of our vacations listing where we went, living accommodations, special things that happened, funny things said or done.
8. Times of afterglow. It’s always a bit of a let down to ease back into the routine of life after a great vacation. Instead of complaining about whatever, keep the joy going by reliving some of the memories each day over the next couple of weeks. Edit videos; catalog photos; write in the journal; retell funny stories at dinner; even an occasional vacation cry.

What would you add as ways to make great family vacations?