Vacations are the best time of the year by far. You get to skip out on a week of work and most likely still get paid for it. Plus if you are traveling you get to get out and see something new. Vacations have the ability to create great experiences and memories that will hopefully last you until your next vacation. We decided to go on two trips with my whole family. At the beginning of the year, we actually went on one of these whole family trips. This included my parents, brother, LaBre, and myself. Bringing us up to a decent sized group of five people. This probably does not sound like many people to some. For us, though this is a big trip. Especially now that we are combining two households for the trip. Each coming to the trip with their own hopes and expectations.
As you can imagine this trip came with its good moments. Those, of course, had to include a few bad moments along the way. I do want to be clear though. We had a great time on this trip with my family. We made tons of great memories and wouldn’t trade them. I just want to explain a few of the issues we encountered and how we resolved them as a family. Plus we want to help others see the good reasons to take a large family trip. Because taking a whole family vacation is definitely worth it! Even with the bad moments.
Smart Money Decision
This, in my opinion, maybe the best part. By going on a whole family vacation you can actually save money. Or even get more out of your share of the money. This definitely depends on how your family operates. We decided to share a house during our trip to Florida. By doing this we were able to split the cost. So we were able to take about how much we both would normally spend for a place to stay and combine it. Which as you may be able to imagine allowed us to get a nicer house.
In our case, we were able to be on the bay. Our mornings were always spent taking in the view of the water. Depending on the number of people that can contribute to the rental fund you have the potential to stay somewhere very nice. Of course, you have to want to stay close to your family for the whole trip.
This next point requires someone on the trip to have a large vehicle. Once you arrive at your destination you can save money by riding in one vehicle. My parents have an SUV with third-row seating. This worked out great for us and we all rode together for the majority of the trip. Since you are all in one vehicle that cost the gas costs in half. Then you can spill the gas money in a few different ways. For instance, picking up the check while out to eat. Or if you are not in your vehicle you can pick up gas the next time you stop for fuel.
These are just a few ways a whole family vacation can save you money. It really depends on how many people are going on the trip and what your family likes to do. For instance, you may be able to get a group discount at certain attractions. This, of course, depends on the size of your group, but definitely worth looking into. Overall though you can set everyone up to save a decent amount of money just by making a few easy decisions. Oh and maybe you are lucky and have rich in-laws. If that’s the case you can save a lot of money by vacationing with them. Sadly neither of us are that lucky, but we still love our inlaws all the same.
Logistically Challaging
As the number of people goes up the logistics of the trip start to get difficult. For instance, it can be hard to get a table at a restaurant for any more than four people. That can really be annoying at times and causes you to have to plan more. Another concern covers a few of the points mentioned in our section about saving money. While you can save money on a house by coming together it can still be hard. Depending on the number of family members it may be hard to find a large enough house. For us, it is normally easy because we only need three rooms. Some families though may need twice as many or more rooms. That can be hard to find and just may not be possible for some.
When it comes to the logistics of driving things can get even harder. Especially for those with very large families. Or families where only small cars are available. We thankfully did not have this issue, but we have taken separate vehicles before and I personally cannot stand it. You always seem to arrive at different times. Someone gets lost or you have to park what feels like miles away. These aren’t very big problems but they can be an annoyance. Like with anything it has its pros and cons. One way to solve this is if someone has a large enough vehicle to haul everyone. If you have a huge family, you could probably look into renting a passenger van to solve the multiple vehicle problems.
Either way, these are both small issues that can easily be resolved. They definitely are not worth skipping out on a family trip. It is
Experience New Things
Most people have interests unique to them. Many of those seem to come out when on vacation. For instance, I really like fishing so on almost every trip we take I visit the local Bass Pro Shop. When you are on a trip with a large group of people you have to take turns finding activities. We always try to give everyone the opportunity to pick what we do one day during a trip. LaBre’s birthday fell during our trip and she decided we would visit Sunken Gardens in Tampa, Florida. I personally would not have picked a place like this if it was all up to me. However, we all ended up having a great time and saw more than we ever expected.
We all now that our time here is limited. So we should try to branch out and experience many different things. It can be hard to branch out on your own and try something new. that when it is great to have the whole family with you. Because of their different interests, you will be brought along to try something they already enjoy.
Food Fights
Nothing can cause a rift in a family like trying to pick a restaurant can. We are all picky about something in life, but everyone seems to be picky about food. Whether they just do not like a certain type of food or they just do not want it today. Food seems to bring out strong opinions on all sides. Most people will often claim they will eat anything. If only that was true. So if you can not already tell that is the issue we ran into on our last trip. My parents were on the keto diet at the time. If you aren’t familiar with keto, it is a super strict diet. You can read all about from the experts here.
Basically, they could not eat a wide range of foods. They still continued to say they could eat at any restaurant though. So when it came to picking a restaurant, multiple places came up and got shot down. As someone who truly can eat anywhere, I would rather not pick in the first place. Eventually, I was done and fairly annoyed. Thankfully we were able to pick a restaurant and calm back down. When we got back to the car we finally settled this issue.
We had a discussion about picking restaurants and we all agreed to be better. After that, all things involving food went smoothly. However, things got way better when one night at dinner we ordered the one thing they could not resist. Funnel cake fries and they were amazing. My parents could not hold out and broke their diet on the spot. Ultimately ending their diet for the rest of the trip and causing us all to get along great.
When you are mixing the food preferences of multiple people things can get heated. Just be sure to take the time to talk it out. Remember to think of the other people and do not let yourselves get mad over things that do not matter. In the end, food is never the most important aspect of a vacation and you do not want to let it ruin what could be a great family vacation.
Thanks For Reading
We have truly had a great time on all our whole family trips. If you are looking for a great way to make memories that will last a lifetime consider taking the whole family on your next vacation. It is definitely going to come with its good time and bad, but you can work through it with the right mindset. It all comes down to you wanting to have a good experience.
We hope this article has made you thank about taking a whole family vacation. If you plan to let us know in the comments below. Have you taken one before? Let us know how it went in the comment section below. We would love to hear about it. Don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel here. If you liked this post please share it, that is the best way for us to get more visitors. Be sure to follow us on social media to always keep up to date with our adventures. Thanks again for reading and have a great rest of your day. God Bless!
