Vacations can be a great way for families to reconnect and grow closer. However, often the case when families are stuck together for long periods, travel excursions can quickly become hotbeds of conflict if the proper precautions aren't taken. No matter how much your family members care about one another, familiarity is likely to breed contempt when boundaries aren't respected and personal space is violated. Fortunately, a conflict-free vacation doesn't have to be a far-flung fantasy for families who are armed with the following tips.
Decide on a Destination That Everyone's Happy With
While it's true that parents are the ones who foot the bills for every family vacation, it's still important to give children a say in the destination. As any seasoned parent can confirm, kids can be gratingly disagreeable and prone to acting out when traveling to a place in which they have no interest. Additionally, even if misbehavior isn't really a concern with your children, expecting them to spend their vacation in a place they don't like is somewhat unreasonable. After all, this is their trip, too.
Before making any travel arrangements, take care to sit down with your family and go over prospective vacation destinations. It's practically a given that some members of your crew will be more enthusiastic about certain destinations than others, which is why you'll need to stress the importance of compromise. Not everyone is going to be 100% satisfied with the destination you choose, but as long as everyone is mostly pleased with it, boredom and complaining are likely to be minimal throughout the journey.
Take Everyone's Preferences into Account
When the vacation is underway, some members of your crew are liable to feel as if the itinerary is being dominated by a single person. To proactively tackle any conflict in this area, give everyone in your travel party a chance to choose the activities. This will help prevent family members from thinking their preferences don't matter and make everyone feel like an active participant in the trip. Even if certain family members don't have any suggestions in mind, they're sure to appreciate knowing that their opinions matter.
For maximum conflict-avoidance, sit down with everyone and work out your itinerary in advance of your travel date. This isn't to say that you can't add to it once you reach your destination, but this level of advance planning will ensure that everyone has a good idea of what to expect once you arrive.
Spend Time Apart
Spending time apart is a great way to give everyone a break from one another, thereby preventing your crew from getting sick of each other. For example, if there are activities that only certain members of your family have any interest in, allow them to engage in those activities while everyone else does something they find equally enjoyable. Spending portions of your vacation apart will help prevent your family from feeling stuck with one another and ensure that everyone is able to derive individual enjoyment from the trip.
Book Multiple Hotel Rooms
A lack of personal space can make anyone irritable - and this is doubly true during family vacations. So if your travel budget allows, consider booking multiple hotel rooms instead of cramming your entire crew into a single room. Many families have trouble sharing the same house, much less a hotel room. Personal space and freedom are particularly important to older kids, so if you're traveling with teens or adult children, separate rooms are generally a good idea. Luckily, depending on where you're staying, booking multiple rooms doesn't have to leave a hole in your travel budget. For example, many Niagara Falls hotels offer reasonable rates and fantastic vacation packages.
A good vacation can bring your crew closer together and imbue everyone with a renewed appreciation for the people they love. However, as anyone who's embarked on a family vacation can attest, a successful trip requires a fair amount of work. Regardless of how much someone loves their family, having to spend nearly every waking minute with them can result in heightened irritability and frayed nerves. Anyone looking to nip these issues in the bud and set the stage for a memorable family vacation will be well-served by the previously discussed pointers.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
