You want to travel more often but choosing a vacation destination can sometimes be a difficult decision. You might not know what other countries or cities have to offer, if going with your family is safe or not, if the kids can last on a six hour flight, etc… All of a sudden you are overwhelmed and wondering if planning this trip is even worth it. Before you quit the search, let me help you simply narrow down some possible family vacation destinations.
First Step – Family Discussion Time: Figure out why you want to take this trip
When I begin the process of planning a trip, I have an overwhelming amount of locations I want to visit. My travel bucket list includes over 50 countries. There is just so much to do and see in this world! So for me, the first step is to think about a goal for the trip in order to choose my vacation destination. What do we want to do?
Our last trip was to enjoy the autumn leaves and slow down a little bit after moving halfway across the world.
Not every trip is the same. Sometimes you want to take a ski trip and other times you want to be lazy and read on a beautiful beach. I wrote a post to help families talk about their travel likes and dislikes. It has some excellent discussion questions that should help you plan a family trip that everyone will enjoy.
After deciding what type of trip you are interested in having, these are some important factors to consider when choosing the destination.
You may also like: How to Start Traveling With A Family: Make a Goal
Some of the links on this post are affiliate links. When clicking on the links and booking travel, I receive a small commission with no extra costs for you. Please note, I only recommend brands I actually use and trust.
1. Domestic Travel or International
A trip to another country comes with some extra steps that are in my opinion totally worth it. However, if this is one of your first trips, and you want to just get your feet wet, consider a trip in your own country.
You don’t have to worry about whether your passport is up-to-date, getting travel insurance, buying a sim card or getting a temporary international cell phone plan etc….. Sometimes you can even skip the flight and travel by land. That way you won’t need to figure out a rental car or public transportation.
Now I don’t want to lead you away from an international trip because experiencing another part of the world comes with some really big perks, but maybe try that on your second or third big trip instead of your first!
You may also like: Barcelona Travel Guide: The Best Insider Tips from a Local
Freebie: Travel Planning Checklist!
When planning for any trip, there are many pieces of the puzzle to think about. To help you stay organized, I’ve created a FREE travel planning checklist.
It includes:
- An area to write your basic trip details including the destination, dates of your trip and your travel goal
- An Area to write an estimated budget for transportation, lodging, food, entertainment etc…
- Spot for notes!
- Checklist for the items you need to do before embarking on your trip.
- An additional checklist with international considerations if you are planning a trip abroad.
Try out using the travel planning checklist for when you are planning your trip! Hopefully it will give you peace of mind before leaving for the airport on your trip.
2. The Main Vacation Activities and Attractions
Next up is what you want to do during your vacation. When having your family discussion, what did you end up deciding was your goal on this trip? What are some of the activities your family wants to enjoy to meet that goal?
Using that information, can you pick a vacation destination you want to visit? If the answer is still no, then do a quick search online. It can be something like, “Best beaches in the U.S. in December.” Or “Best places to visit with a family in Europe in the summer.” or “Family friendly ski resorts in Canada.”
I would include the activities you want to do, the general region and when you want to go. If it is important that there are family activities, add that too. There is so much information out there that you can be very specific with what you are looking for.
You may also like: Easy Step-by-Step Guide: Travel Planning For The Best Family Trip
3. The Weather
An important search that could help you decide if a vacation destination is the right choice or not is by looking at the weather. We were contemplating trying to escape the winter weather and go somewhere warm in Europe in December. After searching various trip locations, we didn’t find anywhere that would be over 70F (21C) degrees. While 70 is warm, it wasn’t warm enough for booking the trip we had envisioned. We wanted hot weather and a beach. 70 degrees didn’t quite give us what we were looking for.
It is also important to look at factors such as average snowfall, average rainfall, or seasonal weather considerations that aren’t common in your area, like when is the dry season in Costa Rica or the wet season in Thailand?
For example, if you are planning a ski trip to Colorado in December, the snowfall could be hit or miss. You wouldn’t want to plan a 10,000 dollar ski trip and not have great snow. Whereas if you planned that trip in March, there is a greater likelihood that the mountain will be covered in powder.
You may also like: How To Know The Best Time To Book Travel
4. The Travel Season
When I talk about seasons in this section, I’m actually not referring to summer, fall, wet or dry. I am speaking of travel seasons. It does have to do a little bit with the weather, but there’s more to it than that. There is the high season, low season and shoulder travel season. Each of these seasons refers to when travelers are most likely to visit that destination and yes, a lot of times that is when the weather is best.
High Season
The high season is when there is the most agreeable weather in that destination; therefore, more tourists visit during that time. Traveling during high season has its positives and negatives. Some of the positives are that everything is open and the weather is enjoyable. The downside is that the crowds will be bigger and it will be more expensive.
Low Season
Traveling during the low season is also a possibility. You may have to deal with some unpleasant weather and the odds that some attractions won’t be open or at their peak levels of attractiveness. If you prefer that to crowds of people and would like to save a few bucks, it might be the way to go.
Shoulder Season
The shoulder season is one of my favorite times to travel to really popular vacation destinations. This is the time between high season and low season. You can usually still get decent weather and the crowds have started to dissipate.
5. Your Vacation Budget
After looking at the previous four considerations, you should have a short list of possible vacation destinations. The way to narrow these down further is the price tag. How much do you want to spend on your vacation? Some destinations are definitely more expensive than others.
The quickest way to see if you can afford a trip to a certain destination will be to research the biggest expenses. These include transportation and lodging. Also, if you have an activity that will take up a chunk of your budget (like skiing or tours), add that in too.
After exploring these 5 considerations while determining a vacation destination, I am confident that you will have found the perfect spot for your next family trip. Remember – there’s also no wrong answer! You will create a wealth of memories wherever you go!
You may also like: Local Travel: 25 Exciting Ways to Explore Near Your Home
Leave a Reply