My husband and I are trying to plan a family vacation for this spring or early summer. We have never taken our kids on a trip before, so we would really like to finally plan something that we can all enjoy. We have talked about where we want to go, but we haven’t officially decided on a destination. We definitely want to go somewhere warm that is close to the beach. We also want to go somewhere that has plenty of things to do that are family-friendly.
We have narrowed it down to the following:
1. Florida – The kids are dying to go Disney World, LegoLand, Sea World, etc. and we have friends that live there that we would love to see.
2. California – We have family in northern CA that we would love to see, and if we had enough time we would definitely make a trip south to Disneyland and LegoLand.
3. Hawaii – It’s gorgeous and there’s so much to do. Plus, our friends have a timeshare in Oahu that we could use, so we would really only have to pay for airfare. It would still be pretty pricey, but well worth it.
4. Australia – The geography is beautiful and the culture is so interesting. We have looked into visiting Sydney and the hotels in darling harbour look amazing! This would be the most expensive trip, but one we would love to take. It might be one we would have to take when the kids are a little older.
We really need to make a decision, so we can start planning our trip and looking for the best deals on airfare, hotels, etc.
Hawaii would be my top choice. I’ve been there before and absolutely loved it. However, it would be more expensive than Disney, so we are definitely leaning towards FL or CA. It makes the most sense with kids!
Where would you love to take your family on vacation?
Tracie S
Monday 4th of February 2013
We have taken many family trips over the years, including some of the places you have mentioned. In fact, my husband and I are in Hawaii right now. My vote for you would be Florida. Having done both, I have to say, I'm so glad the kids are not with us on this trip. We have young teens, and even though I know they'd love it here,the truth is, they love it wherever we go on vacation and Hawaii is definitely expensive. We are in a timeshare here, and have the benefit of eating in the room, which is fun for two of us, but would feel like more work if I were cooking full meals for three teens.
That being said, have you considered a road trip? We have taken many over the years (living in Minnesota makes us pretty centrally located) and have found we prefer it over air travel for most trips. We make the journey part of the adventure. You save money on a rental when you arrive and can take many money saving comforts with you. Last year we even took a six week road trip with our kids out west and it was amazing. There is a special type of dimension a road trip adds to vacation memories (and I mean that in a good way)! :-) Later this year we'll be driving to Disney. Road trips mean we can travel more than most. We've also driven to Phx and DC and have seen some really amazing things we would have just flown over in a plane.
Let me know if you'd like road trip tips, I'd be glad to help!
Viv Sluys
Friday 1st of February 2013
We want to take our kids to Mexico for a big trip but we also have some road trips planned for camping at the Grand Canyon. We drove across Canada when we only had one kid and we would love to take the rest of the kids to Niagra Falls and to visit my Grandparents' ranch in Manitoba so hopefully we can do another cross-country trip.