Helpful and Informative Travel Guide

Whether planning a trip to see family in a nearby city, visiting a historical site in another state, or traveling overseas for a more extensive experience, it is important to plan carefully. Travel is an excellent way to see the world and learn about different cultures but it is much different from years prior. Although travel security has always been an issue, it has become paramount since 09/11.

If you want to plan the perfect vacation for the entire family, there are a number of things you can do to make the trip a huge success. While there are special considerations when traveling with small children, any travel that involves the entire family needs to be well-planned. Following are some helpful tips for taking a vacation as a family.

Budget

Of course, the ultimate destination for your vacation will be based largely on budget. You want to consider everything when setting the budget to include travel mode, accommodations, food, and activities. Now, if you want to take a trip overseas, foreign travel insurance should also be a serious consideration. Although this type of insurance is not overly expensive, it is worth every dime should someone in the family become injured or ill. In addition, make sure additional funds are set aside for unexpected incidental expenses.

Destination 

Because your family consists of adults and children, each wanting a different experience, choosing the right destination can be somewhat tricky. However, based on time and budget, you want to choose a place to visit that everyone can agree on. Obviously, the best option would be a destination that offers things for the adults, as well as the children. One of the best methods for making your decision is by researching different destinations on the computer.

Overall Experience

You also want to think about the type of experience you want the family to have. For instance, the trip could primarily be educational in which a trip to a Civil War enactment or the Smithsonian Museum would be ideal or adventurous, perhaps involving skiing the Rocky Mountains or going white water rafting.

Medical Conditions and Aids

If someone in the family has a serious medical condition and needs to travel with aid of some type to include medicine it would be imperative to learn the rules for travel. As an example, most airlines do not allow oxygen on a flight and controlled substances are carefully scrutinized. In addition to in-depth research and good planning, you always want to get a certified letter from the attending doctor so if questions are raised you would have proof of the condition and required aid.

Packing

It is a known fact that even the best packer in the world tends to take too much. Having an abundance of luggage to deal with while on vacation usually proves to be a huge problem. There are a number of things you can do that would ensure you take the right things but not too many items.

o    Check the forecast of the destination to coordinate clothing items. If there is even a slight chance of a cooler day or evening, pack one sweatshirt of sweater per family member. Remember, most accommodations and all cities have laundry facilities so if you need to wash clothes you can.

o    Choose clothes that could be worn during the day for a family outing but also while dining out at night. Again, it would be much less expensive to hand wash or launder clothes than pay fees at airports and less a hassle than hauling excessive luggage around.

o    If you plan to wash clothes while on vacation, we recommend taking packets of laundry soap and softener since products sold in motels and hotels are extremely overpriced

o    As far as toiletries, find out what things are provided by the accommodations. Today, most motels and hotels offer a blow dryer, shampoo, conditioner, and even bathrobes so you could leave your personal items at home. In fact, you can usually request a curling iron, as well as ironing board and iron. If you plan to be gone just a few days, sample toiletries that cost only $1 are ideal.


Legal Documentation

As we all know, any travel out of the country requires a passport and/or visa, something that even applies to small children. Again, you need to know what documents are required for the destination of choice. This information is found easily online or a qualified travel agent could assist. Keep in mind that it takes time to secure such documents so you want to get started several months in advance of the planned trip.

Security Issues

Most destinations are considered safe but there are parts of the world experiencing unrest, making them unsafe. Of course, you want to avoid these destinations but to do this you need to know where they are. Again, the internet provides a wealth of information or a travel agent could provide a list of places to avoid.