Enivio - Anything and Everything

I think one of the things I have enjoyed most about having a family is the fact that we can go on vacation. Growing up my parents were not of the richest sort, and as such we spent most of our spare time slumming around with our friends. As a teenager I was very bored, and decided that if I was ever going to have a family of my own, we would do what I never go to do: Go on Family Vacations!

Planning a Family Vacation

Planning is not as easy as it sounds and is comprised of several stages:

1. Choose a time of year
2. Decide if it is a “learning” trip or a “relaxing” trip
3. Pick a location
4. Search for local activities
5. Look for flights and deals
6. As part of the above, plan hotels and flights around each other

These are not as easy as they sound and can take months if not even a year to plan correctly. I have spent one and a half years planning a family vacation once. Granted it was an hour a month, I still took a long time to make sure everything was done correctly.

Vacation: Mission Critical

There are some things you can not go without on a vacation that I have learned. So I want to list my crashdown DO NOT FORGET to take list. These items go with me on every trip. Sometimes none are used, sometimes all. But I have gotten use out of every single one at some point.

Dental care travel pack (toothpaste, floss, brush), Gum (for the flight), water purifying tablets, US Currency, Canadian Currency, local currency, credit cards, TRAVEL INSURANCE, clothing for every type of weather condition, if you wear glasses bring your case and headband to hold them in case you discover water to swim in, plenty of socks, water cantine, security travel wallet, pre-paid phone card, drivers license, passport, birth certificate, proof of citizenship in your home country, photos of your children and you with entire family (multiple copies).
These are some of the articles I couldn’t leave without. Believe it or not, some countries will not let you enter them without proof you are the legal guardian of under-age children. So be prepared to provide proof that they are yours - legally.

What do YOU want to see?

One of the problems I made on family vacation #1 was planning ALL of the events myself. I made the mistake of not asking anyone’s input. I suffered later as everyone was miserable. Apparently touring castles doesn’t interest everyone in the family. I had to adjust next time to make sure that I put time aside for activities everyone else wanted to do. I also asked in advance of going what they wanted to do so I could seek out anything that was related and plan it into our trip.

As a father and a trip planner, don’t fall for the family vacation mistake of thinking your way or the highway. People will get cranky and revolt… and you can’t escape them into your couch and TV - you’re in another country!!

This is just an introduction and a general blabber about a family vacation. I’ve had a lot of trips and maybe soon I will talk about them. I know I want to talk about round-abouts at some point. I… hate… round-abouts.