Preparing for a Great Family Vacation
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The life of a parent is always hectic, and can easily become stressful in a variety of ways. Likewise, the life of a child isn’t always as carefree as we would like.
For both parents and children, family vacations can be a great way of helping to destress, form positive and exciting new memories, and allow the whole family to experience aspects of the world that might be new and interesting.
For many people, 2020 hasn’t been a great year for family vacations. But here are a few reminders of things you can do to prepare for your next great family vacation, whenever the opportunity arises.
Pack emergency supplies, and bring spares of any important equipment
Any time you are away from home and from your familiar environment, you are in a somewhat vulnerable situation. For this reason, it’s important, when travelling, to always pack emergency supplies – such as a first aid kit.
This is especially important for a family vacation, when you will be travelling with kids. Staple medications like paracetamol for children should always have a place in your first aid kit, and if there’s any important equipment that the family might rely on in order to have a positive vacation experience, it might be worth bringing spares with you if possible.
Plan for activities that everyone can enjoy
It might seem like an obvious point to say that the family should enjoy a family vacation, but in many cases, the activities selected for the vacation will not really be the kinds of things that everyone will have a good chance of enjoying.
Parents sometimes fill a vacation schedule with activities that they know their kids will enjoy, but that they themselves find boring and frustrating. In some other cases, one child will have a more assertive temperament, and the vacation will end up being structured more in line with their interests – while another child may feel left out.
When all is said and done, though, a family vacation is for the whole family to enjoy – and the more fun everyone is having at once, the better.
As such, try to arrange things so that everyone’s interests are catered for over the course of the vacation – spend an afternoon on one of these Tamarindo fishing charters if someone loves fishing, hit the waterpark if that’s what the kids are begging for, and, of course, be sure to pass a morning at the beach, relaxing on the hot sand.
Emphasise the importance of proper sleep and staying well fed
Normal routines typically go out the window on a vacation, and some of the areas where this is most readily apparent tend to be with regards to sleep and meals.
Try to maintain stability and structure with regards to these routines, however, especially when it comes to your kids. Irregular sleep schedules can throw a child’s circadian rhythm out of sync (and it can do the same for adults, to), meaning more daytime fatigue and grumpiness.
Likewise, irregular meal times based around snacking on the go on sandwiches can have various negative effects.
Even though a vacation is an exciting time and a lot of new and interesting things will be happening, strive to emphasise the importance of proper sleep and staying well fed during the trip.
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