Shay's Ways: TRAVELING WITH OTHER FAMILIES

Hey, hey, hey!

It’s another edition of SHAY’S WAYS + TRAVEL TUESDAY!

Alrighty, so in May…

…I shared my COUPLES TRIPS TIPS which lead blog reader, Lauren (hi Lauren!) to suggest I share my tips on TRAVELING WITH OTHER FAMLIES.

I loved that idea, jotted it down, and today is the day to discuss!

I spend so much of my 9 to 5 talking to clients going on trips with other families, extended family, big multi-generational groups, and at this point in my career, I can spot the red flags pretty quickly. I hope my tips help you not only plan trips with people you love, BUT actually enjoy every minute of them.

OR I hope my tips help you know when it’s time to decline the big family trip…because that’s perfectly acceptable too.

Here we go…

Spoiler alert…

…the Shull family only really travels with THIS FAMILY and…

…OUR ACTUAL FAMILY.

And sometimes…

…all combined 🙂 .

Which leads me to…

PICK THE RIGHT PEOPLE

I know this probably sounds like a no brainer, but for the love, you don’t know how many people I’ve talked to over the years who know they’re planning a trip with the “wrong” people and yet, they still do it. If you do not enjoy the other family’s company over Thanksgiving dinner, you probably shouldn’t spend thousands of dollars and take time off of work to go on a trip with them.

One of these days, I’m going to write a book called Things People Say to Their Travel Agent and fill it with stories 😉 .

One time, I had a group of families who needed six cruise cabins, and between our initial meeting and departure, five out of the six families reached out to me to move their cabins away from other people in their group. I told my office manager at one point that the ship was only so big to keep these people from each other. Who wants to vacation with people you’re actively avoiding on board? This story might sound extreme, but you would be surprised how many people know going into their trip that they don’t enjoy the company of the other families (whether it’s their own or friends). Let me give you permission and the confidence to say, NO THANK YOU. Traveling requires both time and money, and if you’re not 100% excited about traveling with this other family, JUST SAY NO.

On that same note, if you’re not excited about the destination, JUST SAY NO too. I’ve had clients say things to me like “I don’t want to go, but it’s not that expensive, so I guess we will join them.”. Regardless of the price, it is still costing you money AND time, so if you’re really not interested, say no.

Say no.

Traveling should bring joy to your life. Life is way too short to spend your resources on a trip that does not bring you joy.

BE COMPLETELY HONEST…ABOUT EVERYTHING

If you’re planning a trip with another family, you must be completely honest about EVERYTHING.

You need to be upfront about your budget, you need to be upfront about what your family likes/does not like to do on vacation, you need to be honest about how many days you want this trip to last, what your priorities are (for accommodations, food, excursions, etc), how much downtime you require…EVERYTHING.

It’s way better to discuss all of these details BEFORE the trip than during the trip.

Simple things like “on vacation, my family loves a big restaurant breakfast” needs to be said in case you’re traveling with the family that brings granola bars and mini boxed cereals for breakfast when they travel.

How much luggage do you guys each plan on bringing? This might sound irrelevant until Family A carries on and Family B checks four big bags plus a set of golf clubs and your ground transportation isn’t large enough (because family A lined it up).

If one party suggests something that sounds out of your budget/comfort zone/likes, speak up in advance. This doesn’t mean they don’t get to do that thing…it just means they understand they might be doing it without you.

Speak up. Just because you spend time with a family “in real life” DOES NOT mean you know how they travel. People’s “vacation selves” can be vastly different than their “real life selves”.

BE WILLING TO COMPROMISE

Okay, so you’ve picked your family(s), and it’s time to book your trip/actually go on your trip.

Repeat after me, “It’s not my trip”.

It’s not.

It’s a group trip which means you must be willing to compromise on everything.

You might have to wake up earlier than normal, you might have to stop for lunch later than you typically would, you might do an excursion you normally wouldn’t pick…whatever it is, be willing to compromise. A large group trip with multiple families cannot be exactly what “you” would like to do. Compromise is the key.

I think mindset makes the vacation, and if you go in with the mindset of “This isn’t my trip. This is a group trip, so I will be flexible” then YOU WILL HAVE MORE FUN. It’s crazy how sometimes when we compromise with the right attitude, we end up having the most fun. Simply releasing the “but I would have done it this way” mentality on vacation makes the whole trip so much better.

GIVE YOURSELF SPACE

When traveling with a larger group, space is the key. Make sure you have time apart to unwind, relax, and reset before meeting back up. Or give yourself space to each do an excursion/activity that speaks to each family. Maybe Family A wants to go hiking while Family B wants to relax on the beach…do that.

You’re allowed to separate on group vacations and then meet back up. It honestly gives the vacation a little recharge/boost if you take a minute to reset.

BE HELPFUL

When you’re traveling with another family(s), be helpful. You don’t know how many times we’ve traveled with the Slaughters when a kid has thrown up, a kid has started crying over something, one of us lost our wallet or had an emergency work call or whatever and the other parents automatically just step in and are helpful.

Truly, I couldn’t count the times we’ve been helpful with each other on vacations (which is a wonderful benefit of group travel!).

For example, let’s say we’ve had a kid with motion sickness and instead of everyone stopping and watching us deal with it, Erika has whisked all the other kids off to the side to see “who can jump the highest” (little kids love random competitions) or said things like “let’s all go get ice cream” so that we could take care of that sick kiddo without the others around, etc.

When you’re traveling with another family, it’s all hands on deck. Be that extra set of hands. Work together and be helpful.

DON’T BE SENSITVE

I personally think when you’re traveling with other families, we can’t be too sensitive.

Traveling together with children is not the time to bring up differing political views.

Or religious views.

Or thoughts on vaccines.

Or basically anything in the news.

You all can chat about that when you’re back at home, but on vacation, if you’re really into recycling and they’re not, let’s just set a good example and not get worked up over it.

BE FUN

Be fun, be fun, be fun!

If you are choosing to travel with people outside of your household, you better have FUN on the brain. Don’t let them be the people who come home from vacation and tell their travel agent that their friends were “too rigid, too particular, and not fun to travel with”. Don’t be that half of the equation. Choose fun. It’s a choice.

EXPECT A BIT OF CHAOS

If your normal trip has every detail covered, is quite organized, and always executed perfectly…don’t expect that on a family group trip. If you expect a little chaos…you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by how well it all unfolds. The more people on your trip, the more chances for a little chaos…and that’s okay.

Let’s be honest, the most retold, very best travel stories almost always come out of a little unexpected chaos 😉 .

Alrighty, of course, I would love to know how YOU travel with other families too!

Like I said at the top of the post…

…Mix and Match Travel Agency LOVES big multi-family trips…

…and of course…

…we would love to send YOUR FAMILY(S!) TOO!

Reach out to us TODAY if you would like more information on our vacation planning whether for a solo trip or a big group vacation, we would LOVE to help!

Just a reminder, last week, I shared…