The number one trick to enjoy family trips

As we approach the holidays, I wanted to share this 2023 post about family travel; And if you want more, Toby also shared his own tips for surviving family trips and here’s my personal trick for enjoying big family gatherings. Good luck out there! Xoxo

After 13 years of family travel, I finally discovered the key to having fun (or at least how to put it into words): Expect some tough times.

The point of the trip is that the highs can be high. But, especially on family trips, the minimums can also be ridiculously low, right? There will always be a few things that will go wrong: Your flight will be delayed. Or you will have a bad headache. Or the weather will be rainy. Or your kids will wake up at 2 a.m. Or you’ll find a hair in your salad. And honestly, that’s to be expected, right? Traveling is still a normal life and complicated things are not a disaster, they are just normal.

Case in point: Last weekend, the kids and I drove to Connecticut to visit old friends. We ate chicken sandwiches and played ping pong. We float face up in the pool. we look Alejandro and the terrible, horrible, bad and very bad day. We drank cold white wine from those small italian glasses. A dozen different times I thought, “This is what life is all about.”

But, at the same time, not everything was idyllic: the boys argued during the three-hour trip. I got misophonic and told them to shut up or I would turn this car around, so God help me. Our Airbnb had large spiders in the bathroom. We lost our basketball in some thorn bushes. The way home had a lot of traffic.

Bottom line: some parts of the trip were annoying, others were epic. Both things can be true!

Here are some snapshots from travels through the years…

Yawning around the glorious Laguna Gloria in Austin.

Obtain a “Plus Four” card during an Uno game in San Diego.

Not feeling the beach in San Francisco.

Tired of walking through Italy.

Hangry in England.

Too hot in Florida.

Departing for a 10 hour flight.

The other day, my friend Andy summed up a family trip with a quote that could describe all family trips: “It was bad and then it was great.”

Also, two legendary posts that always make me laugh:
* Vacation or trip? A useful guide for parents
* Mom spends beach vacation taking on all the housework closer to the ocean

What about you? What hilariously annoying things have happened on trips? Have you ever had a trip that just sucked? That can happen too! After all, our goal is wholeness.

PS: An ode to bad family vacations and the strangest best part of travel.