Planning and reflecting back on trips are two key elements involved in my family’s discussions. It has always made us closer. Planning trips is a positive subject, it involves not just the moment but the future to look forward to, and it leads to conversations for months and years about an exciting experience shared with one another.
You learn what each member of your family prioritizes in a trip, each person’s likes and dislikes. You ask questions, you listen, you collaborate, you learn, come up with ideas and suggestions. Compromise to balance the needs and wishes of everyone involved and everybody is happy. A child learns that each person has a right to look forward to something exciting to them. While places like the Las Vegas Strip are still not 100% family-vacation ready, there are dozens of fun, scenic, and amazing places to take your family.
Why Travel With Family?
Travel and traveling does so many amazing things for the soul; those of families and children alike. This also includes parent-child trips. In a world where there is a divorce rate of close to 50%, it is crucial that you find ways to build memories and “connect “with your child.
My greatest memories were the adventures I took with my parent or parents. My father knew I was obsessed with all sports growing up so he would lure me on “sports vacations“.
He would plan around the sporting events (that were mostly evening start times) with daytime trips to museums, historical attractions, local entertainment native to the location, and cuisine that was well known for that region.
We tried to avoid anything familiar and ended up always trying new things. Of course the sporting events happened but in reality they were only a small portion, time-wise, of the entire experience. I was very willing to do all of these other activities because of the carrot of the sporting events to come.
Inspire Your Child
You may have a child who loves playing a musical instrument. Plan a vacation around seeing a great orchestra. Your child may love science. Go to the best science museum in the country. Child interested in History? Go on a Civil War historical sites trip. Your child may be obsessed with video games? Go to Japan! This way everyone in the family is equally excited about the trip!
If you are a parent considering the value behind family vacations, leave it to me to show you why family vacations are important for children.
Strengthen Family Bonds
Firstly, family vacations are important because they strengthen family bonds. A lot of the time, parents and children do not realize that they are drifting apart from one another. During a getaway, kids can completely unplug and disconnect on vacation with family.
A long work day gets in the way of eating dinner with your kids. Most of the time, your children are too tired in the morning to talk before school. These situations happen more often than many parents realize and usually result in weaker relationships. By taking a vacation, you give your family time to rekindle the bonds that are stretching thin due to ordinary life.
When on vacation, take the time to do things out of your comfort zone. They are often the best activities for relationship building and are also usually fun for kids. My family and I always tried to avoid familiar activities, and it only brought us closer together. Strengthening bonds is just one of the many benefits of taking a family vacation.
Teaches The Value Of Money
Family vacations are also important because they teach children the value of money. You can open your kids’ eyes to the financial world by encouraging them to save up for upcoming trips. Help your child pick out a piggy bank and remind them to put their weekly allowances in it. You can even set a goal amount for them to try to reach by the time your trip date arrives.
Plus, you can even involve your children in your travel hacking process to make your trips or cruises more affordable. Show them how you are saving your own money by accumulating travel points and miles with your credit card bonuses. Travel hacking is one component of value travel. You can reduce the high costs of your trip by accumulating points and miles through credit card welcome bonuses and that can take car of your airfare and hotel dollars.
Family vacations are important because they can teach kids the value of money in a fun and exciting way.
Increases Social Awareness
Additionally, family camping vacations are important for your children because they increase social awareness. When kids see how other children are living in less-developed areas, they develop a sense of empathy and learn to value humanity.
While you may want to shield your kids from homeless people during your travels, it might benefit them to see the different way of living. It could teach your kids to feel grateful for the home they have, the food they eat and the clothes you put on their backs. Your kids could even want to help less fortunate people after your vacation.
An increase in social awareness is yet another reason why family vacation is important for children.
Reduces Stress Levels
Family vacations are good for children because they reduce stress levels as well. As a parent, you know how stressed you can get, but do you ever take the time to think about how stressed your kids are? They, too, deal with major stresses on a daily basis. Your trips do not have to be financially strenuous either. By following simple value travel guidelines, you can save money will still making lifelong memories.
By putting your family in a brand new environment where everyone is only thinking about fun activities, you can reduce both your children’s stress levels and your own. Fill your minds with exciting things to do and brand new sites to see.
In my experience, my best, most relaxed childhood memories are at places that I traveled to with my parents. Certainly, parents can see the value in taking family vacations to reduce stress levels.
Makes Learning Fun
On top of the above reasons why family vacations are important for children, they make learning fun. Are your kids struggling to stay focused in school? Are they uninterested in generally every topic you or their teachers try to cover? Take them on a vacation where learning is exciting!
You do not need to take them to museums or educational events when traveling either.
My incredible mother always supported me learning about myself, the world, and educating myself on the state of different societies through travel. Some of my finest memories with her have been reminiscing on trips we both went on.
My amazing father taught me how to plan a trip, find inexpensive transportation options, compare accommodations, and establish a budget.
Family vacations are important for children struggling to find interest in new subjects because they make learning new things fun.
Teach Kids To Be More Adaptive
Frequently scheduling family vacations, you can teach your kids to be more adaptive. Travel takes us out of our daily routines, home environment, and comfort zone. Through vacationing in unique, cultural destinations, you can teach your kids to deal with all sorts of unpredictable situations. Travel is often about going with the flow. Show your kids how you can manage and overcome challenging scenarios without loosing your cool. Even when scenarios like lost luggage, flight delays, or incorrect directions become incredibly frustrating you need to show your children how to overcome them.
Gain New Perspectives
Of course, going on frequent family vacations helps your children gain new perspectives. Vacationing is a great way to open up your kid’s world, promote exploring, and encourage hands-on experiences. Take your children on journeys where they can experience new cultures, languages, or traditions. In fact, you may even want to sample new cuisines or immerse yourselves in new cultures. This way, you can create future leaders and help your kids gain new points of view. If you are planning your next family getaway, check out these kid-friendly ideas for the best vacations in the Southwest. Definitely, gaining new perspectives is a core reason to take frequent family vacations with your children.
As someone who cherishes the memories I made with my parents on family vacations, I can honestly say that there is true value in planning trips with your kids. These trips are an excellent way to spend winter weekends or warm summers. By taking a vacation together, you can strengthen your family bonds.
At the same time, you can teach your children the value of money and increase their social awareness. Taking trips also reduces everyone’s stress levels, which can be hard to do in these days. Finally, vacations make learning fun for children. Keep these reasons in mind when considering the importance of family vacations for children (and their parents!)
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