When planning travel, especially to somewhere you’ve never been its always extremely tempting (to me at least) to plan out various activities that we want to do. Depending on where you are traveling its not just tempting, its a necessity.
For example if you are going to Walt Disney World and it is your little one’s dream to meet Cinderella, you need to book a fast pass. Same thing with some of the more popular rides and dining. That being said you need to allow for spontaneity or it can take the fun out of the travel.
We are working on finalizing some travel over New Year’s with extended family and while there are a few “must dos” that we have already booked, I’m leaving multiple days open for now as we want to try to connect with friends and I know the kids will want to play in the pool and possibly do some of the kids activities available. They also may want to play some role in the planning of what we do.
If you want your children to grow up to be good travelers and to enjoy the process, its sometimes important to give them an option or two to choose among. My son and one niece are both 3 so while they have opinions, they also roll with things. I have another niece who is 7 and love geography and loves to learn about a place before we go so she has started to have ideas of things to do and see when we travel which is fantastic!
When you are traveling with multiple generations it is important to first take note of everyone’s needs and/or limitations. Then look at interests and see what overlaps and go from there. Remember, it is not always necessary for everyone in a group to do the same thing. Different people have different interests and abilities and that needs to be respected! At the end of the day make sure everyone gets to do at least one thing that they really want to do and you are off to a good start! Just make sure to leave some of that downtime as you may discover something while traveling that you didn’t know about when you were planning!
Three Generations of Travel 