Family vacation might be a given for your family, a yearly tradition or a predictable part of the holidays.
Well planned vacations can strengthen family communication, relationships and unity. Family vacations are a great way to spend time together and create shared memories and enjoy one another.
A stressful, poorly planned trip that causes stress for family members will not reduce stress, strengthen family or promote relaxation.
You probably read that and thought, ok, that’s obvious, but what can I do to make sure my vacation is good not bad.
RESEARCH! There have been many studies that we can leverage to create a vacation that delivers!
There are lots of ways you can make sure your vacation will make you happier, less stressed, more energized, even sleep better. I made a checklist for you to make the planning easier for you. You can use the checklist at any stage of planning to see if your trip is likely to leave you stressed or refreshed. You can download the stress-free vacation checklist here!
Plan at least one month in advance
This seems to be the magic number for planning.
One study showed that 28% of people who reported a bad trip were still figuring out details of the trip while they were traveling.
These travelers did not experience more happiness or reduced stress after their trip.
Planning all the details (lodging, travel, budget) before the trip begins is the best way to reduce trip stress. If you are more excited by a loosely planned trip, there are options that will not increase stress.
Make it work for everyone
When planning your vacation, get input from everyone! If you are planning a surprise, ask if your family would like a surprise and respect their answers.
If you are not sure how to start the conversation, I found this great family vacation personality quiz that you could have everyone take it after lunch one Saturday.
If you have a long enough vacation, you can even give each person a day. For example:
| Day 1 | Mom’s Day | Museum, Cafe Lunch, Long Walk |
| Day 2 | Dad’s Day | Zoo, Italian Dinner, Movie Night |
| Day 3 | Nick’s Day | Gift Shop, Fast Food Lunch, Family Board Games |
For myself, I like giving days themes, giving myself a framework for planning. This strategy can also really help each person have more anticipation for the trip, which increases happiness in each person on the trip.
Incorporate Nature
The benefit of nature in stress relief has been proven many times over.
A group of researchers analyzed a bunch of tweets and found that people who tweeted close to parks during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were happer. Larger parks, with lots of trees had the greatest effect, it has been compared to the happiness bump people have during Christmas.
Making nature or green spaces part of your vacation will reduce stress and increase happiness.
I have found that my toddler is so much happier outside because it is a ‘yes space.’ She loves to dig and spill and dump. When she is inside that is flour, garlic powder, water and sugar, and she can’t play in that stuff, but outside with rocks, dirt, grass, and leaves, she is free to dump and pile and spill it all. Going outside is a great way to help the little ones relieve stress.
If you are also experiencing lots of travel stress, I totally recommend you take off those shoes and do some earthing! Getting bare feet on the ground is a very well studied way to INSTANTLY reduce stress levels and improve sleep.
Plan for a portion of the vacation to be spent in parks, and if you find yourself in a stressful trip, go barefoot!
Get Away (FAR Away)
People surveyed claimed their most memorable trip in the last 5 years was out of the country.
This confirms what Twitter says. The further away from home the tweet was sent, the higher the happiness score.
The University of Vermont conducted a very large study of tweets and travel. This Twitter study was really interesting. The researchers created a tool to measure how happy tweets were based on the happiness score of words. They measured happiness in tweets and saw that the further away from home the person was the higher the happiness score. They determined “home” by using the normal day-to-day travel radius (so “home” was the normal places you go and included your workplace) You can read the full study here, I warn you it’s a thick read.
They found that the happiness increased when an individual was more than half a mile (1k) from home!
They noticed that people who frequently travel farther away from home were happier.
They also noticed that the further an individual traveled from home the more often they talked about food!
Maybe its true that vacation is just eating in new places!
Vacationing, even far away, does not have to be expensive, here are 6 Ideas for (almost) free vacations.
Meet A Local Guide or Visit Friends
When you are in a new location it is hard to know where to go or what to do, which neighborhoods you might want to avoid, how to find local transportation or even the best coffee shop!
Travelers who meet with a local guide or visit a local friend report a much less stressful trip.
If you are traveling to a new location there are several ways to connect with a local guide:
- Rent through AirBnB or Vrbo– You can message hosts on these apps and some are happy to give you recommendations on things to do and see. Some hosts live on their property and you may be able to ask questions. Make sure to read reviews and details of a property because some hosts are not available in this way.
- Hire A Local – Showaround.com is a site where you can hire a local guide to help you experience your location. Always read all reviews and make sure you feel comfortable meeting someone from the internet. Meet in public places and clarify plans thoroughly.
- Thank Small – Visiting independent restaurants for breakfast might give you enough information to plan out the day. 41% of people who work in the domestic travel industry work in food service. You will be eating and the people who work there live there.
Safety
I don’t usually plan for safety on a trip, but feeling unsafe on a trip is a sure way to come back exhausted.
I like to keep everything we need in the car. Everything. I am prepared to sleep, eat and drive in our car. This makes me feel really safe, and like I can handle whatever may come our way.
Getting prepped for the trip and packing things that you might need will make you feel safe.
If you are planning the trip well in advance you can look up local police numbers and save it to your phone. You might also want to keep numbers for AAA or Pop-A-Lock services.
Some travelers like to carry pepper spray or other self defence items, and those are a good choice for many. Make sure that if you are traveling with children, that the items have appropriate child safety features.
Planning for safety will reduce travel stress.
The research is pretty compelling that taking a well planned family trip is a great use of your time!
Making time to get away with your family is a great way to build relationships, strengthen communication and just have fun.
What is the ideal length of a vacation?
Eight days is the magic number for vacation. There have been a few studies of travelers that show that vacation happiness peaks at day 8.
If you do not have eight days, do not despair. There is good reason to believe that a vacation as short as 4 days can have relaxation benefits for up to 45 days!
If you plan a low stress vacation that includes traveling away from home, planning a month in advance, and incorporating nature you will return happier, and with more energy. This is what the research shows!
Knowing that how you plan your vacation will have a significant impact on how much you enjoy the trip!
Month long road trips are another way to make it epic and if you are interested in hitting the road for a few weeks at a time, check out this long road trip planner, or read about how much it costs to take a month long trip in this post.
Use the checklist to make stress-free vacation planning SUPER simple!
