Multi-Generational Travel

Multigenerational Travel is one of my specialties. I think it is so much fun for a group of family members to travel together, especially when it is parents and adult children or grandparents, adult children and grandchildren. Families travel for celebrations, milestones, heritage trips and just because they enjoy being with each other.

But when you are thinking of this type of travel here are some of the things for you to consider:

• What are the ages and stages of the travelers?
  Will it be parents and adult children? Will it be 3 generations, with older adults and very young children? Will it be grandparents taking their teenaged grandchildren? Each of these groups present different considerations when planning the trip.

• Who will be paying? And what is the budget?
  Will the elders be paying for everyone? Will the kids be paying as a special gift to their parents? Will each family be paying for themselves? Will parts of the trip be paid for by 1 person and parts paid individually? And if so, how much can everyone afford to pay?

• What type of trip will everyone enjoy?
  Would an active family trip, involving hiking, biking, scuba diving or skiing work or would a more relaxing trip be better for the family? Some families want to do a sightseeing, heritage trip, where everyone travels to the place where their ancestors were born and visit areas that are special to their family. Some families love to cruise together because everyone can do what they want during the day, including kids’ clubs on ships and off-ship exucursions and meet up for dinner and evening activities. All-inclusive resorts are equally popular, so again, everyone can do their own thing and people can meet at mealtimes. And don’t forget the amusement park trips, including Disney and Universal.

• Be sure to include time to rest and recover
  No matter who is coming on the trip, it is important that everyone has some down time to keep everyone on their best behavior. Even if everyone loves to hang out, there will be a time when it could be family overload, so schedule some time when nothing is planned and people can have that time alone.

• Have the discussion before you start planning:
  Once it is decided who will be going on the vacation, have a discussion to be sure everyone is onboard with the type of trip and the destination. You don’t want to plan the entire trip and then find out that one family doesn’t want to go to the destination.

• Be sure everyone can get to the destination:
  If everyone lives in different parts of the country or world, be sure that there is transportation that can get people to where they need to be either easily or if not, that the people that have to travel the farthest are ok with that. And take travel times and expense into account when planning.

• Just plan to enjoy the time together:
  There will probably be some bumps on the trip, but the important thing to remember is that everyone loves each other and you are all building memories together.

I heard a wonderful quote from the actress Debra Messing. She said, “Travel is the best gift you can give anybody” and I agree. I can think of no better way to spend time with my family than traveling together and I am so excited when we can all get away together to have fun.

Please let me know if I can help you plan that multigenerational trip.