The basics of a trip and a party are the same–they should both be fun, both need a theme and a location. And you need great food and activities.

How had I never thought of this before? I don’t know! I used to plan events for a living, and traveling is one of my favorite things to do. And I’ve planned a whole bunch of both of them.

One thing I know is that for a lot of people, both planning a trip and planning a party are stressful. But they don’t have to be. They have the same basic steps and things you need to do. It’s just the details that are different.
Here’s how to do it much easier and with less stress.

Step 1: Determine the theme

Every trip and every party need a theme. The theme sets the basic feeling and vibe of what you want your trip to be like. When you imagine what your trip will be like what do you see? The theme just gives your trip focus–what is the purpose?

Do you want to relax or do you want to explore somewhere exciting? Or is it the outdoors you want to enjoy? Mountains, beach, city, desert, jungle, many locations or just one?

These are just some of the options for what the theme of your trip is going to be. Our family is planning a trip to Spain this summer and the theme is Exploration and Education. We’ve been wanting to visit for a while, especially since our kids became fluent in Spanish at school. We want to see as much as we can, but also take in the culture and beautiful historical sites we’ve heard about.

2. Budget

I’m not a great trip budgeter, especially when it comes to breaking things down, but deciding how much you have to spend in total will make everything else that comes next much easier because you’ll be able to know where to splurge or where you need or want to spend less.

3. Location

Once you’ve decided what you want to get out of your trip, you can narrow down locations. The way you want to travel–by car, plane, boat, etc. will likely be the biggest factor. The time of year you’re traveling will also play a big factor in where you go based on your theme. Do you want somewhere warm when it’s January or do you plan to ski or enjoy other winter sports?

Next consider what’s on your travel bucket list and see if you can cross one of those places out with your trip. Where have you been dying to go? Sometimes it’ll be a combination of where you want to go, where you can get to within your budget and what your goal is.

4. Activities

Activities are probably one of the most fun parts of a trip, and a big reason you’re going to your chosen location in the first place. Depending on your theme and location, your activities could mostly be chosen for you.

Wanted a beach vacation? You’ll most likely be mostly hanging out by the water. Touring a new city? You’ll base your activities on the locations and sites that are most important to you.

Are you into history and culture? Then find the sites and do activities that will give you the biggest sense of the place.

And that is the key–chose the things that your family cares about and don’t rely entirely on what other people say. If the guidebook tells you a certain museum is awesome, but you really don’t care about what’s inside, you should definitely skip it.

5. Food

One of our favorite things about traveling is the food. It really is one of the best ways to get to know about a place.

When we’re somewhere with multiple options we very rarely eat at chain restaurants so that we can get to try local places.

Last summer we visited Knoxville, Tennessee for the afternoon on our way home from a longer vacation. We didn’t have much time to see things in the city, but we happened upon a farmer’s market and picked up some bread and cookies from a local bakery to take home. Then we had lunch at Sweet P’s BBQ restaurant, tried ice cream from Cruze Farm creamery, and finished it off with treats from Knoxville Chocolate Company.

Yes, I now that’s a lot of sweets. But, we didn’t eat them at once and they were a great way to get to know the culture and flavor of Knoxville.

The point being, plan to eat at some local favorite places to get the flavor of the place and understand the culture better.

By thinking of these things as you begin planning your trip–or when you decide you want to take a trip in the first place, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and make the planning process much easier and less stressful.

What is your favorite kind of trip or where do you want to go next?

Happy planning!

The post How planning a family vacation is like planning a party appeared first on Vibrant Mom Society.

We all know electronics are one way to keep kids occupied, but we also know that all that screen time isn’t good for them either.

Our kids get car sick, so reading and electronics are out anyway, so we’ve had to come up with some old fashioned ways to keep them entertained. These are also good for any time you have to wait anywhere, whether it’s a restaurant, the doctor’s office, waiting in line at an amusement park or any place else.

1. The Category Alphabet Game

When traveling with kids, this one goes a long way because there are so many variations. And it’s pretty simple, so little ones can play too. It can last for as long as you want. Choose a category such as vegetables, animals, cities, people names etc.

Taking turns you go through the alphabet naming something from that category that begins with each letter. Person 1 has letter A. Person 2 has letter B and so on. When each person has had a turn, start back with person 1 and the next letter in the alphabet.

2. The Yes/No Game

I heard this one being played by a family as we were waiting in our doctor’s office and my kids wanted to add it to our game list. Its possibilities are really endless and can go on as long as you want to play.

Person 1 asks a question and everyone else has to say yes or no. That’s all. No explanations or qualifiers or anything else, just yes or no. For example, “Do you like the color blue?” Yes or no from everyone. Then you can go to the next person to ask a question, or you can have person 1 ask another question. You would decide before starting how many questions each person asks before it is the next person’s turn.

It’s a really fun way to find out what people do and don’t like–especially the people you think you know best!

3. Would You Rather?

This one is kind of similar to the Yes/No game, since you’re going to be learning about what everyone playing feels or would choose in each situation.

The first person asks everyone which of two things they would rather have or do or be, and everyone else has to say which one they would rather. The answer can’t be neither or both.

For example, would you rather eat pizza or hamburgers every day? or would you rather be a dog or a cat? Or would you rather have a tiny left hand or a giant left hand?

4. Word Association Game

This one is a lot of fun, and requires no skill whatsoever. Person 1 starts and play goes around to each person, then starts back at person 1. Determine before you start how many turns each person gets so you know when to stop.

The first person says a word and the next person has to say the first word that comes to their mind, followed by the next person and the next etc. After each person has had the number of turns as you decided on in the beginning, compare the first word and the last word said. How different are they? How similar?

5. I Spy

There’s a reason that I Spy has endured the generations–it’s just classic and simple and anyone can do it. For little ones it can help with colors. For older kids it can help foster creativity because they’re trying to think of harder things to spy.

The first person looks around and finds an something they want as their “thing to spy” and then says, “I spy with my little eye, something that is ______ (whatever color the thing is)” and everyone takes turns trying to guess what the thing that was spied.

Keeping kids entertained while waiting–whether traveling and waiting in an airport, restaurant or in line for Disneyland, is hard. Buuuut, by playing some of the games above you’re practically guaranteed to have fun for at least a few minutes.

Good luck and happy travels!

The post 5 Games to Make Traveling with Kids Easier appeared first on Vibrant Mom Society.