Crafting a family vision for your vacation is more than just selecting a destination; it’s about fostering connections, creating lasting memories, and ensuring that every family member’s desires are considered. With a well-thought-out vision, you can turn a simple getaway into an unforgettable experience. In our household we think this is such a valuable time to gather family input. Particularly for working parents, it can be hard to find or even allocate time to planning activities far ahead. We love using a Vision Planner Checklist to map out our top destinations, top theme-park or attractions and self-development goals for the year. You may not get to all the activities planned for but there’s a sense of agreement on what you place value in and it’s a great exercise for parents to engage in a discussion about what matters to them and how each can meet at the middle to find joy in what we do with our extra time.
Why Planning is Essential
1. Create Lasting Memories: Planning your ideal vacation destinations allows you to focus on activities that are meaningful and memorable. Whether it’s a thrilling theme park ride, a serene beach day, or an adventurous hike, these moments can strengthen family bonds and create stories that are shared for generations.
2. Reduce Decision Fatigue: When you plan ahead, you minimize the stress of making last-minute decisions. A clear itinerary means that everyone knows what to expect, reducing the chances of disagreements or dissatisfaction during your trip. This has been such a game changer for us. You can read through the blog to see how many different types of trips we’ve taken, and one thing is for certain – we all get to do something we like. And vacation time is just for that, vacation – very little time is spent making decisions while on vacation.
3. Ensure Inclusivity: Family vacations should cater to everyone’s interests. By planning together, you can ensure that each family member has a voice in the activities chosen, making the vacation enjoyable for all. We are no longer a dual-income, no children family. We’re five years in to being working parents, so including everyone’s need is a guarantee for a good time.
How to Create a Vision for Your Family Vacation
1. Set Goals Together: Gather your family and discuss what each person hopes to achieve during the ideal vacation of or activity. This could be relaxation, adventure, cultural experiences, or simply spending quality time together.
2. Research and Budgeting: Once you’ve set your goals, research destinations that cater to these desires. Budgeting is also crucial; ensure your plans are financially feasible without compromising on the fun.
3. Use a Vision Planner: A vision planner can be an invaluable tool. It helps organize your thoughts, set a timeline, and allocate funds. Consider using templates like my Vision 2025 Planner, designed to streamline your planning process.
Benefits of a Vision Planner
1. Organized Planning: The planner offers sections for destination goals, and activity listing, keeping all your plans in one accessible place.
2. Goal Tracking: With a planner, you can set and track vacation goals, ensuring that all family members have experiences they desire.
3. Flexibility: Life is unpredictable, and plans may change. A vision planner allows for adjustments without derailing the entire trip. It’s exactly that, a goal setter. I don’t think there’s been one year where we get to do all our ideal vacations, but this planner gives us something to talk about as adults at the end of the year. What happened that made us fall short of our goals? In some years, we’ve been able to book a big-ticket , bucket list vacation like Europe or the United Kingdon because we’ve known it’s in our vision planner and we came across amazing airfare and hotel deals. We talked about, wrote about it and it manifested itself. There is so much power when two people sit down and talk about their joint plans and make a faithful commitment to make things work, then the universe just does its things and presents beautiful opportunities.
In leaner years or those where our daughter was under three, we still allocated time to getting away we just focused on local, drivable destinations. I also attribute having a Vision Planner to our decision to become Disney Magic Key ticket holders. Talking about our likes and wants helped us identify the change in direction we were taking after becoming parents. We learned that we loved spending time at Disney more than other theme parks and it give us great adult quality time together! Again, knowing what everyone values helps make for great quality decisions.
Conclusion
A well-planned family activity can be a powerful tool for creating joyful memories and strengthening bonds. By using a vision planner, you ensure that each trip is not only well-organized but also tailored to meet the diverse interests and needs of your family. Start planning today and embark on a journey that your family will cherish forever.
As for us our top three destination picks for 2025 include Coronado Island, San Diego and Santa Monica. We tend to stay local the year after a Europe trip so this will suit our family’s needs. As for theme parks, Disney will remain on the list. Although this year, we’re penciling in Oogie Boogie Bash too. Santa Monica Pier and Lego Land have also made the list. See what I did here, you’ve got to commit to discussing these things, writing them down and manifesting them. Even if something doesn’t pan out just knowing what you want and putting it out there holds so much power in itself!
Make sure to check out our Vision 2025 Planner, available for a special price of $3.78. It’s the perfect companion for planning your family’s next year of adventure. It’s digital and printable too!
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x,
The Sun Queen