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By PAULA CROUCH THRASHER
Published on: 02/04/06
For busy families, planning a vacation can be like putting a jigsaw puzzle together — especially when the parents work.
Mom has to make a sales pitch in New York the last week of May. Dad is booked for a convention in Vegas the third week in June. The grandparents are visiting in mid-June. There's a family reunion at the beach the week of July 4. The kids are in camp for two weeks in July. And school starts in early August. Which doesn't leave a whole lot of time to squeeze in a vacation.
Recognize this scenario? If you do, you know that it's definitely not too early to start figuring out where the family wants to go this summer — and how to pull it off. To come up with some great travel ideas for a really special vacation, we went to the family travel experts.
Lynn O'Rourke Hayes, the editor of FamilyTravel.com and the mother of three, knows advance planning is key for people "who are making it a priority to organize time with family. Special time, focused time."
Her favorite vacations are those where access to technology is limited: no cellphones, no Internet, no TV.
"We all live these crazy, insane lives," she says, "so to go out and do a wilderness experience, it's shocking how relationships change. It's a whole different way to relate to your family members."
This is just what happened when she went bonefishing at an eco-camp in the Bahamas with her husband and children and when she hiked the Inca Trail in Peru with a group of teens and their parents.
"We had them all to ourselves," she says. "They weren't able to use their technology to be distracted from us."
But you don't have to travel to the ends of the earth to seek adventures. "Many parents enjoy the thrill of rafting, hiking, heli-hiking [reaching site by helicopter], mountain biking and exploring, and are eager to introduce their families to the sports they grew up knowing and loving," says Hayes. "Many companies are doing a great job creating family-friendly soft adventure opportunities."
Hayes also recommends cruising, particularly in Alaska and Hawaii, as a vacation that's easy to plan, offers a little something for everyone, allows parents and kids autonomy, and is a good value. Likewise, mountain resorts provide an excellent introduction to the great outdoors at off-season prices in the summer. |
