A multi-generational holiday may seem like a good idea, but when it comes to planning, it will feel like you are preparing for three separate holidays all at once!
Multi-generational travel should definitely be encouraged as a means of creating memories and building relationships. The holiday itself should be as relaxing as it is gratifying – it’s the planning that’s the stressful part.
Here are some ideas to help planning a multi-generational holiday a whole lot easier!
Do a dress rehearsal
Why risk wasting a two-week vacation if it might not work out cross-generationally?
If you’ve never done a multi-generational holiday before, test the water first by doing a long weekend away somewhere local.
This could save you a lot of stress and will give you a rough idea of how each member of the family interacts with one another, what kind of activities they like to do, and what everyone’s general holiday routine is.
From this point, you’ll be able to gauge exactly what kind of holiday is possible, whether it be a heavy activity-based one or one that relies more on poolside relaxing time.
Plan together
Don’t carry the weight of the planning all by yourself!
If you’re mapping out a vacation that involves three generations – or potentially, even more – get everyone involved on the planning front.
You’ll be asking opinions from everyone regarding destination and accommodations, but it could also be useful to sit everyone down and allow them to each express what they’d like and expect from a cross-generational vacation.
Get each member of your family to be candid when talking expectations to formulate a realistic and rewarding vacation.
When it comes to multi-generational holiday planning, try to avoid the element of surprise as much as you can.
It would be best to let everyone be in on the knowledge about what the holiday plans are exactly so that each member of the family can express whether it suits them, to avoid any unforeseen complications.
Plan a variety of activities
Although we’ve stressed that it’s important to include everyone’s opinion on expectations for the vacation, it’s also important to remember that it’s impossible to please everybody always.
You shouldn’t let the fact that your grandparents need an afternoon nap stop you from planning something for the kids who are full of energy at that time. In a cross-generational vacation, it’s unlikely that you’re going to do everything together.
Some activities will need to be more kid-orientated, and that’s fine, but be sure to slot them in at a time when the grandparents are doing something else that interests them.
At the same time, you should factor in activities that will excite the older members of the family exclusively, to make up for the more hands-on things that they may not be particularly interested in.
Maybe plan some light heritage trips or museum visits – if there are such facilities within the locality of your resort – things that will pique the interest of the older generation, as well as keep the younger generation occupied.
At the end of the day, people go on vacation to relax, so you don’t have to feel bad about excluding members of your family from the more active parts of the vacation when they’d rather lounge around the pool anyway!
Book multi-generational holiday activities in advance
When planning a holiday involving a few generations, you’re going to want to let certain facilities know that you’ve got a big group coming.
Certain restaurants, activity and experience centers, and museums would appreciate the heads up if you’ve got over 10 people that need to be accommodated for.
This way, you’ll be able to avoid disappointment and guarantee that certain parts of your trip will go to plan!
Make plenty of time to relax
The best part of multi-generational vacations can often be the quiet times.
Allocating time to just hang out and chat may not seem like that appealing on paper, but it’s arguably the most important part of cross-generational vacations.
If you make this holiday all about activity, you may tire out some members of the family and they may not enjoy the trip as much as they might have if you’d planned in some down time.
If it’s a two-week vacation you’re planning, it would be a good idea to allocate whole days for relaxing, to give family members sufficient time to spend quality time together.
Allow for time apart
Although the vacation is all about connecting, you’ve got to allow for some members of the family to have some alone time, if they so require it.
Particularly if your multi-generational holiday lasts longer than a week, it’s a good idea to factor in plenty of time for members of your family to go do something on their own.
The pressure of interacting with one another constantly is a big ask for some people and can put them off interacting totally, so be sure to give everyone plenty of space.
For that reason, although it’s not always possible, it’s a good idea to aim to allow everyone to have their own room in the accommodation.
With bigger families, this no doubt becomes difficult to achieve, but it’s worth striving for, to ensure that everyone’s on excellent form when they do interact!
Consider finances
You don’t want any reason for friction within the group while on vacation, so it could be wise to plan exactly who’s paying for what beforehand.
With so many activities of varying expenses, it can be difficult to keep on top of who’s paid for what and the last thing you want is to be chasing others in your family to pay you back.
You could draft up a rough estimate of expenses beforehand and discuss it with everyone so that all members of the family are comfortable and know what is expected from them in terms of what they are paying for.
Conclusion
Spending time with your extended family can be a very special time. Your kids will have very special memories of their holidays with their grandparents and, if you spend some time planning and communicating beforehand, there’s no reason it won’t be one of your favorite family memories too.