Our family vacation started out just like any other. Our SUV pulled out of our driveway at 7:30 a.m. on a cool morning in Pennsylvania, ready to embark on an epic adventure to sunny, warm Orlando, Florida. Two days of driving were ahead of us. What could go wrong, right?
About half way into our trip we started to feel warm, “Hmmm, that’s strange?” I thought. Realizing our AC no longer was functioning, we rolled down all the windows. By the time we reached Florida, the fun fresh air we felt turned hot and humid. Sweat began rolling down our backs and our bodies were zapped of all its energy. We were now caught in traffic, barely moving, and the 90 degree heat was unbearable. I turned to glance at our daughter in the back seat. Her facial expressions said it all. (The heat impacts her body in very real medical ways). In a calm, yet half panicked manner, I began searching for a dealership near our resort that could take a look at our vehicle, while simultaneously praying it would be a simple fix.
The dealership we found was fabulous and took great care to help us. (Thanks Miguel!) In addition to the new compressor we needed (yup, not the quick fix I was praying for), while running diagnostics on our car, they found yet another problem. We also needed new front and rear brake pads and rotors – we were almost braking with metal on metal. THIS news dramatically impacted our family vacation to Florida in ways we could not have planned for. Safety and health were at stake and it needed to be fixed fast.
We eventually found our way out of the thick, mirky fog of our emotions and made a plan for the week; canceling some activities and adding others. Thankfully, this vacation (unlike many of our previous ones) had a flexible travel plan that allowed us to adjust it and still be able to do most of what we wanted to do.
What do I mean by a Flexible Travel Plan?
Our definition of a flexible travel plan is creating a vacation itinerary in advance that can be adapted as needed and includes a built-in buffer with “rest” or “resort” days. This means,
- The research is already done
- The family decided together what to do while on vacation
- Minimum bookings are reserved (always know the cancellation protocol)
- And a tentative plan is identified.
However, the flexibility is there to move most things around when needed. For instance, in our week we only scheduled and locked ourselves into 2 experiences: a full day resort adventure (which was amazing!), and an evening bioluminescent kayak tour (which unfortunately, we needed to cancel due to the long drive and no car - but hey there is always next time!) All other theme parks or free activities we were able to book or slot anytime that week based on our preferences, weather, or in our case, car repairs.
Truthfully, a flexible travel plan was not our initial goal when we created our itinerary. It just so happened that’s how it ended up. And boy am I glad it was! We learned some important lessons along the way and I just had to share them here. Because how we handle the unexpected when vacation doesn’t go as planned, will make or break our experience.
5 Easy Family Travel Tips for Better Vacations
- Establish an adaptable schedule that allows us to move activities around. A great way to do that is to incorporate a couple planned activities and one or two “resort” or “rest” days. We always try to stay at a resort or hotel with an indoor or outdoor pool and other amenities that will engage our family. This allows us to pace ourselves with full adventurous days and peaceful rest. In this instance it helped us immensely.
- Anchor the vacation planning process in our relationships. This is about an epic experience TOGETHER! When difficult decisions need to be made, work together. Listen to each other and find the compromises.
- Be flexible and make the best of unexpected situations. If you are like me, sometimes it can be difficult to switch plans last minute especially when your heart is set on something. However, we never know what blessings might be waiting for us just around the corner. Our car was at the dealership for three days. The first day without our car we had a resort swim day in which my daughter met two girls, around her age, from South America. She had a blast with them, learned a few words in Spanish, and made some new friends. This allowed mom and dad to relax and establish our plan for the rest of the week. The other two days we took a rideshare service to our destinations. In that time we got to talk to other people and hear their heart and life stories - something I will continue to reflect on and would have missed had our car been working properly.
- Guard our minds. It can be really tempting to complain or grumble when things do not go as planned. However, this is an opportunity to grow together – remember little eyes and ears are watching!
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- Look for the positives in the situation and speak them out loud
- Rehearse God’s truth together
- Look for how God might be working through this difficulty and share it
- Practice gratitude out loud
- Pray through any disappointments individually or as a family.
- Bring extra blank itinerary pages. As we made our new plan for the week I wished I could have rewrote our itinerary down on pages I created. If you are looking for a FREE vacation guide with itinerary pages head over to my Free Resources Page https://newdayplanners.com/pages/free-resources and download them.
While every vacation is different (some are more easily adaptable than others). The tips above helped us survive and even thrive as a family in very challenging circumstances. These 5 tips are worth considering for any future vacation travels.
Happy Planning!