"FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL" OR
"OVER-PLANNING KILLS MAGIC":
WHICH ARE YOU?
There are 2 schools of thought on planning and preparation for a family holiday: stressful but necessary key to a successful trip; or the opposite of the freedom and spontaneity that good travel should be about.
Our experience is that the overwhelming majority of parents who travel with children are firmly in the former, particularly those with younger children. It might be reluctantly, but most parents we've heard from feel there's no real choice.
Our articles and checklists help you organise the things you need to do, and prepare you for things that may go wrong.
Planning & Preparation Basics
There are dozens or more things that parents will tell you need to be taken care of when getting ready for a family holiday. The more you talk to people and read their experiences, the more overwhelming it seems, and more surprising it seems that any holiday ever goes smoothly!
But after going through as many as we could, we found that most of them fall into 7 areas:
- Bookings & Confirmations
- Getting to the Airport / Station
- Making the Journey Bearable
- Weather
- Amenities at the Destination
- Last Minute Panics
You can read about all of these in our article on Preparing for a Family Holiday. It's a great starting point if you're new to family travel, and a useful reminder if you're an old hand.
Planning & Preparation Topics
Organising Home & Work While On Holiday
Email tethers many professional parents to the office while on holiday, while stay-at-home parents can be equally distracted by things they should have sorted out before leaving, from getting the lawn mowed to turning the gas off. If there are crises or messages from home, do you know what you'll do? We've found the most common problems to do with home and work while you are on holiday, and suggested a few things that mean they don't totally disrupt your precious time away. Read more
Read our article to find out the most common issues on holiday to do with home or work, and ideas to prevent them causing havoc.
All You Need to Know About Travel Gear
One of the most confusing aspects of preparing for a family holiday can be knowing what to take. Here's what we've found about that.
All You Need to Know About Travel Insurance
Read our article to why you shouldn't leave home without family travel insurance.
Lists to Help with Packing
How do you avoid being those parents at airport security who seem to have brought their whole house with them? Our lists may help.
