The Perfect Family Vacation Changes as Your Kids Grow
There really isn’t one perfect family vacation because your family keeps changing.
A trip that works beautifully when your children are three and five may look completely different a few years later. The destination, cruise ship or kids’ club might still be a great fit, but the way your family experiences it continues to evolve.
When the Nap Schedule Ran the Vacation
When our oldest was two or three, we took him to the beach. At that age, naps were not optional. They were the thin line between a pleasant family afternoon and all of us questioning every decision that had brought us to that particular stretch of sand.
Getting him to fall asleep on the beach took some work. There were waves, people, birds, toys and roughly 400 other things more interesting than closing his eyes. But somehow, we did it.
Then the tide started coming in.
We were so committed to letting that child finish his nap that, instead of moving him, we dug a moat around him to hold back the water.
This was family travel at that stage of our lives: planning around naps, packing half the house and going to unreasonable lengths to protect a sleeping toddler from the Atlantic Ocean.
At the time, a successful vacation might have meant finding a kids’ club the boys actually wanted to attend or simply making it through dinner before somebody completely fell apart. Sometimes it was one of the children. Sometimes it may have been one of the adults.
💡 Courtney’s Recommendation: When traveling with babies or toddlers, choose accommodations and activities that work with your child’s normal routine. Easy access to the room, flexible dining and a beach or pool nearby can make naps and downtime much easier.
As Children Grow, the Possibilities Grow Too
As our boys got older, they could do more. The activities that interested them changed, the places we could reasonably visit expanded and even the way my wife and I experienced a trip began to change.
You can see it in something as simple as ordering dinner.
Both boys now order for themselves, and they are venturing well beyond the kids’ menu. I didn’t even know what calamari was until I was in college. They order it pretty much every time they see it on a menu.
Meanwhile, the same child whose beach nap once required a full-scale coastal engineering project can now stay up later than we can and still bounce out of bed the next morning ready for another adventure.
💡 Courtney’s Recommendation: Revisit destinations as your children grow. A place your family enjoyed with toddlers can offer an entirely different experience once the kids are ready for longer excursions, adventurous activities and later evenings.
Even the Kids’ Club Takes on a Different Role
We frequently travel with friends whose children are a little older than ours. On cruises, our boys have traditionally wanted to go to the kids’ club during our dinner seating. We would feed them earlier, get them settled and then enjoy dinner with the adults.
The older kids often joined us for dinner, usually at their own table next to ours.
Now our boys are telling us that, on our next cruise, they want to eat with our friends and the other kids.
That does not mean they are finished with the kids’ club. They will probably still spend time there. We will simply use it differently.
It is a small change, but it says a lot about this stage of family travel. The boys are no longer just coming along on a trip we planned for them. They are beginning to decide how they want to experience it. Dinner is becoming part of the adventure instead of something we schedule around the adventure.
Honestly, it may also mean my wife and I will have to get used to sharing our dinner reservation.
💡 Courtney’s Recommendation: Look beyond whether a resort or cruise simply offers a kids’ club. See Courtney’s Beaches overview. Consider its age groups, hours and activities to determine whether it suits your children’s current interests and gives your family the flexibility you want.
Plan for the Family You Have Right Now
The right family vacation is not necessarily the resort everyone is talking about or the destination that looks best online. It is the trip that fits the family you have right now.
Maybe your vacation needs reliable naps, an easy beach and a kids’ club everyone feels good about. Maybe your children are ready for longer days, unfamiliar foods and a little more independence. Maybe they are old enough to help choose the destination or, at the very least, have very strong opinions about dinner.
That is why planning family travel involves more than choosing a place. You also have to think about your children’s ages, personalities, interests and current level of independence.
💡 Courtney’s Recommendation: Before choosing a destination, think about how your family actually likes to spend its time. Consider your children’s ages, energy levels, interests, food preferences and need for independence, not just what looks impressive online.
Let Children Help Shape the Vacation
As children grow, inviting them into the planning process can make the experience more meaningful. They do not need to plan the entire itinerary, but they can help choose an activity, restaurant or destination they are excited to experience.
The same cruise can be a completely different vacation at different stages. On one trip, the kids’ club allows the adults to enjoy a quiet dinner. A few years later, the children might join everyone at the table and then head to the club afterward to find their friends.
Neither version is better. They are simply different chapters.
💡 Courtney’s Recommendation: Give older children a few carefully selected choices. Letting them choose between two excursions or select one restaurant gives them a sense of ownership without putting the entire vacation plan on their shoulders.
Planning Family Travel with Runway Travel Co.
This is one of the things I think about when helping families plan trips through Runway Travel Co. The question is not only, “Where do you want to go?” It is also, “What does your family enjoy right now?”
Understanding a family’s routines, interests and travel style helps us recommend the right accommodations, activities, dining arrangements and pace. It also allows us to anticipate details families may not realize will matter until they arrive.
I loved traveling with our boys when they were little, even when it required building beachfront infrastructure around a sleeping toddler. But I am also looking forward to seeing what this next chapter looks like for our family.
Preferably with plenty of calamari.