Family vacations can be tough, but let’s face it: You’re stuck with your parents and sibs for good, so why not make the most of your time together? These tips will help you ditch the arguing for bonding and just enjoy being with each other because it is supposed to be a vacation, after all.
Stay busy
If you’ve got a long trip ahead of you, stick some fun games in the car or your backpack for guaranteed laughs. Games like Bananagrams, below, are so easy to travel with and you can pull them out whenever you want. Forgot to bring games? Playing the license plate game by trying to find a license plate from each state, or even making up some of your own games works just as well…and will even bring out the creativity in you and your fam!
Banagrams, $15, amazon.com
Catch up
It’s so easy to disconnect from your family through all the hustle-bustle of BFFs and boys, so use this time that you have with everyone to really catch up. If you missed your brother’s soccer game or your sister’s ballet recital, ask them about it. They’ll love knowing that you care about their lives, and it will give you some bonding time before all the craziness of school starts up again.
Carve out some alone time
Sure, family vacations are meant for spending time together and regrouping as a family, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend every waking minute together. Be sure to schedule some alone time for yourself, or else you may just go crazy. Take a walk, go for a swim in the hotel pool, or read a book—but put your family at ease by making sure they understand that after this, you’re all theirs again!
Come September, you’ll really be missing this time that you had to spend with your family, so don’t waste it by fighting or chatting on the phone with your friends the whole time. Instead, enjoy it and show the whole fam how much you actually love being with them.
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BY CASEY LIEBERMAN ON 7/6/2011 8:00:00 AM
POSTED IN family, 411 on family feuds, travel, summer