Traveling with children when they are young looks differently than traveling with adult children. I know what you are thinking. Thank you captain obvious.
Besides stating the obvious, traveling with adult children does offer some different challenges. Adult children may have strong opinions on location, where to stay, what to do and more.
So far we have taken a 16 day trip to Arizona/Utah and a one week trip to Bar Harbor, Maine as a family with adult children. What I want to do in this blog post is share what my wife and I have done before taking the trip and while on the trip to make things go smoothly as possible.
1. Bring them into the planning process
For our most recent trip, we had the kids share where they would like to go. They also helped us pick out the place we were going to stay, as well as things that we would do as a family.
The kids ended up sharing that they would like to go to Maine. That was a little further than we were thinking that we wanted to go but since they all wanted to go there it was okay with Tonya and I.
For the house that we rented, we shared a number of different houses that Tonya and I liked and we got their input on the different houses before we made a decision.
Finally, we had a family meeting where we asked them to give us things that they may like to do as a family while on the trip. By bringing them into the planning process, it gives them ownership of the trip. It isn’t just mom and dad’s trip but it is everyone’s trip.
2. Have a money talk
When you travel with your young children, it is pretty simple when it comes to money. Things can get a little more complicated with adult children.
Before each of the trips that we have gone on with our children/husbands, we have shared what we were covering and what their responsibility was on the trip.
This way they know exactly what they are looking at when it comes to the trip pertaining to money. They can then start to budget for the vacation that they are going to be on. Plus, the last thing you want to be doing on a vacation is discussing or arguing over money.
3. Plan family activities
Family activities looked a little different for us between our Arizona/Utah trip and our Maine trip.
We were on the go when we were on the out west trip. We had anywhere from one to four days at one location. So, most of the things that we did on the trip were geared towards the family.
For the Maine trip, we were at one location the whole week. So, we scheduled numerous things to do as a family but we had a little more flexibility with planning some free time.
With both trips, we got input from the kids on what they would like to do as a family. Some of the best memories from both trips are things that we all did all together.
4. Schedule free time
Family time is great on a vacation but there needs to be time for your adult children/husbands to do things on their own or with their siblings.
This allows everyone in the family to plan some things that they may only enjoy. Plus, it allows everyone some breathing room from one another before coming back together.
5. Be flexible
You know what they say, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This can often be the case when it comes to family trips. So, it is important to be flexible when plans change.
This was the case on our last trip. We had planned going down to Portland, Maine for a day on our trip as a family. My daughter who wanted to do it initially had some second thoughts.
We talked it over as a family and decided to go on a whale watching tour instead. My wife and I then talked it over some more and shared our thoughts with everyone the next morning.
Finally, the whale watching tour was scrapped and everyone was feeling much better about just having some free time. This also occurred on our out west trip. We had a couple of activities that were planned but were canceled at the last minute.
For one of the activities, we pivoted and ended up renting a pontoon boat on Lake Powell for the day. It was the most memorable thing that we did on the trip.
6. Share Chores
This one applies if you are renting a house on your trip. Things like running the dishwasher, putting dishes away, fixing meals, etc. can be included with this.
The only thing that we talked about with our kids was that we wanted everyone to fix a dinner during our Maine trip. Fortunately, everyone chipped in on all of the other chores around the rental.
What you don’t want to happen is for a couple of people doing everything while everyone else just sits around.
Final Thoughts
Traveling with adult children/spouses can be very rewarding and memorable. I don’t have all of the answers as it comes to this but the things that I have shared have helped us have some great times.
I hope that this will help you on your next vacation with your adult children. If you have other things that you do when going on family trips please share. I and others want to learn and make our trips that much better.
If you want to read more posts about how to save money on travel, destinations and credit card points click the following link.
