A stress-free holiday with our extended multi-generational family!
I’ve recently returned from a week in Menorca with my husband, three year old twin girls, 16 year old stepson and 87 year old mother-in-law. Some might say that sounds like a recipe for a stressful holiday, but thankfully we had a lovely stress-free time!
I deliberately did a lot of research before actually booking our holiday. I needed to make sure that there was something for everyone in our party. This meant that the hotel needed to be on flat ground with a beach within stones throwing distance for my mother-in-law.
We also needed some children’s facilities to keep our three year old twins entertained. I was thinking along the lines of park, swimming pool with slides, soft play etc. On top of that something to keep the 16 year happy too and what more could a 16 year old ask for than warm weather, a beach nearby and a pool too!
I think I did a pretty good job overall and hopefully everyone enjoyed the holiday! Well, no-one’s said that they didn’t!
You can read all about our holiday to Menorca here, but in this post I thought I’d share with you some of our tips on how to avoid arguments before reaching your holiday destination! After all, us Brits greatly anticipate our holidays so the stress of organising a trip means that families or couples often start bickering before the trip has even begun!
My top tips
Be organised – Try to plan as much as you can before you go away. This means finding out how you will get from your home to the airport and back again, if you need to buy any extra baggage allowance, finding out what your airports security policy is as this changes from airport to airport – some will allow you to bring liquids through, others won’t etc. If, like us, you’re travelling with a group of people ranging in age try to book a holiday that caters to everyone.
Check the weight of your baggage before you fly – Something I should have done, but didn’t! I bought two suitcases with me. One for my twins and one for my husband and I. I knew ours was a little on the heavy side, but figured it’d be ok and if it was a little too heavy I just assumed I could pay a bit extra at the airport. WRONG! I had to empty some of the contents from my suitcase into another suitcase. Not really a problem you may think, until I realised that I’d put a padlock on my suitcase and it took me about five minutes to find the right key to unlock it hence holding up the agitated queue of people behind me! Check your weight people!
Be considerate – If travelling with elderly passengers it’s worth checking to see if you can arrange special mobility requirements beforehand. I arranged for a wheelchair for my mother-in-law at both our departing and arriving airport. It saved us a lot of time faffing about trying to find a chair when we arrived as the airport knew we’d need one.
Documents – Check that everyone’s passports are in date. Something simple, but you’d probably be surprised by the amount of people that don’t do this. Also, make sure you take out travel insurance. A lot of people overlook travel insurance, but when you consider that it only cost me £20 for a family of four it’s well worth the money. I had to take out insurance for my step-son and mother-in-law separately.
Foreign currency – Don’t exchange too much foreign currency! I took around £100 in Euro’s with me to Menorca in addition to some English money. If you need more you can simply change when you need to. Our hotel reception were more than happy change our Great British Pounds for us and at a very reasonable rate!
Sun care – Bring enough sun cream with you and use it! There’s nothing worse than getting sunburnt on the first day as it’ll ruin the rest of your holiday when you have to walk around with a very red and blistered face and body – talking from personal experience sadly!
Chargers – Bring travel adapters with you. I also find it handy to have portable changers for phones, ipads, cameras etc. You never know when your devices will need some extra juice!
For more travel information why not visit the Purple Parking travel information page for handy hints and tips.
Lastly, make sure you have a good time and wear sun cream!
6 Comments
Random Musings
July 7, 2015 at 1:15 am
Good tips! It always amazes me how brits can be seen in airports all over the world arguing amongst themselves. Are we the only nationality that makes holidays stressful lol.
Thanks for linking up to #AnythingGoes
Debbie
Emily
July 7, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Thank you and thanks for commenting! It does always seem to be the Brits, hopefully these tips will help!
Sian @ QuiteFranklySheSaid
July 7, 2015 at 2:35 pm
I have to make a big checklist before going on holiday – with anyone! – otherwise it just ends up stressful and panicky! #thelist
Emily
July 7, 2015 at 8:08 pm
Hi Sian, thanks for your comment! Checklists are a great tip! Totally agree with you!
you baby me mummy
July 9, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Great tips, Like Sian I have to make a big list before heading off anywhere! Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
Emily
July 18, 2015 at 6:07 pm
Making a list is a good idea. Helps to keep you organised and to ensure you remember everything you need! x