{"id":13718,"date":"2019-01-16T16:38:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T16:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/?p=13718"},"modified":"2020-12-22T14:48:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T14:48:36","slug":"whats-right-for-your-family-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/whats-right-for-your-family-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Right For You and Your Family Holiday?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Different Way To Approach Your Next Family Holiday<\/span><\/h2>\n

Family Holiday Advice from our Family Travel Expert – Alice<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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WHAT I\u2019VE LEARNT FROM 20 YEARS IN TRAVEL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived and breathed family travel for over 20 years, creating holidays for countless families including my own. You might think that coming up with the perfect family holiday for me and mine should be easy, given that I must know them fairly well (and have a permanent wish list of destinations in my head). \u00a0However, I\u2019m always discovering that our wants and needs have significantly changed since the last time we went away. I strongly believe that when you\u2019re contemplating what a successful holiday, that is memorable for all the right reasons, will look and feel like it\u2019s crucial to consider carefully where you are now; what stage is your family currently in?\u00a0 This blog draws on the travel experiences I\u2019ve had with my family over the years to identify four holiday \u2018types\u2019 that complement some of those stages I am sure most families will be able to relate to in some way.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Everything’s A Stage…<\/h4>\n

There was a particularly memorable moment on our family holiday to Indonesia in 2015. We four stood gazing out over the \u2018sea of sand\u2019 that surrounds Mount Bromo as the sun started to burst dramatically out of the horizon.\u00a0 My husband and I were enjoying the view, the peace, the \u2018moment\u2019, when we heard our 11 year-old son ask his 13 year-old sister incredulously: \u201chang on, we got up at 4am and drove up a mountain for this<\/em>?!\u201d Our protestations about what we, at least, found to be an awe-inspiring spectacle fell on completely deaf ears.\u00a0 We reminded him of the 4×4 jeep ride down again, the buffet breakfast and the ever-important downtime in the pool awaiting him and he was on board again, although he tried to demand payment in return for any more dawn risings.\u00a0 It was a stark reminder that the little boy, whose (very) early morning energy could not be contained, was now approaching the teenage years when a lie-in and a sumptuous breakfast are prized more highly than any wonder of the natural world![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1546871294293{background-color: #faeee7 !important;}”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-3 vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1515683270935{margin-top: 10% !important;margin-bottom: 10% !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Everything’s A Stage…<\/h4>\n

When you have a newborn, everyone tells you how portable a baby is. To my mind, it\u2019s a myth! At this stage a holiday, for me at least, meant catching up on sleep and being able to eat a meal while someone else jiggled my daughter. Anything more adventurous was unthinkable. I was lucky that as long as my husband and I could run the gauntlet of the 4-hour drive down the A303 my mum (and her cooking) were waiting in Cornwall to give us some much-needed respite.\u00a0 But when the baby turned into a toddler trying to run my life I became more determined to get away for a \u2018proper\u2019 holiday. I discovered that this is possible at this age but the key to success is not to stray far from a beach and a bucket, with nothing too exotic or unexpected on the side that can make you feel you\u2019d have had more of a rest at home (think unfamiliar food or sleeping arrangements, extremes of climate, even other families with different parenting styles..) This can work in Polzeath or Portugal, Brittany or Bude and, once when we were desperate for warm sun and sea, my husband and 2 year- old daughter hitched a ride on my work trip to Mauritius; not exactly the cultural experience we might have sought out pre-children but there was a definite thrill of longhaul made possible by overnight flights and minimal jet lag.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” full_height=”yes” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” parallax=”content-moving”][vc_column css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1515683085349{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}” offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-lg-4 vc_col-xs-12″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

1. Exotic But Not Too Overwhelming<\/strong><\/h4>\n

By the time my daughter (and her little brother) started their journeys through primary school we felt ready to shake things up a bit.\u00a0 \u00a0A holiday to South Africa (direct flight, no jet lag) and Laos (less direct, bit of jet lag!)\u00a0 followed \u2013 two completely different destinations of course but actually a similar type of holiday in each: we wanted to see a bit of each country on these trips but we were really careful not to do too much, to slow the itinerary down and restrict our usually two-week itineraries to three stops max.\u00a0 In Laos we spent six nights in Luang Prabang, where most people would probably just spend two.\u00a0 It\u2019s a delightful town, so easy to navigate on foot or on bikes, and with the luxury of time came a familiarity that was relaxing.\u00a0 The activities that we did were manageable and interesting for the children: we explored a few temples where nobody seemed to bat an eye at the children running about spotting different Buddha positions or lying on the cold floors colouring while we listened to our guide; we wandered through colourful markets and my son cut his bargaining teeth on a catapult.\u00a0 And Luang Prabang was an ideal base for some excursions further afield that felt like true adventures, the highlight of which was a trip to our guide\u2019s village where the children contributed in an English lesson at the school and went fishing in the river for our lunch with Mr Ken\u2019s family.\u00a0 As my son frolicked in the water with the village kids I recalled how nervous I\u2019d been before we set off for Laos \u2013 I was so keen to travel again and embrace new cultures, foods and landscapes, but I had also found myself racked with doubt as this trip got closer.\u00a0 Would it be safe\/enjoyable with little people in tow or was I mad? Would it even be a holiday?\u00a0 But in reality, it was so much easier than I anticipated \u2013 a combination of careful planning, lovely guides to look after us and take all logistical hassle out of our hands and a very warm welcome from everyone we met meant we all enjoyed experiencing a completely new culture, in our different ways.<\/p>\n

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2. Adventure At The Right Pace<\/strong><\/h4>\n

At primary school age it\u2019s quite easy to bribe and distract children on holiday \u2013 the promise of an ice cream and some pool time will usually see them taking on a spot of sightseeing with good grace, especially if some steps are taken to make it child-friendly and fun. In Sri Lanka for example, you\u2019ll be getting your cultural fix at the Sigiriya rock temple while the kids assume it\u2019s more a climbing adventure with naughty monkeys en route than a historical tour. You do have to take on a bit of time in the car to get around the island – on our last trip there we wanted to give the kids (aged 9 and 7) their first taste of safari as well as go up into the tea country – but it\u2019s quite relaxing when you have a driver to do the hard work and you can concentrate on chatting about the view from the car with the kids, playing \u2018I-Spy a motorbike with 6 passengers!\u2019 or plug them into Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter\u2026\u00a0 It\u2019s also worth noting that at this age that it\u2019s often the little things that make the memories for children, not the anticipated big ticket items. For my two in Sri Lanka this included tasting \u2013 and liking \u2013 dahl, stopping to help a tuk-tuk out of a ditch, and sleeping in a treehouse.<\/p>\n

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3. Pushing The Edge of The Envelope<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As our children got older and began to have strong opinions and timetables of their own we learnt that it wasn\u2019t likely, even necessary, for us all to do and love the same things all the time.\u00a0 During a summer holiday in Indonesia in 2015, my husband and I enjoyed a walk around Ubud\u2019s morning market with the chef from our hotel while our 12 and 10 year-olds had a lie-in. Then we all got together for a cooking class which the kids were much more engaged in than they would have been if they\u2019d had an early start to go shopping for the ingredients!\u00a0\u00a0 Similarly, in Borneo this year, while my son loved the daily wildlife spotting treks in the rainforest he did not have the same enthusiasm for watching the colours of the trees change as the sun set so he stayed at the lodge and did some sketching when we set off on that walk. Little things perhaps but definitely a change from when your children are younger and their first priority is to be with you, wherever that is. \u00a0Now they are very much involved in planning the trip, they have interests and preferences and a successful family holiday now relies on taking these into account, whatever the destination.<\/p>\n

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4. Nurturing The Curious Traveller<\/h4>\n

Borneo was a departure from previous holidays in other ways too.\u00a0 Now 16 and 14 and, like most teenagers I expect, vociferous against being fed \u2018culture\u2019 in the form of tours of temples and historical sites, they are quite open to learning about different cultures in the present day and are increasingly cognizant of the environment, of human impact and of different social norms. As we travelled around I could see them relating what they\u2019ve learnt in school or read in the news to what they were seeing and experiencing in the new landscapes and cultures we encountered \u2013 whether that was while we ventured deep into the rainforest to search for the endangered orangutan, as we drove past vast palm oil plantations and met farmers experimenting with alternative agriculture, or when we spent a few days staying, eating and exploring with a tribal community. At a stage in family life when it often feels we’ll never reach a consensus about anything this holiday definitely brought us closer together.<\/p>\n

What next for us?\u00a0 As my daughter nears the end of her school years it feels like we might be entering yet another new phase and that the opportunities (and desire on the kids\u2019 part at least?) for whole family trips might diminish. If I want to convince them to keep coming on holiday with their parents for a while at least, our next choice of holiday could be an important one.<\/p>\n

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What Next?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I have a feeling that we might find ourselves looking towards some of Asia\u2019s incredible cities for a new experience. I\u2019ve just returned from Hong Kong \u2013 full of eclectic shopping possibilities, great (and sometimes crazy) food, quaint trams winding through the jungle of glass skyscrapers, and harbours full of old fishermen living on rickety houseboats cheek by jowl with state-of-the-art luxury yachts.\u00a0 I found myself thinking that my teenagers are approaching an age when a few days exploring a city such as this will be energising and exciting in a way that it would most definitely not have been when they were small.\u00a0 And Hong Kong (like Singapore and KL) is a great springboard for jumping off to any number of countries in Asia for further adventures\u2026[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” full_height=”yes” equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” parallax=”content-moving”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-8 vc_col-xs-12″][vc_single_image image=”13738″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1515683113612{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}” offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-lg-4 vc_col-xs-12″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

To Conclude…<\/h4>\n

If I\u2019ve learnt one thing, from 16 years of holidaying with my children and over 20 years of organising other people\u2019s family holidays, it\u2019s that it\u2019s less important where <\/em>you go than what kind of experience is right for you and your family, right now.\u00a0 At times you need a \u2018home from home\u2019, a familiarity that makes no demands and simply allows the family to relax and regroup. But for those times when you also want to open your eyes and those of your children, embrace new experiences, stimulate the senses and push the boundaries a bit \u2013 whatever that means for you at the time, the right family (or non family) holiday can offer wonderful opportunities to step away from the everyday.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” content_placement=”middle” parallax=”content-moving” css=”.vc_custom_1515672380796{padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 10% !important;background-color: #003053 !important;background-position: center;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-size:cover;}”][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-3 vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-sm-offset-2 vc_col-xs-offset-1 vc_col-xs-10″][vc_separator color=”white” el_width=”80″ css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1515672470022{padding-bottom: 24px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Discuss your next family holiday with Alice<\/span><\/h2>\n

<<\/p>\n

p style=”text-align: center;”>\"0207<\/a>