Heading off on vacation with your best friends, extended family, a destination wedding in Jamaica, and the kids is one of the most unforgettable and rewarding experiences ever. A time filled with love, laughter, and friendship in stunning surroundings. It’s the stuff of dreams. However, these vacations don’t come without their challenges.
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Add your friend’s kids to the mix, and things get trickier. Whether you’ve got kids of your own or you are joining friends who do, the dynamic of the trip gets flipped and can make you want to give it a miss entirely. However, it doesn’t need to be like this; vacationing with your friends and their kids only adds to the experience. Here are some tips to navigate a trip with your friend’s kids.
Discuss & Plan
Discussing and planning a trip can be just as exciting as the trip itself, flicking between articles and videos trying to decide between Jamaica and Puerto Rico; it’s a hard life, right? However, discuss your trip’s dynamics before you lock anything in place. This is essential. For example, what do you want to do? Where will each party stay? Will you operate on the same schedule or convene at certain times?
Establishing the dynamics of the trip is crucial, not only so the trip flows better, but so you don’t offend each other if one party decides they want some time on their own or if you need some time to get away from it all. One of the most important decisions is whether to share a rental with your rooms and communal lounge/kitchen space or book an all-inclusive with all of you operating on the same schedule.
Establish Discipline & Rules
Parenting styles must be considered beforehand, as there’s nothing more challenging and a potential trip ruiner than different parenting styles. If you bring your kids, chances are your rules, attitudes to discipline, and what you will and won’t allow your kids to do will differ massively. So stating these rules so everyone is on the same page can prevent arguments and conflicts between styles.
Reaching a compromise on such issues can be a great way to ensure all kids follow the same rules on holiday to avoid arguments between them and their parents. While rules are generally more flexible on vacation, there still needs to be an agreed structure to ensure everyone’s having a good time and the youngsters feel they’re being treated fairly.
Food and Lodging
Discussing and planning a trip can be just as exciting as the trip itself, flicking between articles and videos trying to decide between Jamaica and Puerto Rico; it’s a hard life, right? However, discuss your trip’s dynamics before you lock anything in place. This is essential. For example, what do you want to do? Where will each party stay? Will you operate on the same schedule or convene at certain times?
Kid-Free Shifts
While you’ll want to share the majority of your vacation experiences with your kids, watching over them and keeping them entertained 24/7 can feel more like work than vacation. And it can mean you return home more exhausted than if you’d just stayed home. You deserve some well-earned solo time on vacation, and traveling with friends who also have kids is a fantastic way to score some alone time.
By sharing shifts of looking after the kids, you free each other up for some romantic time and the ability to enjoy a slice of paradise without stressing over the kids. While you look after the kids one night, then your friends take care of them the next, you give each other a fantastic opportunity.
If you’re traveling without kids but are vacationing with friends who do, letting them know you’ll also need some alone time is perfectly ok. However, you should let everyone know well in advance so you don’t offend anyone when you say you’re going for a solo walk or want to check somewhere out on your own—just a way to give yourself some space and quiet kid-free time.
Communicate
Having the perfect holiday with your friends and their kids is all about close communication, from understanding what each party likes and how they operate to compromising on discipline and scheduling.
However, while you’re in the Caribbean, dropping any rigorous schedule is essential–which is all too tempting to construct beforehand. You don’t need to plan everything out and account for every hour of the day, you’re on vacation, and the vibe should reflect this. You should be relaxed in the moment and free-flowing.
Summary
Going on vacation with a large group of friends can be an excellent way to fill your vacation time with love, laughter, and friendship, even with kids thrown into the mix. In fact, when you follow some simple tips, going on vacation with your friends and kids only add to the experience. You can never go past a child’s ability to live in the moment, and you might find being around children helps you do the same–immersing yourself in beautiful surroundings and living in the moment.
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