Travel? Vacation? Check out ideas below, from stress-free R&R with minimal logistics, to ways to travel and sight-see yet minimize the stresses of getting around and where to stay.
1. Total Relax: All-Inclusive Resorts
The quintessential holiday with that deep "vacation" meaning-- of rest and freedom from effort and hassle-- is surely the all-inclusive resort.
So many necessities and pleasures are readily available. Your kids are thirsty? They help themselves to drinks. Hungry? An endless supply and great variety of food awaits. Want to try snorkeling? Trapeze? Archery? Windsurfing? It's all included. And so are the kids programs, and even baby care and teen programs.
You might have to endure some air travel to reach your tropical dream resort. But there are some all-inclusives in the US. (And Europeans can simply head to a nearby Club Med.)
2. Europe Trips
BUT a trip to Europe doesn't have to be that way: you might, for example, stay at a family-friendly resort as European families do, or try a vacation rental or a house swap in Paris, and explore your fascinating environs at your leisure. Or try a "family adventure", below...
3. Family Adventures - Travel that's a Vacation
One way to relax and enjoy sightseeing in Europe with minimal logistical hassles is to take a "Family Adventure": stay at great accommodations, sightsee with friendly guides, enjoy wonderful itineraries - just let the good times roll, while someone else handles all the details.Family Adventures can likewise take you to the best National Parks, to African safaris, and other wonderful destinations. They're a top way to combine "travel" and "vacation": you travel the world, sight-see, experience the best, but you're free from the logistical work that travel often entails.
Family Adventures can be a great way to have a "learning vacation". A number of companies offer family adventures; some will customize trips for your family alone.
4. Luxury Travel
"Luxury travel" is not simply about expensive hotels and resorts: it's about a style of travel that achieves that no-hassle state of true vacation, with an "above and beyond" quality of experiences, and of course all details and hassles handled (by someone else.). By definition, this style of travel isn't for all of us and costs a pretty penny. But those seeking to go over-the-top of the line can click above for some suggestions for families.5. Family Cruises
Another way to minimize stress and logistics and maximize your vacation relaxation is to join the many families who hop on board a resort at sea. Cruising is a nearly-all-inclusive holiday with plenty of on-board activities plus lavish pools and facilities. All the major cruise lines have kids programs and teen programs, and some -- notably, Disney-- have nurseries as well. Another bonus with cruising logistics: you can sightsee your way through Europe without needing to change your floating hotel.6. The "StayCation"
A "staycation" is a vacation that happens with all the benefits of fun and relaxation, but without traveling anywhere. You might stay in your own home, or head to a hotel in your local city.... Ultimately, "vacation" is more about a state of mind than about where you are. If you can free yourself from work, do fun stuff with your kids, then that's a vacation -- even in your own house.7. Travel? Vacation?
Being a word nerd, I'm intrigued that "vacation" comes from a Latin root "vacare", "to be free, empty, to be at leisure"; "vacation" and "vacate" have the same root. As early as 1395, the term in Old English meant "rest and freedom from activity".In covering the family travel / vacation topic at About.com I take many different kinds of trips, and I do see a dichotomy between "vacation" in the sense of relaxation --often at a resort that's like an enclosed capsule within a foreign country -- and "travel" in the sense of exploring that country and its customs. Many resort-goers do of course venture out, through tours or outings on their own. It's interesting how we mix our "travel" and our "vacation": perhaps we all need some of both.
