Vacations Change More Than You Think After Children

When a child is born, your whole life flips upside down. Gradually you get used to your new way of life, and begin enjoying the changes. When the time for the first vacation with your child comes, you suddenly realize that you still have much more to learn.

While the vacation with children is different from what you are used to, you can discover things you never paid attention to before. As long as you are ready for the changes, they can help you enjoy the vacation instead of ruining it.

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Here’s what you should expect as a traveler with children.

Far Away Weekend Getaways May Be Out of The Question

If you used to jump into the car after leaving work on Friday, and travel hundreds of miles to your favorite vacation spot only to come back Sunday evening, well, you can forget about doing that.

Children have a tough time staying in their car seats for a long time. You’d have to spend most of your travel time entertaining them and dealing with tears instead of relaxing behind the wheel. Eventually, you’ll end up coming back even more tired than when you left.

So in order to take a vacation, you should have at least 4 days off.

Long Sightseeing Trips Have to Wait

Do you remember the last time you and partner one went on a sightseeing tour? You got up at 6 am and came back to the hotel at 11 p.m. happy and tired, but still full of energy for some alone time.

But, now things have changed. Children are not as enduring as adults are. Even if you travel with a stroller, a child is bound to get impatient with the “boring” views. Now you have to plan for short sightseeing sessions in order to give the kid some time to run around, eat, and sleep.

Fast Food Binging is Over

When you go on vacation with your friends, you don’t usually plan the meals. You can always grab a bite at the nearest fast food joint or exchange dinner for a glass of wine.

Now that you have kids, forget about unhealthy meals. You can give them french fries every once in awhile, but children need healthy, hearty food on a regular basis.

Setbacks Are Unavoidable

Children tend to take away the flexibility. They make it hard to do some serious planning. Broken hands, sniffles, bad mood, etc., usually lead to cancellation of even the most wonderful plans. You learn how to be flexible all over again.

Now, this flexibility is much more complicated. While Plan B wasn’t always necessary before, kids can make you come up with Plans C, D, and E.

You Won’t Get Much Sleep

If vacations used to mean sleeping until lunchtime, forget about it. For the most part, children are early risers. Even if they are always ready to sleep in when it’s time to get up for school, their approach changes on a vacation.

There is so much new and exciting to see. They’ll be out of bed at 7 a.m. and so will you. Lack of sleep can be very frustrating, so you have to delegate some of the mornings with kids to your partner in order to get some rest.

You May Not Feel Rested

Many people view a vacation as an opportunity to get some rest. Vacations with kids often make you feel as if you are getting more and more tired. In reality, your brain rests thanks to the change of scenery while your body is exhausted since children need more attention.

Don’t hope to feel fully rested after a vacation with kids. Enjoy the quality time you get to spend together with them. You can always sleep when you get back home.

Fun Places Are Waiting For You

When was the last time you visited an amusement park? Touched animals at the zoo? Enjoyed the water slides? You probably have a completely different image of a perfect vacation in your mind.

Your entertainment planning takes a U-turn when it comes to vacation planning. Everything depends on your perception. Be ready to enjoy going back in time and becoming a kid again.

Your Destinations Are Limited

On the flipside, where you can go is limited. You probably won’t get to check out that romantic resort in the Caribbean and the museums of the Vatican are probably not the best idea. But, you can install an above ground pool in your backyard for a family pool party or you can go to a family resort or even Disney World.

Depending upon the kind of person you are this can be good or bad. If you enjoy being alone with your partner, and some privacy, keep dreaming. But maybe you’re a kid at heart, and swimming with dolphins or dressing up in a Mickey Mouse costume is exciting to you..

You Become a Much Better Planner

If planning wasn’t your forte before you had kids, now your vacations are perfectly planned. Parents realize that the lack of planning can ruin the family vacation.

That’s why you start planning early and often end up having much more exciting vacations that you used to.