Planning a vacation can sometimes cause stress. One cause of this stress is the realization that between the schedules of work and school (possibly further complicated by different schools and multiple jobs) there are a finite number of days that “work,” and making the most of them leaves little room for error. Add to this the financial burden, the varying tastes of multiple family members, and the limitations associated with children’s ages and you have something that looks a bit more like a puzzle than a relaxing time away.

With the difficult realization that there are only so many years left before the children “leave the nest” and shared time becomes even rarer, the scales can be tipped to the point where the strain to achieve “perfection” in family vacations can be downright paralyzing for some parents. If any of this sounds familiar to you, don’t worry. Family vacation planning used to be a stressful endeavor, but there is a solution.

The perfect family vacation combines careful planning and spontaneity in a healthy balance.

Part of what makes vacation planning stressful is the notion that the majority of planning tends to become muddled when everyone inserts their opinions. If you do decide to share the planning process, it is hampered by squeezing in time around work schedules and kids’ activities, leaving a very small amount of time to sit down and hash out the details. If everyone is involved in the equation, differing opinions can create a set is disparate ideas that make pulling the trigger on anything incredibly difficult.. If a child is set on not enjoying a vacation before even boarding the plane, it will taint the entire experience.

Consider the idea of designating one family member the trip planner for a certain vacation based on a budget you agree on, and letting them plan the trip from top to bottom. For everyone else in the family, all they will be told is when the trip is planned for. Let the details be a surprise. The very nature of the surprise vacation can get you over a lot of humps. Someone who may not love the idea of a city walking tour may try to talk you out of it given months to overanalyze. When everything feels spontaneous, the whole family (especially children) are that much more likely to remain open to ideas and just “go with the flow.”

The idea of keeping the trip a surprise for most of the family enables the planner to have free reign and keep the process as simple as possible. It allows everyone being surprised to add an extra element of excitement to their vacation experience. The time you hopped on a plane without knowing where you were going is sure to be a memory that will last a lifetime, and bring you all closer together as you explore and experience off-the-cuff vacationing together.

The only real downside to leaving the sole responsibility for vacation planning with one person is the amount of work that is involved, but resources like RealFamilyTrips.com are here to change that.

With our detailed itineraries and regional spotlights, the day to day planning can be taken care of for you. All you need to do is find a way to get there and a hotel (and our deals can even help with that). The days planned by RealFamilyTrips.com can take the work out of carefully researching a given city or location, and provide you with a full-fledged vacation that you only have to get yourselves to. If you really want to be spontaneous you can leave a day or two open to just explore (or relax on a beach) or mix up pre-planned activities with spontaneous outings.

Consider the idea of planning a “surprise” trip for your family and see how it feels. By relieving the pressure to craft a “perfect trip” and adding the fun of going along for an incredible ride, you might just find the perfectly imperfect way to appease everyone in your busy family with a trip that they’ll cherish forever.