How to Organize Your Family’s Holiday Without Stress

Going on holiday is a great way to relieve stress, there’s no doubt about it, but organizing the holiday? That can be a headache in itself, especially when you have small kids to consider. Luckily, there are steps you can take when booking and organizing your trip to minimize stress, making life easier for yourself and more fun for the whole family. 

Book it in one go if possible

One of the easiest ways to book your holiday is to opt for a package. Package holidays don’t have to be at hotels or in beach resorts. You can book villa holidays with flights and other extras online; doing it this way not only saves you money, but it can also offer better protection should there be an incident that stops you from traveling. It’s usually easier to book flights and accommodation together, and this way, you sort out your itinerary in one go. It might even be worth your while to look at the latest credit card offers as many will reward you with travel-related perks and bonuses.

Make a checklist

Consider making a checklist of all the holiday extras you need to book so that you don’t turn up and realise you’ve forgotten something. This could include:

• Airport parking
• Airport hotels
• Travel insurance
• Transfers
• Excursions and theme park tickets

When you book a package holiday, you may be offered these extras as you checkout, which can be more convenient. In some cases, you can book these extras together and save money, but you could also shop around to try to get a better price.

Buy travel insurance as soon as you book

Many people buy travel insurance in the days leading up to their holiday, thinking it only covers them when they are away. However, experts recommend that you buy travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday, the reason being that if something happens between now and the trip that stops you from going, you are covered, for example, if travel is restricted due to global issues, or a member of the party is hospitalized and can’t go. If you take more than a couple of trips a year, it’s worth considering annual travel cover, which can save you money. 

Draw up an itinerary

Traveling with kids doesn’t lend itself to spontaneity, so if you have a multi-leg journey, draw up a travel itinerary as you book to ensure you aren’t cutting things too fine or leaving big gaps where you’re hanging around. Nothing is worse than missing a connecting flight or waiting for an hour for your transfer bus to show up when the kids are bored, so make sure you create a seamless itinerary. 

Booking a holiday should be a fun process, not a stressful one, and if you can get organised, the process will be much easier. Some people find that it’s better to book everything in one go, like a package holiday, while others like buying the elements separately so they can pick and choose what they want. Whatever way you do it, make sure you remember the essentials such as insurance, so that if anything crops up, you have a way to get your money back or rebook.