WINTER 2 0 1 8 / 2 0 1 9
YOUR NEXT VACATION
2. SLOW – SLOW DOWN AND
TAKE A DAY TRIP. different places to go. The variety is fun
for all of us.
Your kids need down time. You have
a job you need to be at once in awhile,
right? So this part of our summer we
call “slow”. No airplanes, no complex
agendas, no packing our equipment up the
side of a mountain to set up camp. Slow is
for a slower type of “vacation”. Think of
these as day trips. 3. NO – NO NEED TO LEAVE
HOME.
You take a Saturday (or some other day
you already have time off) and go as a
family somewhere close to home.
Every state has fun things to see,
museums to peruse, or trails to wonder.
Condé Nast’s beautiful slideshow of the
"Best Places To Visit in the USA: 50
States, 50 Trips" can get you started.
Your local chamber of commerce or even
the American Automobile Association
(AAA) offer great ideas for day trips.
Each member of our family picks one
day trip they would enjoy. Then we check
the calendar and mark the best days to
take those short trips. If your kids are
anything like our boys they will pick very
Since kids think “no” is our favorite word
anyway, we will use it here to remember
the third type of vacation planning.
No means no travel out of town. And
sometimes it means we go nowhere at all.
Our family likes to make this part of
our vacation about picking a movie or
a nearby restaurant for a treat, but you
could truly make it a totally “no go”
evening or afternoon. You could choose
not to leave the house. Ordering pizza
and firing up Netflix is a great example
of “no” travel time. You are intentionally
setting aside time to be together as
family, without going anywhere.
Let each member pick their night and
their favorite “no go” option. You could
take turns cooking or make something
special for dessert and haul out the old
Wii or the dusty Monopoly board. Maybe
your family would like to share some
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music together, playing instruments or
singing favorite songs. How about old,
home movies? The kids may groan,
but everyone usually ends up enjoying
watching themselves as chubby toddlers
and laughing at the fashion choices of
mom and dad.
If the youngest picks the My Little Pony
game – again – honor her wishes and see
if there are ways to make it fun for all
ages. A handful of Skittles every time
you roll? Or the winner picks a chore to
hand off to each loser? The “no” option
is intended to help do whatever it takes to
spend time together at home or in town
(with the delicious option of sweatpants
and slippers thrown in).
Vacations will come – yea – and go –
boo – quickly so try to make the most of
your time together. Not everything has
to cost money, but don’t feel too much
heartburn about money you spend to
create memories. You will treasure those
times forever, especially after they are
grown and gone.
Learn more: TheMoneyCouple.com