Annual Family Vacations: What Does Tradition Look Like To You?

I'm a big traditionalist in the area of memory making activities, to the point it's an topic of humor for all my family members to mock me at times. (We will discuss the matching pjs on Christmas Day, ugly sweaters on Christmas Eve and Sunday night dinner standards in later posts that will either make you feel as though you’ve found your brethren in me or so nauseated to my need and diligence for such items that you question my sanity…either way side note no judgement from me as I know how A type I sound).

In being candid, I understand most people dread long stints on vacay with their families, much less their extended families. We do it not once, not twice but sometimes even 3 times a year willingly with our entire brood that includes my parents, my sister, her husband and my niece and my family of four. We love to travel together and have done so in some shape or form with my parents and our aunts, uncles and cousins since my sister and I were children ourselves. There is a peace in knowing you’re surrounded by like minded individuals who like to venture out when they travel, enjoy dining and won’t be put off by screaming children (at times) on a trip. It’s also nice to have built in trade off babysitters whenever one couple might want to get out for a couple dinner. We’ve traveled oversees with our brood, as far as Asia, ski trips to Aspen, Maui and beyond. The two that we frequently take on each year are Disney World (been going since my sister was 2 y/o)) and newest Hilton Head, which we added since my sister and I had her own children. Every August before school goes back in session we head on a week long beach trip with the family ) to the island (and sometimes I may make my immediate family wear matching clothing and take pics on the beach...this is a no judgement zone people) as a way to say goodbye to summer and hello to hectic fall school/ sporting/ work schedules. For Disney we now like to go around my eldest’s birthday as it coincides with the not so scary Mickey Mouse Halloween activities in the park so it’s double the a fun and already thought out planned events for the kids. I know because life is so busy we like to set the tone of such vacations as 5-7 days whenever we can because its also a reset for the adults and doesn’t it always feel as though you’re more tired when you have a 3 day vacation. From the packing/ organizing everyone to the travel be it plane or car to turn right back around to the day to day can be more exhausting then being at home.

Do you have annual family vacations that invoke spirited emotions in you or you feel like you have to take each year, share some of your fondest memories!

XO