By Lincoln McElwee
It’s inevitable: that undeniable moment when your family finally settles down from the family-travel vacation and boredom ensues. And this is not your typical boredom: it isn’t so much the lack of things to do as the fact that your current destination is not a resort or kid-friendly hotel with all the amenities in tow. Because of the glorious fact that your family had such a riveting kid-friendly vacation, the world now seems to most of your family members – if not all of them – a bit more ordinary.
One of the best ways to deal with the “fun-lag” from vacations is to ensure that your family indeed had enough fun on the vacation by taking pictures and video of various events. From lessons in riding with the dolphins to dad steering a vessel, from junior’s first trip to the beach to your daughter’s kid-friendly vacation at Disneyland, the moments we share with each other should be well-documented, and for every trip!
Should one of these moments of extreme boredom arise, all you simply need to do is inform the family that you will have a movie night. The catch is to not tell them the first time what the movie is. Your children will probably be thinking they are going to have to watch something educational with the family; your husband, if he is in on the fun, might be thinking he has to sit through something romantic or comedic or, God-forbid…a romantic comedy!
While the family is trying to determine exactly what movie night entails, you have already turned the humdrum activity of movie night into a fun little game. Add snacks and drinks to the mix and you have a wonderful travel-themed movie night that will leave everyone laughing and remembering how much fun was had on the family vacation. You can even do a montage so that a few trips are shown at once. After the first time, everyone will know that certain movie nights are “travel” movie nights, and that these movie nights are the best because the family gets to relieve the greatest moments of the trip together, just like the first time.
So when the children look bored with their video games or their old movies and there seems to be nothing to watch on television or when your husband begins complaining about work, simply plan for a night of fun with the pictures and videos from your latest vacations!
Another great add-on to this family travel time together is to make plans for the next family outing or trip. Ask the kids where they want to go for a weekend getaway. See what is taking place in the neighboring towns or what websites are having incredible rates on tickets for both national and international fares. Play a board game and declare the winner the family member that gets to decide where the family will travel off to next (within reason, of course!). It’s never too early to begin planning for your next adventure, and there are so many ways to go about doing it! And your family will not only enjoy the time together but they will also take a pleasurable part in planning out the next fun activity that will be watched on the family’s “big-screen” sometime in the near future!
So go ahead and let boredom rear its ugly head: you have more than enough tricks and trumps up your sleeve! Travel planning can be combined with the ever-important family time when done right!
