Never taking your kids on vacation?

[*Seanaci*]

When we were kids, we didn't go on vacations. We had weekend trips to my grandparents house on the lake and that's about all I remember. With 3 kids so close in age (I'm 32, my brother is 33, and my sister is 29), not to mention being young themselves, my parents had no extra money for vacations outside our weekend trips to the lake. And I'm ok with that. I believe my husbands childhood was much the same, but I'm not sure.

But now that I am a parent (to an only child), my husband and I have to decided to make it a priority to take a family vacation every year...even if it's not to Disney. I want my son to know a life outside of our house and his toys (proud to say he does not know how to play ANY video game system; he prefers legos and blocks). We just finished paying off DH's car, and 3 credit cards, so we are now working on a vacation fund (and planning a Dec trip to Disneyland). My hope is that since we live with my parents so I can be a stay at home mom as long as possible, to pay for a yearly vacation for all 5 of us.

 

[starsweeper]

We don't vacation every year. Until recently, my DH had a job that "offered" 4 weeks of vacation but he could never really take it. We did one family vacation when our oldest kids were 2.5 to WDW, then my mom and I went the next year with the kids. DH took a large pay cut but now has a job with 3 weeks that the company expects he will use--yeah! However, we are now a family of 6 and vacations are a lot more expensive, and we are building our forever home. That means no vacations for at least 2 more years, likely more.

We are very fortunate, even with our large family. Most of my relatives have never been to WDW and it's just something they could never afford, both monetarily and enough time off work wih travel. They go to a theme park once in the summer and the zoo, and that is their vacation.

 

[jennabennabofenna]

Being raised by a single mom, we never had much money. But my mom always tryed to do fun things with us. We took day trips to the beach, zoo, park, etc. often. & we would take an annual day trips to Disneyland, and to Six Flags MM. Every few years we went camping for a few days, and i think 3 or 4 times growing up we took a 2week vaca to MI/AZ where family lived.

My mom NEVER went on trips without my brother and I. & i'm the same way with my kids.

My girls are 3 1/2 and 16months old. We have gone on multiple trips as a family. Disneyland 2 times, The beach for a few days 2 times, SF 2 times... etc. We always take them everywhere!

We are going on our first BIG family vacation to WDW (possibly a cruise to bahamas afterwards) next year and wouldn't even THINK to not take our girls. I saw another persons post about how they were going to Disney and leaving their toddlers behind. To me, thats just sad!

 

[LovesTimone]

As a little kid my parents idea of a vaca, was going to visit family in Mississippi, In August, Hot and not much fun. But I do my some great memories of the games we would play to pass the time in the car. Once we got a bit older and money was not so hard to come by we went to the Beach, for long weeekends. Then when I was about 10 years old it was my 1st trip to disney, It was only for the day but it was magically.. After that we went to amusemnt parks, to the mountains, Beach and such...

Even when I was a single mom, I took vacation time with my DD, and went away. I owed it to her to spend some one on one time as I worked alot to provide for us. A few times I was lucky that a friend who let me use her condo on the beach for nothing but the cleaning fee. Another girl I worked with, that I would watch her son once in a while would let me use her cabin in NC, for free, as she could not afford to pay to watch her son, ( very nasty divorce, that went on for sometime) But she a access to the cabin, so I would use it. As DD got older we started doing WDW, I would save all year for that trip, We started off staying off site, then slowly moved to WDW resorts, We have been very lucky but saving and spending that time with her was important to me. Those memories are so important to both of us.

 

[JessiLynn015]

My Dad does not like traveling. He runs his own trucking business and that is enough for him, so growing up we didn't do much vacation wise. Actually, his idea of a vacation is going to car & truck shows with my little brother (19).

Since Ive been married (4 years) mom & I go to Disney once a year. She also visits DH & I in GA. DH & I also do a lot of vacationing as well and plan to do so with our baby on the way. Having a child is one of the reasons why we have decided to settle in FL or GA. IMO, vacation time with famiy is important. I want my son to have those memories because I wish I had them with mine as a child.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

When we were little we went on trips with our parents, not specifically a vacation for us. If their friends were all going to Toronto for the weekend, we went, but our trip was swimming and maybe the game room and walking Younge Street at night. Or if their friends were having a party out of town, we went and just played with their kids...

DH and I could not afford normal vacations for our children when they were younger. We would ask for a zoo membership and science museum and art museum family memberships for Christmas from my parents. With these we did travel to cities like Toronto, Columbus, Cleveland, and a few others because we could get into the zoo and museums for free. Just had to pay for the hotel and food. We bargain hunted as much as possible. We would camp if we could get a cabin off season for a very discounted price, but would make all our meals.

Our first real vacation was in 2000. DH's mother passed. He had a large family. Instead of dividing her estate we all were treated to a trip to Disney. Now I know it sounds great, but with food and clothes for the kids, that vacation set us back for a long time. DH's brother noticed at one point that DH and I were not eating. He did pick up meals after that and we were grateful, but it was humbling. We should have declined.

We spent the next 5 years saving like crazy to bring the kids back to Disney without the extra 28 people. We did it budget, but it was wonderful. The whole family is now addicted to Disney.

No trips this year, possibly not even next year. I love reading and being here, but some times it is really hard knowing we are stuck at home with no vacations at all for a while. Sorry for the novel!

 

[danceintherain]

AGREED!

Makes me very sad. Why wouldn't parents want to spend that quality vacation time with their kids?

I also don't understand when people say it's "too hard" to travel with kids. I think what they're really saying is that they are not flexible in choosing family friendly vacation destinations... and seriously, if you're going to WDW without your young children, that's mean. lol

I do think that some people do have legitimate complaints about the difficulty of traveling with kids, but I also believe that sometimes the most difficult things are the most worthwhile. Obviously, it takes a level of balance. Even mine and DH's ideas of a perfect vacation differ. He really would rather stay at home, but I'm at home all the time, when I have DH's help, I want to get out of the house as much as possible. We're still working on the perfect balance that works for us. He does love our vacations, but oftentimes they're too involved. In November, we rented a house on the beach for a week. To him that was the perfect vacation if you took away some of the travel issues.

What we'll probably end up doing in the future is doing 1 week with each of our families, 1 week for my kind of vacation (going places and seeing things) and 1 week for a staycation or a completely relaxed time somewhere. Maybe we'll do Orlando for two weeks, but have a whole week of time when we don't go to the parks at all or something like that.

I've already decided that our family vacations are going to have to be a little dulled down for a while, because it is harder with kids.

 

[Lizzybean]

Growing up I went on a lot of vacations every year (summer, spring break, tgiving, winter) and my parents took a couple trips alone as well. We knew it was important they had their time alone. My mom also did girl trips with friends and her sisters.

Now that I'm an adult vacation is extremely important to me. We go away a week or 2 in the summer, usually to the beach, as a family. We try to go somewhere for spring break if everyone's school break matches up. I like to go to Vegas with my girlfriends for long weekends every so often and DH and I absolutely have to get away alone for 5-7 days to decompress and work on us.

I really value the time we get away and for our family it makes me a better and happier mom, wife and friend.

 

[crickett]

My parents took us on a yearly family vacation when I was young. We mostly went to the same place every year (Hershey PA) but it was such a memorable part of my childhood and I really want to give my children those memories. I cannot imagine letting them grow up without any family trips!

Most of our family vacations so far have been to visit family but we have managed to take the kids to San Diego, CA and Atlanta, GA so far and they loved both.
We don't have tons of money but vacations are a priority for me and I reallllly want to give my kids the Disney experience while they are still young enough to have that 'awe factor'. My two oldest have actually been, with Grandpa, for a day or two but the two little ones (as well as my husband) have never been to a Disney park! I personally have only been to Disneyland (about 25 years ago!). This will be a real experience for all of us.
I'm actually so obsessed with the idea of bringing my kids to Disney for a real family trip before they get much older that I am considering the idea of putting off the purchase of a house for a extra year or so just so we can manage to pay for the trip

 

[Happyjen27]

When my twins were very young, my friends were amazed I didn't take the kids on our cruises or weekend trips.

At that time, and at their ages, it wouldn't have been a vacation, it would have been caring for my children in an unsafe environment.

Now that they're 5, all bets are off, and we're travelling, but before then, no way.

I think vacations at any budget are possible with creativity. I am 1 of seven children, and we always went camping when I was growing up. My parents were quite poor, but also knew the importance of getting away from home and gaining that vacation mentality that only comes when one is away.

I can easily see how, if one did not grow up with this value ingrained in them, they just might not know how rewarding and enriching it is to the whole family.

All that said, my DH and I will still take vacations without the kids from time to time, because we need to keep our marriage in shape, and keep in practice for when they're grown and gone.

 

[crisi]

The majority of our vacations were spent visiting relatives out of state. There wasn't time or money for anything else. My parents are NOT camping type people, so that sort of thing was right out. And as for money, three kids graduated college without a student loan between us...the priority was not vacations.

I know a lot of people who don't vacation with kids because they are too busy. The kids can't miss football, baseball, basketball, drama, choir, hockey or whatever. They had intentions of traveling with their kids, but the commitment to kids activities can get pretty intense at a young age,

 

[leebee]

We didn't vacation much when I was a child. I remember one road trip to an uncle's camp at Boothbay Harbor (we lived just north of Boston) and then we went on to Campobello Island, but I bet I was about 5... just barely remember it. When I was in high school, my sister's girl scout troop went to WDW so mom took me on a cheap weekend to NYC. I guess it was cheap; there were actually hookers in the lobby of our motel.

My parents took us to our grandparent's cottage in York Beach, ME for the summer from the time I was about 10 until forever; Mom moved there permanently when I was about 24. They considered that vacation, and we had many lectures about what lucky children we were to be at a cottage near a beach when everyone else had to stay home in the heat (so stop complaining!). As an adult, I WISH I had this opportunity, but as a kid, it stunk. There weren't many kids in our neighborhood, and those that were there were townies, had all their school friends around, and weren't interested in hanging out with strangers. My mom hated the ocean, sand, and sun, so if we went to the beach once a week, we were lucky. My siblings and I spent most of our summers hanging around the cottage, reading. It was a blessing when I was 16 and could get a job, and then the next year I graduated from high school and stayed home and worked in the summer.

DD has been a traveler since the age of 6months, when we brought her from our home in San Francisco back east to Maine and Ohio to meet her relatives. She's been to Colorado, Michigan, Indiana, NYC, Pennsylvania, New Orleans, Boston, New Hampshire, Vermont, upstate NY, and, of course, WAY too many times to WDW (24 maybe? lost count!). Our travel budget is slim, but we make it work. It's too much fun to vacation and travel to leave it out of our lives!

 

[princesskimberella]

Growing up most of the trips that I was fortunate to go on were because my granparents too us. They had a RV so we drove from Michigan to Arizona, camped every summer, went canoeing. We did alot of with in 5 hour drives with my parents, to Niagra Falls, Cedar Point, Sea World, Put in Bay.. Overall it was only one weeked trip a summer.

With our chldren we take a bigger vacation about every 3 years, we have done Disney, Myrtle Beach, rented a house on the lake for week on the west side of Mi. and hopefuly Disney this coming Jan/Feb. IN between we tent camp with friends, gone to Naigra Falls and other weekend trips.. There was also a few summers ago were we didnt even have the money to camp so we stayed close to home, doing things like the zoo, metro parks etc.
I worry about how much things costs, my husband on the other hand keeps me in check about it is not how grand the vacation is but the memories.

I agree with others it is about priorities, we have been saving for disney for a while but life happens, ( needed new brakes for my car ) so it takes a little longer to save.

 

[kj2mom]

My parents took us to our grandparent's cottage in York Beach, ME for the summer from the time I was about 10 until forever; Mom moved there permanently when I was about 24. They considered that vacation, and we had many lectures about what lucky children we were to be at a cottage near a beach when everyone else had to stay home in the heat (so stop complaining!). As an adult, I WISH I had this opportunity, but as a kid, it stunk. There weren't many kids in our neighborhood, and those that were there were townies, had all their school friends around, and weren't interested in hanging out with strangers. My mom hated the ocean, sand, and sun, so if we went to the beach once a week, we were lucky. My siblings and I spent most of our summers hanging around the cottage, reading. It was a blessing when I was 16 and could get a job, and then the next year I graduated from high school and stayed home and worked in the summer.

I have a cottage in York, just spent the weekend there completely by myself (children were in CT with their dad). It was heavenly!! So far my two love going to the cottage although we are only able to muster up a couple days at a time to go. When I was young we went for 2 weeks at a time.

 

[kohlby]

Our yearly vacation was camping on Columbus Day weekend at Acadia in Maine. It was usually raining and cold. But I still liked that we took a family vacation! Vacations don't have to cost a lot. (Camping is a LOT cheaper than disney!) My grandparents took their grandkids on a trip every year, starting at around 7. Thanks to them, I went to Europe several times and Disney once with them. (And Disney once with the Boy scouts).

We take vacations all the time with our kids. We're not rich, but we're much better off than my parents were. We've averaging Disney and/or Universal once a year. We do Myrtle Beach once a year. And then some longer weekends, like to Atlanta or the mountains. We're in the south so all our vacations are ones we can drive too. We may not live paycheck to paycheck, but airfare for 5 people is crazy expensive - to the point where it's cheaper to do Disney since we can drive!

We homeschool - a great perk of homeschooling is being able to travel when it's cheaper and the weather is more ideal! We have zero summer vacations planned - we wait until Sept for our yearly beach trip.