Vacation Planning for Busy Moms

How to manage vacation plans and a busy schedule

Summertime and vacations go hand in hand. I always look forward to creating beautiful memories with my family during summer break. Thus far, I have opted for traditional school schedules for the purpose of summer vacations. I know a number of families, and you may be one of them, that still have great summer breaks on year-round school schedules. But for me, there’s something nostalgic about summer vacation. It reminds me of my childhood. As a busy mom today, I still love summer vacations even though our family has a busy schedule year-round.

Managing vacation planning and daily life can be challenging. Researching destinations, booking flights and curating experiences require time, energy, and effort. All of which are precious commodities for busy mothers.

Vacation Planning

Vacation planning with a large family can be tedious, especially for bigger adventures. Our family consists of my husband and me, three children, and my bonus son who is a young adult. We all have different preferences which make planning interesting.

The best tip for planning a family vacation

The best tip that I can offer to moms planning summer vacations is to identify options that have something to offer everyone. Typically this will include more tourist destinations but at least you will be able to guarantee something that everyone will enjoy

Narrow focus

I keep a running list of destinations and I have followed this practice for years. A few years ago, I had the Ark Encounter in Williamstown Kentucky on my list. We were able to take our children there in April 2018 even though it made the “list” a few years prior.

I keep my focus narrow when it comes to vacation planning. I stick with locations that fit our family. If I cast a wide net and consider a lot of destinations I get overwhelmed and it gives me more locations to research than my time will allow.

Time Management and Vacation Planning

I prefer to plan our vacations myself. It often becomes fun and collaborative effort with the entire family where we each share our ideas. It makes vacation planning less stressful and more inclusive for our family.

Planning a vacation as a busy mom, it’s also important to break down the planning steps into smaller action items. Starting early allow busy moms to plan over time. This also mitigates planning errors and oversights.

Our big summer vacation this year is a trip to Orlando, FL. This trip includes 3-days at the Disney Parks, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, and some fun resort days. Check out this fun Walt Disney World This or That Video with my kids. This was a fun way to gauge their interest through the travel planning process.

To Wrap it Up

There are some simple practices that busy moms can implement to make summer vacation planning a breeze. Breaking down the planning process into action steps that can be completed over time is a framework that has worked for me over the years. It is my tried and true practice and I’m sure it will work for you as well.

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