Family Vacations With Other Families: The Dos and Don'ts

Some of the most enjoyable (and sometimes stressful!) vacations we've had have been with other families. When you vacation with other families, there's a wonderful benefit for both the parents and kids: great conversations for the adults, and the kids get to play together.

When our kids were young, we took an annual vacation to an indoor water park at Wisconsin Dells every winter. The trip was just three hours by car and we hit different water parks each year. In some years, we returned to the same water park--as the kids voted to go back to the ones they enjoyed the most. We have done Disney with extended family and once with other friends. We did the Grand Canyon one year with two other families and many lake trips with a bunch of other families.

Taking a vacation with other families teaches your kids to get along with others in a confined space for a limited amount of time. When you vacation with other families, there has to be a lot of give and take to make a vacation work out for everyone. Here are some tips we've learned to help make your next "Families with Families" vacation a smooth one:

Plan in Advance

We've done the spontaneous vacations and the well-planned ones. Either way, you'll have to put some plans in place to figure out what is needed for all of the families involved. Even when you have Plan A set and in place, give some thought to Plan B. What happens if it rains? What happens if someone gets sick? What happens if a family backs out?

Study the area you plan to travel to and check out reviews from other travelers as to what to see and what to expect.

Prepare Well

Preparation is the key to a successful, as-smooth-as-possible trip. What do you need to bring for each kid? What can you bring to fill in the travel time and keep each kid engaged? Bring far more food and snacks than you think you need, because there will be times when you're grateful for the extra food. Delays, traffic, detours, and other changes can wreck havoc with travel and vacation plans.

Communicate your expectations and have a discussion that covers all aspects of the trip so that all families are on the same page with expectations, budgets, and activities. If you're doing a vacation that requires cooking, put together a food plan for each day and determine who will provide the cooking and food.

Use a weather app to check the weather and anticipate some temperature and weather changes.

Expect the Unexpected

Stuff happens. Even the most well-planned trip can fall apart when unexpected things happen. Bring extra money, make copies of your driver's license/passport, and bank info in case of loss or theft.

When the unexpected happens, the key is to roll with the punches and make the best of the unexpected.

Rainy Day Solutions

Bring your Plan B for rainy days--games, extra food, extra clothing, and rain gear. Some activities can still be done in the rain or during inclement weather--plan accordingly. Let the kids come up with rainy day activities too--that's part of the fun!

Capture the Memories

Of all the things my kids remember most--they remember the vacations we took and the adventures we had with other families. Some vacations were not so great--others were fantastic. All were memorable.

Capture the moments with video and photos, but don't forget to just go with the experience and live it without distractions. You can put your memories in a book for each family to enjoy and remember.

And one last tip: if you're not sure if you want to spend a vacation with another family, do a test run--go someplace local for the weekend and spend the time together.