HOW TO PLAN A FAMILY HOLIDAY | TIPS TO BOOK A FAMILY VACATION

how we plan our family holidays. And tips and things to consider when you're booking

your perfect family vacation. This video has been so highly requested. I get so many messages

about how we choose where to go and other things to consider. And I've made so many

packing videos in the past. And travel vlogs, as well. So, I'll link those in the description

down below. But I really hope you like these tips.

Booking a holiday is obviously such a personal thing. So these are just my tips and things

that I've learnt along the way. I am, by no means, an expert or a travel agent. Or anything

like that. But we really do prioritize our holidays. We love going away as a family.

I love to travel. I've been to just over 30 countries, myself. So we have some experience.

So, yeah. I really hope that you like my tips.

So, my first tip when it comes to family holidays is to change your way of thinking. Family

holidays don't have to be big, expensive, two week long things in all-inclusive resorts.

Anytime away from home, where you're unplugging and you're focusing on the kids more. And

you're away together as a family, is a holiday to the kids. So, whether it's a stay-cation

in the UK or wherever you live, or it's just a little weekend away or something much smaller.

I have amazing memories for when I was young and we used to go camping. And Matt's family,

they used to do caravaning and things. And he absolutely loved that. Your kids really

won't care how amazing the resort is or anything like that. They just want to be with you.

So, first off, just you don't have to think of a family holiday as this big expensive,

scary thing. So, that was the first point I wanted to say.

And I also wanted to say, if you have a baby and you haven't been away yet with them. Holidays

with children are obviously very different to holidays when you're a couple. It's not

going to be that relaxing. It's a very, very different ... I mean, it can be relaxing.

But realistically, I think your first holiday as a family, is a bit of a shock. Because

you kind of realize that you can't do the things that you could before. So, change that

thinking as well.

For my next point, I wanted to touch upon saving for a holiday. Because I do get asked

that quite a lot. There are some amazing apps that you can download to keep track of your

finances. But for me, the most effective way to save is to write down every single outgoing

that I have in a month. And it just keeps it fresh in my head. Do I need to spend this,

do I not? Even when I was 20 and I was saving to go traveling, I would just write down in

my planner every single thing that I would ever spend. And it just makes you see what

you actually need to be spending and what you don't.

And also, when you get paid, move as much as you possibly can spare into savings for

travel. Almost pay it like you're paying a bill. Something else that we do is to book

holidays that only require a 50 pound deposit per head. So that you pay that when you book

it so it's secured. But you don't actually have to pay the full amount of the holiday

until 12 weeks before you leave. So you can slowly save up towards the holiday, you have

something to aim for. But worst case, if it got to nearing the holiday and you didn't

have enough money, then you've only lost out on the 50 pound per head, rather than the

full holiday amount.

My next tip is to budget and be realistic with your budget. So, sit down, work out how

much money you have for your holiday. And then also, work out if you'll need spending

money and how much spending money you can afford to have. Holidays are supposed to be

stress-free. So you don't want to go on them worrying about how much money you're spending.

You can get some really great deals out there or you can also consider shorter trips. Sometimes

just three nights away as a family just recharges our batteries. We connect again. And they

can also be really, really nice.

Another little tip is to follow your favorite tour operators on social media. Because if

they ever have deals or sales, that is the first place that they will put it. Once you've

worked out your budget it's time to choose a location. And this completely depends on

your families priorities. But there are a few factors to consider. The first being weather.

Do you want to have a skiing holiday? Do you want to have a very hot holiday? Now that

I have young children, I actually don't want it to be too hot. Because their body temperatures

don't adjust as quickly as adults bodies do. So, yeah, think about when you want to travel.

The type of holiday that you want to have. And where to go to achieve that.

Another little tip that I do, is to download the countries that I'm thinking could maybe

be a possible on my weather app. And then I monitor their weather. You can see if it's

very windy, if it's still warm in the evening, if it's raining or thunderstorms. You can

sort of like have a look at that for a few weeks before you choose your final destination.

When you're choosing your location, it's also important to think about the length of a flight.

If you want to go on a flight or if you'd rather do a break by car or by train or by

cruise. All these things to consider. And think about the age of your children. And

how far you're prepared to go. In my experience of flying long haul with children. The thought

is far worse than the reality. We fly long haul with our boys and it's actually fine.

I'll link some videos down below. But equally, if you're planning to go away in July, then

you can get a two hour flight to Spain. You know, why wouldn't you?

If you do end up choosing to fly to your vacation, definitely consider flight times as well.

And choose flight times that will best suit your children. It's not always possible, but

if you can keep them in a tiny bit of a routine, it makes a massive difference to their mood.

And also think about transfers once you've landed. Your traveling doesn't end as soon

as the plane touched down, you have to get to where you're going as well, whether it

be a hotel or a villa or wherever. If it's going to be a two hour bus journey once you've

landed, that's probably not ideal. But if it's going to be a 20 minute transfer in a

minibus or whatever, that might be a bit better. So, always consider the transfer times as

well.

You, of course, also need to decide what type of holiday that you want to have. And this

is such a personal choice. There are so many different holidays out there that you can

go on. And all of them have their pros and cons. So think about, do you want to be able

to do self-catering or do you want to eat every meal out? Do you want to maybe go on

a cruise if you hate flying? And also see loads of different places. Do you want to

go to a villa so that you have all your home comforts there? Do you want to go all-inclusive

so that everything's done for you?

Or do you want to go on a stay-cation in the UK or wherever you live? Just for a little

bit of rest bite. So, think about all those factors. Do you want to go camping? Do you

want to go caravaning? There's so many things you can do. So, I'm finding it hard to give

advice on this bit. Because we actually do, do a lot of different types of breaks. City

breaks as well. But yeah, so you need to consider what type of holiday you want to go on.

A huge tip when it comes to booking a family holiday is to do your research. Matt and I

will research online for what feels like days before we come to any conclusions. Or book

anything. But it's worth doing the research before you get there. So that you know when

you're there, you're going to have an amazing time. It's great to go on personal recommendation

as well. If a friend of yours has been somewhere and can highly recommend it, definitely consider

that. We also love to use TripAdvisor.

But with TripAdvisor, do definitely take some of the reviews with a pinch of salt. Because

people do love to have a little moan on there as well. And sometimes like, we were looking

at one resort and on TripAdvisor, a lot of people were saying that it was awful, that

it didn't have a beach. But actually, for us, that suits us. Because we have a baby

that would try and eat the sand or doesn't really like the sand. So for us, that was

actually quite a good thing.

It's also worth considering what kids activities are available and what attractions, as well.

If there's loads going on, then your kids will be entertained and that is what you want.

And if you do end up booking a package holiday or a resort holiday, it's worth finding out

if they have a crash available or a kids club as well, for your kids. For us, we've tried

kids clubs in the past.

The boys, I think they just like being with us most of the time. And swimming with us.

But if that is a service that you do really want then definitely book it before you go.

Especially nursery place, during term time they can run out. They can get really busy.

So if that is something you want, definitely book it. Same goes for cots as well. If you

need a cot, book it as soon as you book your holiday. And also, some resorts do second

strollers.

So, if you had a baby and a three year old or a four year old and you only wanted to

travel with one buggy, you can actually book that in some resorts if you wanted to get

a second buggy, as well. For us, it's also worth looking at the child menu, as well.

One of our child has a food allergy. So, we like to see what is available for him. And

also, it's worth looking at lift access, as well. Normally, resorts are really good for

this. But if you have a buggy, you will need lift access.

It's also worth looking at what exactly is included in your package holiday. All-inclusive

isn't always all-inclusive. If things like airport transfers aren't included in the cost

of your holiday, then that kind of thing can really add up. Some restaurants aren't always

included. We've had that before. So yes, look at that. Speak to a travel agent if you're

booking through them. And just find out exactly what's included. Because I think if we ever

go on an all-inclusive holiday, I really want to get there and not really spend anything.

I want that to be the full cost of the holiday.

If you'd rather go on a self-catering holiday. Then there are so many options for families,

as well. Self-catering is definitely a cheaper option, as well, for families. And I quite

like have self-catering holidays when I have a weaning baby. Or if your baby wakes up at

5:00 am, you can literally go to the kitchen and make them something. You don't have to

wait for any hotel breakfast buffet to open. So that can always be nice, as well.

We just went on a Villa Plus holiday. That was great. Because it had everything that

our children would need. But also on websites like Airbnb, you can filter for families.

There's some great websites as well, like Tots to Travel. They specifically look at

accommodation that is good for families, as well. Send-a-Box, you know we love Send-a-Box.

Because it's just geared up for young families. I know some people don't like it. But it has

everything you need. So, yes, consider that as well. And if we ever just fly to Canada,

like if I'm just booking a flight because I'm going to be staying with family. Sky Scanner

is a great website as well. It will scan all the different flight operators and let you

know which flight is the cheapest for you.

My next tip is a big one. It is when is the best time to book to get a good deal on a

family vacation. Of course, school holidays is a big issue. As soon as it's the school

holidays, the prices of vacations just skyrockets. But in my experience, the way to get a best

deal is to book super early or super late. Now that we have school-age children, we find

that by booking super early, we can get a really good deal. Because those holidays are

always going to be quite expensive. But if you book super early, you can sometimes get

deals like buy one get one free weeks or free child places as well. So it's definitely worth

look at that.

And as I said earlier, you can just put down a 50 pound deposit per head if you booked

something a year in advance. But then, worst case, you had to cancel, at least you have

that place. Because the best resorts will sell out in the school holidays. Then if you're

going to book super late, you can also get a good deal. Buy a late booking, I mean booking

your holiday just eight to 10 weeks before you travel. The reason these holidays are

cheaper is because the tour operators have already booked those rooms, they've already

bought those slots.

So, if nobody books them they will lose money. So, you can always get a deal on those as

well. And also, it's a bit cheaper to travel in that last week of the summer holidays.

Most families want to be back, want to be sorting out uniform and just getting ready

to go back to school. But if you can, book that last week and just make sure you're organized

before you go. You can also save some money.

When you're doing all of this research, it is definitely worth clearing your browser

history, deleting cookies or using an incognito browser window. So, I don't actually know

exactly how cookies work. But if you've ever gone on and looked at a flight or a holiday

one day and then logged on the next day and the price has risen, that is because they

know that you are looking at this holiday. They know that you want this holiday. So they

will actually put the price up.

When it comes to holiday insurance, it's important that you book through a provider where you

know you will be covered if anything went wrong. In the UK you'll probably see on lots

of reputable holiday companies that they are ATOL protected or ABTA protected. Those two

associations make sure that we will be refunded if anything was to go wrong, if a company

went bust, we would get the full cost of our holiday, car hire, and all of those things

back. So it's worth making sure that they're covered.

It's also worth paying on a credit card. Because you're more protected and more likely to get

your money back if anything did go wrong. Again, like the company goes bust or something

like that. And of course, you need to buy travel insurance for your entire family when

you're going away. You just don't know what's going to happen. So it's very important that

you shop around and that you buy this. We actually buy annual travel insurance because

we do go away quite often. So we just buy that every single year. And we know that we're

covered.

I also wanted to touch upon passports and visas, as well. If you have a new baby and

you plan on traveling with them, get a passport as soon as possible. And give yourself about

three weeks to get that passport back to turn it all around. It's also always worth using

the post office Check and Send Service. You pay a tiny bit more for a member of staff

to look over your entire form, let you know if it's correct or not. And at least if it's

not correct, you know there and then to redo it. It's also worth noting, that many countries

require six months validity left on the passport for you to travel there or home. So you need

to just keep an eye on when your passport is going to expire.

When it comes to currency, to be honest, we find that the cheapest way to spend money

abroad is to buy things on credit card when we're out there. But it's really important

that you check that your credit card has a 0% foreign transaction fee. Otherwise, every

time you make a transaction abroad, you will be charged a fee for it. So look at that before

you go. Another cheap way to get currency is to pre-order it. Or Money Saving Expert

is a great website that do a comparison of where the best place is to get currency. I'll

link them down below. At the moment, it looks like Tescos is the cheapest when it comes

to Euros.

Right. So, that is it for my tips. I hope you enjoyed it. As I mentioned, definitely

check out my packing videos. Because I think that planning and packing well for a holiday

can also have an impact on your trip. Like we always like to pack board games and card

games and things like that. So, I'll link those down below. I hope you liked this video.

I feel like I was just like, "Blah, here's my tips." But if there are any aspects of

this that you think or would like a whole video on going all-inclusive or any other

aspects, let me know in the comments. And share your expert tips. If anyone's a travel

agent, I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments. But thank you so much, as always,